Mikey MacMahon

Mikey MacMahon is an artist whose practice examines land as a cultural and political construct—never neutral, always shaped by histories of power, resistance, and longing. His work draws on research,  immersive observation and lived experience, including a recent 3,000‑mile walk across Aotearoa (New Zealand), which informs his understanding of land as both personal encounter and contested archive. Grounded in landscape traditions yet resistant to aesthetic comfort, MacMahon disrupts the casual gaze through visual interruptions such as braille, mazes, coded grids, and erased Union Jacks. These elements frame landscape as a dynamic site marked by law, labor, memory, and desire. Color functions conceptually throughout his practice. Recent bodies of work across Ireland, the United States, and Aotearoa are infused with a purple palette to evoke the chromatic residue of empire, culminating in an exhibition where soil‑filled pedestals allowed new green growth to emerge as a counterpoint to canvases revealing the persistent trace of imperial power. MacMahon’s interdisciplinary practice spans painting, drawing, installation, and site‑responsive research. His work has been exhibited widely, and he has held teaching, curatorial, and consulting roles across academic and community settings.