Transforming Identity (2010–2011)

Location: Ennistymon Community Hospital and Day Centre, Co. Clare

This year-long project engaged twenty long-stay residents of Ennistymon Community Hospital through visual art, gardening, and playful experimentation. Developed in response to the Transition Towns initiative in Ennistymon, the project fostered shared creative exchanges grounded in the participants’ lived experiences. Mobile phones, cameras, audio, and Bluetooth devices were introduced as tools for communication, documentation, and playful exploration, allowing ordinary activities to become opportunities for expression.

The project culminated in a week-long event, Nothing to lose…, staged during The Galway Races. The hospital was transformed into a racetrack-side experience: residents placed bets, shared insider tips, listened to live radio commentaries, and created hats and attire for Ladies’ Day. The event brought the excitement of the racecourse into the hospital environment, highlighting the creative potential of everyday life.

Support: Health Service Executive (HSE)

Health Treats (2012)

Location: Lahinch, Co. Clare

In summer 2012, Collins established a pop-up Health Shop in an empty commercial space in Lahinch. The project operated both as a public intervention and a reflective exploration of community health and wellbeing. Visitors, local residents, and practitioners were invited to engage with alternative approaches to health and self-care.

Set against the backdrop of post-crash Ireland, the project posed questions about collective priorities: the speculative value of commercial property versus the lived value of health and wellbeing. Drawing on her own experience with complementary therapies, Collins created an open, participatory space for curiosity, dialogue, and creative engagement.

the quiet voice (2009)

Collaborators: Cómhrá na nAosach Group, Inis Oírr

Audio Installation
Site: The Ferry Offices, Galway (as part of TULCA 2009)

the quiet voice records and amplifies stories, memories, and reflections from the Comhra na nAosach Group on Inis Oírr. The installation features voices in English and Irish, interweaving local history, fishing narratives, and everyday island life, revealing how intimate knowledge circulates within a community.

The work grew out of Collins’ 2007 residency on Inis Oírr and honours the quiet, often overlooked forms of knowledge. By foregrounding these voices, the project validates the range of human expression – soft, loud, strong, and subtle – creating space for careful listening and reflection.