✨ ARTIST SPOTLIGHT ✨
Meet our current artist-in-residence at the Tea Houses: Sarah Joan K.
Sarah Joan K is a multi-disciplinary artist and theatre director from Kilkenny. A first-class honours graduate of Drama and Sociology at Trinity College Dublin, she has performed at leading Irish venues including the Peacock Theatre, Project Arts Centre, IMMA, and Visual Carlow. She is director of the emerging collective Hello Operator, with whom she co-created and directed Trout at The Butler Gallery (2025). Her directing work has also featured at Smock Alley, The Samuel Beckett Theatre, and Kilkenny Arts Festival, alongside workshops delivered at DCU, The Lir Academy, and Visual Carlow.
In 2023, Sarah was selected for the year-long Lasta Young Curators programme. She subsequently received support from Kilkenny Arts Office for the Breaking the Patterns Visual Arts residency in Lisbon, culminating in a group exhibition at NowHere, Lisboa (2025).
Sarah is a long-term collaborator with Asylum Productions. After performing in Bridge Street Will Be (2015), she completed an assistant directing internship on The Local (2023). Between 2025 and 2026, she has worked as Assistant Director on The Alice Project, which will be produced in full later this year.
Her visual practice spans photography, text, and performance, always grounded in storytelling and dramaturgical principles. She recently exhibited photographic work at Gallery X, Dublin, as part of Íova Collective’s The Four Seasons (February 2026).
During her Tea Houses residency, Sarah will further explore live visuals, film, and print within theatrical and installation contexts. Centred on Mark Ravenhill’s Pool (No Water), the residency will see her collaborate with Cult Collective and local artists to reimagine and respond to the text.
