Niamh Taylor

Art and History of Art

My practice is rooted in historical research, with a particular focus on the Scottish witch trials of the 16th and 17th centuries. Beginning in the archive, I work with testimonies, imagery and material traces, translating these into physical forms. Rather than producing singular works, I develop multiple pieces across mediums including film, textiles and text, which are later brought together in immersive installations.

Working at the intersection of installation, narrative and embodied experience, I explore how fear becomes spatialised and internalised. The persecution of witches provides a framework through which I examine contemporary structures of gender, sexuality and control. I am especially interested in how domestic space can shift from a site of care to one of suspicion, where everyday objects take on new, unsettling meanings.

By reclaiming and reconfiguring visual languages of historical maltreatment, my work considers how narratives of accusation are constructed and sustained. I aim to create environments that are both familiar and eerie, encouraging audiences to engage with the persistence of moral panic and collective anxiety. In doing so, I invite audiences to reflect on how historical violence continues to shape present day cultural and political experiences.

Malefizhaus Sweet Malefizhaus, multi-media installation, 2 × 1 m, 2026

Reading School of Art