We are CRÓ, an art collective consisting of Irish artists Hannah Francesca and Lauren Wilson.

CRÓ – a hole, enclosure, eye socket, but colloquially, to come into the cró is to gather somewhere safe and familiar. Our practice explores identity, cultural roles, and the overlap of the digital and physical realms. 

Our creative approach developed in response to this physical and digital world around us, and seeks to highlight its oddities, often through humour. By using a playful response situated in an adult field of reference - something we see as our own interpretation of ‘absurdist art’ - we seek to draw attention to the oddness of existence within current spaces and times, exploring where this places us in history, particularly as women. 

In a digital world where technology advances rapidly and global communication and idea sharing are instant, do these developments bring us closer together as humans, or do they distance us further from our heritage and cultural roots? Have younger generations always felt such a significant gap from older generations in terms of humour, media and social norms? 

We believe that working and producing art as a collective syncs with the fast pace of the art world presently. Our practice often involves the concept of hosting as performance art. To host is to perform and we are interested in intertwining the domestic with the performative. Through this we create immersive art “occasions”, where every aspect is part of the performance; the food, the costumes and the audience whether they are participating or not.