"When I was in primary school, the only thing I felt super confident in doing, the only thing I was better at than anyone else in school was knitting and sewing," she says. "It was one of the legacies my mother handed to me."

That legacy has been an integral part of her connection to China and particularly to its women, as she knitted parts of her Pillar of Time installation piece while traveling the city by bus.

"The women on the bus would be very interested. Some of them would insist on taking it and showing me how they hold their knitting needles and how they wrap the thread. And there is this unspoken etiquette with knitting that you finish the row before handing it back. So there are a few rows knitted by complete strangers on the bus in that pillar."

Cunningham works on her art from around 9 am each day until 6 pm most days, and she may squeeze in another hour or so in the evenings. She is currently working on China landscapes for a solo show planned for December at 3C Creative Mall in Beijing's 798 Art District and hopes to complete another 20 paintings by that time.

She says she has "loads of ideas" inspired by Beijing, including a series about the city's public transport and the "slow ballet" of bicycles - "almost like a swarm of bees or insects".

"I think if you have an opportunity to make new work for an exhibition, it's natural to push yourself into unknown directions," she says.

Cunningham currently has two China landscapes in Nature - a charity fundraising group show organized by artist Patty Hudak at 66 Art Workshop in Chaoyang district, showing until June 15. You can see her work at niamhcunningham.com.