KATE O'NEILL

I took up art in my retirement, completing a BA in Fine Art in 2023 with the University of Brighton. I emerged as someone  wanting to explore colour and shape, particularly using paint, dry media and collage to arrive at semi-abstract versions of subjects that intrigue me.

In my final degree year, this was dementia as for many years I had worked in charities that provided support for people affected. I wanted to use art to describe how dementia can affect memory, solidifying long term memory while creating confusion in the present. My dementia series and degree show work combined clearly remembered objects from my own childhood with a present day, care home setting.

I’ve moved away now from the dementia work but my intrigue with colour, perspective and shape prevails, as does the tipping point between representation and abstract.  I'm currently exploring landscape and still life, sometimes initiated from walks in the nearby Sussex countryside but also from the many photos that record my life and travels over the past decade.

I volunteer for and am a trustee of the charity Arts for Dementia that uses the arts and creativity to inspire people living with early to mid-stage dementia.

November 2024

C.V.

Education:

2018 to 2023: BA (Hons) Fine Art (1st)– Northbrook College (Universtity of Brighton)

Exhibitions:

October 2024: Women in Art Fair, The Mall Galleries, London with Arts for Dementia

January to February 2024: The Pastel Society 2024 Exhibition, The Mall Galleries, London

December 2023 to April 2024: Worthing Open 23, Worthing Museum

March-June 2021: ‘21 Unlocked’ , GBMC Online Exhibition

2021: Worthing Digital Open

May 2019 to January 2023: Various, Northbrook College, West Durrington Campus

Publications:

2022: ‘How are partnerships in the visual arts enabling creativity to flourish for those with special needs?’  Practice-based Research Project (blog)

January 2024