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, strengthening 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.

Much of my work now references landscapes from local walks and more distant travels over recent years. I remain fascinated by the effects of perspective and the mystery it can introduce, especially when combined with colour and abstracted shapes. I also love to garden and so, in celebrating that, floral still life is something I frequently return to. Drawing is also important, with charcoal being my favourite medium, often as preparation for a painting and sometimes as a work in its own right.

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. I donate 20% of all my art sales to the charity.

C.V.

Education:

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

Exhibitions:

  • May 2025: Affordable Art Fair, Hampstead, London

  • February 2025: Montague Gallery, Worthing

  • December 2024: Fifty Years of Change, Town Hall, Lewes

  • December 2024: Here + Now, Oxmarket Contemporary, Chichester

  • 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)