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 degree show work brought a personal element to this by combining clearly remembered objects from my own childhood but within a present day, imagined 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 important, with charcoal being my favourite medium, often as preparation for a painting and sometimes as a work in its own right.

I 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 a percentage of all my art sales to the charity.

C.V.

Education:

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

My work has been included in the following exhibitions:

  • September 2026, Whispering Gallery, Brighton Airport

  • July 2026, Montague Gallery Summer Exhibition, Worthing

  • August/September 2026, Atelier Gallery, Brighton

  • April 2026: Robert Phillips Gallery, Walton on Thames

  • May 2025: Affordable Art Fair, Hampstead, London with Arts for Dementia

  • 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

Publications:

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