Opening Reception 7pm on Thursday 5 December • A solo exhibition by Kate O’Neill – Amharc Fhine Gall IX – Curated by Noelle Collins

Katie O’Neill is a visual artist with a multidisciplinary practice that is concerned with themes of identity and psycho-geography. In June 2012 she self-published the artist’s book ‘Eternal Light’ which conveys the complex experiences and whirring anxieties of an individual in their immediate environment. As a point of entry, the artist’s book communicates an intimate narrative; traces of verdant landscape are countered by images of uninhabited spaces and urban monoliths, depicting a darkly poetic sense of isolation.

Quiet scenes, sublime and unsettling, changing in format and tone are placed alongside her personal writing and drawings. These works have been revisited and re-presented in an expanded exhibition format that includes earlier works from ‘Performance’ a series of 100 type Polaroids. ‘Performance’ is a visualization of feelings of frustration, loss, confusion and helplessness. Introducing private spaces and performative gestures,the images convey the importance of self-examination as a tool for growth and explores the use of the self-portrait as a means to do so.

O’Neill’s work often combines natural light and environment to represent a state of transition, outsiderness and a desire to escape the mainstream. Honesty and vulnerability permeate the work, the ebb and flow of emotion is framed and temporarily controlled giving pause, an opportunity to consider how we as individuals are affected by our surroundings. (Noelle Collins, Curator)

Fingal Arts Office is delighted to showcase recent local art college graduates with its annual exhibition opportunity Amharc Fhine Gall. The show seeks to increase the profile of emerging Fingal artists by giving them the chance to show in a professional, contemporary art space. The opportunity also extends to the emerging curator who will work with the graduate(s) to create a suitable context to show this work to a wider local and contemporary art audience. If you are a recent art college graduate born in or living in Fingal please contact Fingal Arts Office for further information on this and further opportunities. E: sarah.oneill@fingalcoco.ie P: 01 890 6237 / www.fingalarts.ie