About Me
Practising graduate fine artist, based in Surrey, England. Represented by a London based gallery.
Kim O’Neil, born 1981 Chichester, England. Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design, The University of the Arts London (2001-2004) BA Hons Fine Art. I make large scale paintings of fragments of ephemera, which I meticulously paint by hand for hours on end.
I have exhibited my work in East London galleries and ‘Degree Art’ and ‘Arts Hole’ .. galleries. My work has sold to the Sainsbury’s collection, Earls Court and Olympia venues, ‘Jigsaw’ the high street clothing chain where it was installed in the Hampstead Heath store and to a number of private collectors. I continue to practise and I am currently producing a new series of paintings 'Victims' which will be exhibited in East London in Spring/Summer 2007, along with work by artist Nicola Morrison. I'll also be exhibiting my 'Receipts of Life' series in my home town, Haslemere National Trust Education Museum, Haslmere, Surrey 3th-16th May 2007 Private view sat 5th 12-5pm.
Exhibitions:
‘And Now Lets Take A Look at Your Artwork in the Gallery’- June 2004, Central Saint Martins Fine Art Degree Show, CSM, London.
‘Window Gallery Exhibition’- January- February 2006, Canary Wharf, London.
‘Certified’- September 2006, The Empire Gallery, Wadeson Street, London.
‘Olympia Showcase’- October 2006, Olympia Conference Centre, London.
‘Quixotic’- November 2006, Rich Mix cultural Centre, London.
‘Receipts of Life’- May 2007, Haslemere National Trust Educational Museum, Surrey.
‘Till Death Do Us Part’- Aug 24th-Sep 10th 2007, The Empire Gallery, Vyner Street, London.
'Victims'Nov 22nd-1th Dec 2007, The Nicholls and Clarkes Building, Shoreditch High Street, London.
'Works on paper' Feb 14th 2008
30 Vyner Street, London.
'Collect 4' Oct 2nd 2008
30 Vyner Street, London.
Artist Statement:
A certificate can be thought of as an ephemeral object, for example many certificates and documents are disposed of in house
clearances after an individual’s death, people become immune to the aesthetics and information which everyday objects impart.
On the other hand, certificates can be a relic of an actual event or a signpost to a neural pathway that can hold significant
Sentimental value. It can track and trace a history, demonstrate a narrative and convey an obsession.
Birth, marriage and death certificates represent the peaks of human emotion, possibly record the biggest events of an individual’s
life time or, arguably, the events that where traditionally seen as the most poignant and those that structure, record and document
this complex society.
Through a process of edits fragments are selected; this fragmental quality allows the viewer to see only a limited amount of the
information the certificate holds. This acts as a trigger, allowing the viewer to fabricate a context for the fragment or lead the
viewer to their own neural pathway. The objective is not to replicate the certificate exactly but to pick out only the essential visual
elements, that when retained become either the marker of the story or is manipulated to demonstrate a particular idea. The
viewer is confronted by this large scale painted fragment of a document which other wise would be very tiny and probably go unobserved.
This completely alters the viewers perception; the fragments act as part of an ambiguous metaphorical jigsaw puzzle that is
decoded by the observer to reveal a narrative that may have otherwise gone unnoticed, a series of events that changed the
course of history or a prompt to an important memory.
Please feel free to comment of any of the paintings in the photo gallery!
