United Kingdom
Mary O’Neill is an artist, author, and educator whose practice engages with profound cultural issues that often leave us mute, such as isolation and loss. Through her ephemeral works, she explores the search for meaning in the face of life experiences that can render the world chaotic and incomprehensible.
Her recent projects draw on maritime language and the laws of salvage as metaphors to reflect on both personal grief and the collective losses inherent in an ever-changing world. These works weave together moving images, sculpture, text, and sound—ranging from spoken word to recordings of the natural environment.
From an original interest in ephemeral art and notions of mortality and immortality, her research has developed to explore intangible culture, in particular the lost skills that are embodied in museum objects. O'Neill has published both academic texts and short fiction on a diverse range of subject including ephemeral contemporary art, boredom, loss, isolation, art education, finding.