Every Second Friday is a documentation of the intense period of time that is spent by Mandy O’Neill, her partner, and his daughter. With time being short, there is a sense that these weekends must be filled with activity and fun, and while this does not necessitate anything particularly special, the everyday takes on a new significance. In this personal reflection on the idea and experience of the ‘family outing’, nondescript spaces become alien forests, fairy-mountains or castles, and favourite toys and objects take up temporary residence.
The work is personal in nature, but from a broader perspective it examines the complexities of the modern family, while also referencing a wider collective memory of childhood.
BIO
Mandy O Neill graduated in 2005 with a first class BA from DIT (now TU Dublin). O’Neill was also awarded the Primary Colour Award for Contemporary Photography in 2005.
Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, including the European Month of Photography in Berlin, and Sligo Art Gallery in Association with The Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin. Her work held in the DIT Faculty of Art public collection and a number of private collections. It has also been published in the Sunday Tribune and various online publications.
In 2008, O’Neill received a Visual Arts Bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland towards a project at St Saviours Olympic Boxing Club in Dublin. In 2010 she had her first solo show EXHALE at the Alliance Francaise Gallery, Dublin, and has been featured in the exhibition Interchange at the Centre for Emerging Visual Artists, Philadelphia (2012) and the exhibition Family Dynamics at the Kat Kiernan Gallery, Virginia (2012). She was selected as a Finalist in the 2012 edition of the Julia Margaret Cameron.
[Bio as of 2013]