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Oonagh’s very own pilgrimage
Oonagh’s very own pilgrimage Archive for 2017
Release Date: 9 January 2018
It’s the start of a new year so what better time to take a fresh look at your surroundings and be inspired by one woman’s unique perspective? Photographer and Dundee and Angus College art lecturer, Oonagh Devoy will be showcasing some of her amazing work at Forfar’s Meffan Institute.
“The show, entitled Pilgrimage, is my personal journey. I hope to convey why I believe it is important to reconnect with the world around us, engage an audience and reawaken a ‘sense of wonder’,” explains Oonagh.
Although born in England, Oonagh considers herself to be a Scottish artist having spent most of her life in Angus. In 1995 she graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art with a BA Hons in Drawing and Painting.
Now in her 17th year of teaching both Fine Art and Design at D&A College in Arbroath, Oonagh shares her passion for painting and photography with her students.
“I believe it’s a two-way process as I have learned so much from the students in my charge,” she says.
Oonagh recently undertook a Masters at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen which she passed with distinction.
“I joined the MFA Course for a number of reasons – to challenge myself, to forge new connections, to bring new ideas to my classroom delivery and to understand the pressures of making a deadline so I can empathise with my students.
“My time at Gray’s has proved valuable in many ways. I have learned new processes that I have then duplicated in my classroom at Dundee and Angus College.”
The experience also led to further collaborations. Oonagh had the opportunity to demonstrate her video skills at November’s Sound Festival in Banchory where she created projections to accompany David Ward’s musical composition. Follow-up performances in London are now being negotiated.
Meanwhile, the work on display at the Meffan is the culmination of Oonagh’s recent studies and demonstrates a mixture of media including pinhole photography, photograms, cyanotype and argyrotype, and bronze sculptures.
Pilgrimage by Oonagh Devoy is at Forfar’s Meffan Institute from 20 January until 3 March (closed Sundays and Mondays). Oonagh will be doing two events – a ‘meet the artist’ on 20 January and a ‘pinhole camera workshop’ on 10 February. For more information on Oonagh’s work visit www.oonaghdevoy.com
