• 5 months ago
Former Sydney girl Kate O'Connor moved to Binalong more than 10 years ago.
She is about to stage solo exhibition in her adopted home town, showcasing her stunning paintings that are at once uplifting and melancholic.
Diagnosed with bi-polar disorder when she was just a teenager, Kate lives with it every day and uses art as part of her therapy.
Transcript
00:00You
00:30This building is the original blacksmith's workshop from 1850s 1851 and onwards. So where
00:45the horseshoes used to get made. I've been working out of here for just over 10 years
00:50and put some clear laser lighting up here which has given us natural light. And my uncle
00:57would have put down this beautiful slate floor which I've now covered in paints. And it's
01:03a really special place to work out of and I love sharing this with other artists as
01:08well when we've had little shared guerrilla studios at times in the past as well. It's
01:14a really, I'm very very fortunate.
01:27With my art, there's a couple of things. The process for me is deeply therapeutic and gives
01:57me a great sense of purpose. In terms of having an audience for my work, I try to tell a story
02:06or shine a light on, I guess, idiosyncratic ideas that might hit a nerve with people in
02:14a kind of positive way.
02:42Coming up to 11 years later in the year in Binalong and yeah, I love it. I definitely
02:48consider it home and as I was saying earlier, I've always felt a great sense of place here.
02:56And it's just a beautiful microscopic community that is supportive and I find pretty much
03:06non-judgmental and I can't imagine living anywhere else.

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