About Catrin O'Hara

Discovery

Born in Wales the daughter of an artist and a writer, O’Hara worked in education for three decades. Serious illnesses in 2019 created a fork in the road, coinciding with the onset of the global pandemic. Teaching herself digital art, forging a new way of seeing the world, and becoming aware of the healing power of art were three important strands to regaining balance in her life.

During the 2020-21 lockdowns O’Hara undertook a daily journalling practice by making rapid sketches of one plant growing. These talismans of a dark time have since been used by O’Hara to create two major ongoing digital art series: Plant 1 and Plant 2. Daily walks in the same local woods were also a source of imagery for what would become experimental micro-short films each with an element of magic realism or themes of the resilience of nature.

A new departure in 2024 was the incorporation of fractal images into O’Hara’s artworks with the fractal transformations often beginning from input of a single blossom or leaf. Her still vector pieces, photography, and moving fractal images come together in several experimental micro-short films.

Processes aside, Catrin creates artworks that are visually highly engaging with an element of drama, enigma, and mystery:

“I hope people can experience something healing and satisfying in the art. Each piece comes from a place of growth, change, and renewal, in one way or another.”

RECOGNITION:

Visual Artists’ Association, Art 500, shortlisted artist, 2025.

Fox Yard Studio Prize, Group Show, winning finalist, Stowmarket, Suffolk, UK, 2025 (solo show forthcoming 2026-7).

Ferens Art Gallery Open, Group Show, Hull, UK, forthcoming.

'Beneath the Veil', group show, The House of Smalls Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 2025.

‘Fables’, group show, The Mall Gallery, London, UK, curated by Swanfall Art, 2025.

Visual Artists’ Association Artist of the Year Prize, long-listed finalist, 2025.

Visual Artists’ Association Open Prize, long-listed finalist, 2025.

‘Light and Shade’ group show, Fox Yard Studio, Stowmarket, Suffolk, UK, 2025.

‘An Abstract Adventure’ group show, Badger in the Wall Gallery, Clapham, North Yorkshire, 2025.

Micro-short videos exhibited in 'The Shape of Things that have no Shape' (Spira9/EIDOS), Indra Gallery, London and 'Abstraction: the energy within', Fox Yard Studio, Stowmarket, Suffolk, UK, 2025.

2024:

Fox Yard Studio, Stowmarket, Suffolk, UK (two group shows)

‘Here and Now’ group show at Oxmarket Contemporary, Chichester, West Sussex, UK

Shortlisted for Metamorph Awards.

Her work was also featured online via CistaArts gallery, Blue Koi Gallery, Crosscurrents Gallery and was shortlisted for MetaMorph, 2024.

My digital art practice is deeply intertwined with my love of nature. I often start with something simple and real, like a single plant, blossom, seed-husk, or berry, and then transform it using digital art techniques into something visually engaging and often mysterious. This process explores a space, and a playful creative tension, between the natural and the digital worlds.

During the lockdowns of 2020-21, I began a daily journaling practice, sketching the same plant in different phases of growth for several months. These sketches, which became talismans during a dark time, have since evolved into two major ongoing digital art series: Plant 1 and Plant 2. My daily walks in local woods also started me on a journey with experimental micro-short films, each incorporating elements of magic realism or themes of nature's mystery and resilience. Recently, I've been exploring the use of plant and blossom images as inputs for fractal artworks, further pushing the boundaries between the natural and digital worlds.

I love exploring what's possible in digital art through fractals, animations, blend modes, layering, and transparency. Beyond the technical aspects, I hope my art provides the viewer with a healing and satisfying experience. Each piece is rooted in themes of growth, change, and renewal.

Catrin O'Hara

Statement