Meet: Lydia O'Hara
- Written byEleanor Harvey
- Published date 02 April 2025
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Lydia O’Hara is a multidisciplinary artist based in North West England. She graduated from Chelsea College of Arts in 2012 with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. She recently spoke to us about the significant funding she’s received for her project, St Brigid's Arms, which will document the experiences of women of Irish heritage in the UK.
Her work looks at how we understand our worlds through our bodies, examining this from various angles including mental health, play, womanhood, collective consciousness and motherhood. Collaboration is a key part of her work, and she co-founded art collective (M)other in 2022.
You studied BA (Hons) Fine Art Chelsea College of Arts; can you tell us about your time there?
My time at Chelsea was a gift - of time, space, and freedom to explore my many artistic ideas. I loved being able to follow the various threads of my practice without any restraints, and the opportunity to critically reflect on these by getting feedback from peers and tutors. There is something about the smell of the building that will always be etched in my memory as a time where I pushed the boundaries of my work and took risks that led to me really elevating my practice and becoming ambitious in what I could achieve.
Alongside this positive experience I also went through a challenging time with my mental health, which really informed my artistic ideas. When I was first accepted to the course, I really suffered from imposter syndrome, but by the time I graduated I could see my worth as an artist and was proud of what I had achieved.
What was a highlight of your time at Chelsea College of Arts?
Creating work collaboratively with people outside of the University was a highlight. It developed my practice enormously.
In second year, I was awarded a grant to create a moving image work that was shown at the South London Gallery. This was a huge opportunity, and I was really proud of the piece Amy Curtis at 21. I couldn't have made this without the help of a wonderful team of collaborators; an entirely female film crew. This is something I didn’t consider significant at the time but now see as brilliant!
Similarly, for my final piece in third year, I worked with an amazing group of actors, to depict the bizarre reality of student life. Bringing people from the outside world on to campus to collaborate in the "opt-in space" studio was good experience for navigating how to work collaboratively as a professional artist. I really developed my confidence in approaching people with an idea for working together from this experience.
Can you tell us about your career after your graduated?
Being honest, it was really challenging finding my place in the world after leaving the security of student-life. Balancing the need to put food on the table and pay rent, with my will to become a professional artist, at times felt impossible. It’s important to recognise this reality for those of us who don't have a security net when navigating the creative industries. I want to show that it is possible to find your way, however difficult that may be, and however long that may take.
I began by working in shops alongside applying for as many relevant opportunities as I could. I took part in a Doc Next Media Lab at the British Film Institute (BFI) Southbank, where I honed my experimental documentary filmmaking skills alongside an incredible group of peers with input from industry experts. This led to me to do a masters in Experimental Filmmaking at Kingston University, where my work was screened at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA). However, once again after graduating, I found myself somewhat adrift, not knowing how to make space to create while needing to survive financially.
Having spent a long time developing my self-awareness and navigating mental health challenges, I wanted to support others to go on their own journeys to living happier, healthier lives through using the arts. I worked within homelessness services and trained as an art therapist at the University of Chester.
I have now been a freelance practicing art therapist for just over a year, and balance this alongside paid artist work as well. Becoming a mother part way through my art therapy training gave me some space and renewed confidence to go back to my earlier experiences of collaborating with others and finding alternative ways to exist as an arts professional.
I founded (M)other, an art collective for artist-parents living in the North West who wanted a sense of community and opportunities to collaborate and show work on terms that fit with family life.
What inspires you?
So much! I will forever be inspired by nature, which I often look to for answers because you can see all the cycles of life, death, and regrowth in natural spaces, and mother nature is a wonderful problem solver. How we inhabit and move through the world fascinates me; I’m very interested in how we process our experiences through our bodies and how we continue to carry experiences with us or let them go.
I’m inspired by the juxtaposition of reality vs fiction, and stories from personal vs collective perspectives. I’m inspired by children and the sense of wonder and playfulness that exists in the world when you allow yourself not to take things too seriously.
Congratulations, you recently received significant funding for your project, documenting the experiences of women of Irish heritage in the UK. Can you tell us more?
I launched St Brigid's Arms with Rosarie Walsh as part of Emerald LENS CIC to document the experiences of women of Irish heritage in the UK. Supported by £138,759 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and with match funding from the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies, we’ll run the project until February 2027, combining creative workshops and exhibitions to preserve stories that might otherwise be lost.
At the heart of the project is the St Brigid’s Arms, a fictional venue created as a space to house and celebrate these histories. The venue will come to life both as a physical showcase in Liverpool in the latter part of 2026 and a lasting interactive digital experience. The project launches in the same year as the 1,500th anniversary of the death of St Brigid - one of Ireland’s 3 patron saints, known for her association with creativity, protection and community. Like a traditional Irish pub, the St Brigid’s Arms will serve as a gathering place, where experiences of migration, identity and heritage are shared through art and storytelling.
Workshops will take place in Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds, with support from Stretford Public Hall, Leeds Irish Arts Foundation and Liverpool Irish Festival. Individuals who identify as women - including both people born in Ireland and those with Irish ancestry - will be invited to explore profound questions about their identity.
What was the inspiration for this incredible project?
I first developed the idea when submitting a proposal to a call out by FACT Liverpool which was unsuccessful. I liked the idea and didn't forget about it.
I met Rosarie, who's from Cork, Ireland, when we collaborated on a project in Manchester called Mothers in Crisis: Then and Now. We bonded over our shared Irish heritage, and when I brought up my idea we agreed to develop it together.
Rosarie and I became interested in exploring women's experiences of 'Irishness' when not in Ireland and how growing up in a diaspora community compares to growing up in Ireland and then moving to England. We wanted the work to be representative of the diverse nature of Irish women's voices and backgrounds, and agreed a fictional, pub-like building with a female name would be a powerful metaphor.
I love the fact that this success has been developed from an initial failure, an important reminder that no experience is ever wasted.
How can people get involved?
Anyone can stay up-to-date on the project including ways to get involved by following @EmeraldLensCIC and @lydiaoharaartist on Instagram.
