What We Love-Meet the artist

The JoAnn Rose Gallery at Reston Community Center will feature What We Love a new solo exhibition by Alexandria artist Alfa Tate O’Neill opening November 3 and running through November 30 2025. The public is invited to a Meet the Artist Reception on Sunday November 9 from 2–4 PM.

O’Neill’s work blends acrylic paint photography and hand-applied “bling” — rhinestones crushed diamonds and jewelry pieces — to transform familiar subjects into luminous dreamlike portraits. Her pieces explore the beauty of memory elevating everyday moments of family friendship and place into shimmering visions of “magical realism.”

“Each work begins with a photograph — a fragment of real life — and evolves through paint and light into something more emotional than literal” says O’Neill. “I want the viewer to feel that sense of recognition and wonder at once — as though the memory itself has come to life.”

After a 35-year career in Los Angeles film marketing promoting major motion pictures (The Hunger Games Batman Argo and The Hurt Locker among others) O’Neill relocated to Alexandria during the pandemic and turned her creative lens toward fine art. Her work has recently been exhibited at The Art League at the Torpedo Factory Nepenthe Gallery and now at Reston’s JoAnn Rose Gallery.

“Alfa brings cinematic storytelling and visual polish to the canvas” said Gail Silverman art connoisseur of Reston. “Her pieces shimmer both literally and emotionally — they celebrate how art like memory can be both vivid and elusive.”

What We Love continues O’Neill’s exploration of how traditional artistic techniques can coexist with modern technology and individuality in an AI-driven age. Her process emphasizes human touch and materiality — each piece is entirely handcrafted.

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