Latest collaboration: Déa's work Security Jumper was exhibited as part of the 2025 Shape Open exhibition Rights Cuts Action.

Artist statement: Déa Neile-Hopton is a multiply marginalised (Black, disabled and Neurodivergent), interdisciplinary artist, craftsperson and teacher. As an artist she is currently interested in exploring the experience of marginalisation by connecting somatically with materials and process, allowing intuition and the subconscious to lead the work. She enjoys working with communities, exploring hidden histories and finding bridges and commonalities between different peoples experiences.

In the last decade Déa has been exploring her physical and emotional self in relation to nature and to historical methods of working with natural materials. By growing and harvesting some of the materials she uses and through this experiencing rhythms and patterns of working which humans have practiced for millennia Déa searches for a sense of connection; to the land, her local community, to our ancestors and to the animals and plants we share our spaces with.

Déa is particularly curious about the ways that people without power or wealth have told their stories, made art, resisted oppression and created social change. She is fascinated in the stories behind objects and the links between sometimes ordinary items and complex topics like global history, current day social dynamics and politics. She uses her work to consider power dynamics, social structures, cultural ideologies and how these factors intersect with the environments we live in. 

Déa studied a BA in Sculpture at Bretton Hall College of the University of Leeds. Circus and performance at Greentop Circus and Circomedia. She holds qualifications in textiles, garment construction, pattern cutting, and fashion design and has trained with American movement artist Stephanie Skura. Déa is also a highly trained basket maker. She has worked with The Small World Theatre in Cardigan, BBC 1’s BAFTA-winning Make it at Market, Ceredigion Museum, The British Museum, the National Autistic Society at Chelsea Flower Show, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Ceredigion Museum Wales, Heritage Crafts, and the Basket Makers Association.

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