HELP DIONNE RETURN TO ART SCHOOL

I'm returning to Central Saint Martins in London to complete my Master's after taking two years out because of serious health challenges, bereavement and financial hardship.

TO RETURN THIS SEPTEMBER, I'm raising £15,000 to make it possible to complete my degree. Here's the breakdown:

🎓 £10,000 – Returning to Central Saint Martins
Covers tuition fees, disability access costs, wellbeing support, materials, printing, research, travel and other essential study costs.

🌱 £5,000 – Time and stability to complete the work
Covers living expenses while studying, allowing me to focus on my final year without the constant pressure of financial insecurity.

£15,000 total

Ways to Support

DONATIONS OF £1 – £500

Every donation of £1 or more will automatically be entered into a raffle to receive one of three signed A3 archival prints.

DONATIONS OF £500 OR MORE

As a thank you for your generosity, I would be honoured to send you a signed A3 archival print, created in a limited edition especially for this fundraiser.

DONATIONS OF £2000 OR MORE

If you are in a position to support my return to Central Saint Martins with a gift of £2000 or more, I would be honoured to create a bespoke commissioned artwork, to be completed within a year of returning to my studies.

Every contribution, whatever the size, brings me one step closer to completing my Master's. Thank you for helping make this next chapter possible.

FUNDS CAN BE SENT HERE: 

Paypal

VIPPS (45082772 – Ketil)

Background

The last few years have been some of the most difficult of my life. I’ve lived with health challenges, anxiety and depression for many years, alongside the ongoing reality of trying to build a life and career without much of a safety net.

In 2020, I had my first public installation in Norway, finally beginning to share my work openly as an artist after years of keeping that part of myself hidden. The exhibition opened just before the pandemic changed everything. Like so many others, I had to adapt again, but without the financial security or support that many people had access to.

I eventually returned to education, beginning my Master's at Central Saint Martins. During my second year, in 2025, three close family bereavements happened in quick succession.

I took two years away from my studies to deal with the fallout. During that time, I became a Changemaker at the school exploring how to create equitable, inclusive, and infinite possibilities for students living with limitations, disabilities, and/or low residency. I continued my work building an alternative art school cofounding the Black Art Collective at Central Saint Martins (BLACCC) in 2024, creating events designed to create safer, more collaborative spaces for Black and marginalised students and to improve the experience of those who had felt excluded or unsupported. We ran a programme through 2026 and are awaiting to hear if this will continue.

I’ve continued where i could to host events thanks to the support of Patrons and ‘space to land’ supporters (Substack) including alt art school interventions and embodiment explorations.

A profoundly stressful incident last May triggered a severe and distressing cycle of systemic illness. The compounding pressure resulted in an incredibly intense medical period. My body went into a severe cycle of systemic illness that required multiple heavy, consecutive rounds of medication, while simultaneously navigating major complex chronic health challenges. The prolonged physical toll left me fighting profound fatigue as my body struggled to rebuild.

Building this while managing my own health challenges has taken a considerable toll. I also went six months without being paid, while putting much of my other work on hold to make space for the collective. For a long time, I’ve been surviving on very little, trying to keep everything moving, supporting others without much of a safety net.

But I’m still here. Still making work. Still researching. Still trying to find ways forward to hold space for community.

I’m now gently coming back from what has probably been the hardest period of my life so far. And I’m trying something different: asking for help.

I have one final opportunity to return to Central Saint Martins this September and complete my Masters. Two academic years is the maximum amount of time I can pause my studies. If I don’t return this autumn, I lose the opportunity to finish what I started.

I know I can do the work. What has made it difficult has been everything surrounding the work: health, grief, financial insecurity and the constant pressure of trying to survive.

This fundraiser is about creating enough stability to change that, to return to my studies, continue my research and make the work I’ve been working towards for so long.

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Since last November, my body has navigated an incredibly intense medical period. I have been managing a complex combination of systemic illness, multiple rounds of heavy medications, and significant hormonal changes all at once. The prolonged physical toll has caused severe, ongoing fatigue and forced me to take some necessary time out from university. This fundraiser is my way of rebuilding and stepping forward after a deeply challenging year of recovery.