About
Elizabeth O’Connor B.A. Vis Arts
Creating constitutes visual artist Elizabeth O’Connor’s existence. Her diverse and explorative creative practice navigates a variety of genres including painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, graphics, fashion + product design.
Elizabeth’s abstract expressionist paintings embark on a boundless artistic odyssey, fuelled by experimentation and various mediums. With the surface as the playground and serendipity guiding her hand, the spontaneous subconscious movement of paint becomes a conduit for unfiltered expression. Adopting an aleatoric approach and allowing her physical relationship with paint to dictate the direction of each mark, Elizabeth immerses herself wholeheartedly in the action, allowing chance to form a preponderant share in the creative process.
Mark-making is varied and characterised by haphazard, bold, unrestrained, energetic brushstrokes that cavort across the surface with swift velocity. Accompanying them are gestural, naive scribbles—a recurring theme in Elizabeth’s work, that in contrast appear to cautiously wander aimlessly throughout the composition. Each expression possesses the profound ability to awaken emotions and reveal hidden narratives, inviting viewers to make their own personal associations. Embracing a liberating absence of predefined signification, Elizabeth’s artwork makes no claims about any mode of philosophical debate nor references sociopolitical expression. Instead, she celebrates with colour taking centre stage through the orchestration of a symphony of atypical hues harmoniously fusing with form, texture + line as her foundational elements that transcend cultural boundaries and resonate with the fundamental fabric of sensory experience.
“Colour is my absolute obsession. I love creating atypical colour combinations and exploring the relationship between hues and tonal shifts.”
Elizabeth’s sculptural journey embraces the mesmerising allure of transformation, where the ordinary metamorphoses into extraordinary. Fascinated by the ethereal essence of a seemingly insignificant object—the crumpled piece of paper, she discovers a metaphorical portal in which to explore the complexities of its humble existence. Within the folds of the mundane, an unpretentious aesthetic lies concealed. Using the force of her own body weight, she coaxes the metal sheet to surrender its two-dimensional rigidity, hand guiding it into the realm of multidimensionality to reveal an alluring three-dimensional sculptural embodiment of bold, minimalist form. The interplay of light and shadow unveils the ephemeral dance of transience and permanence, evoking emotions that surpass the limitations of words. Each intricate fold, crinkle and contour suggests its own whispered narrative – an invitation for the viewer to engage with the work and witness the silent dialogue between form and function, chaos and order, fragility and resilience.
Holding a Bachelor of Arts-Visual Arts from QUT and seeking a path in which she could express her innate entrepreneurial characteristics across a variety of creative disciplines, led her to forge an extensive and rewarding career spanning the arts, commercial interiors and fashion industries.
Elizabeth was the Founder | Creative Director of esteemed children’s lifestyle brand eeni meeni miini moh®. Unmatched for its inimitable colour palette/design language and stocked in 250+ selected boutiques from 2001-2018, the brand was often photographed on the children of international celebrities including Naomi Watts, Cate Blanchett, Miranda Kerr, Megan Gale, Chris Hemsworth and Hugh Jackman. After 17 years in the designer kids fashion industry, Elizabeth was in search of a new creative challenge and founded artsy luxe accessories brand - article:®, which operates exclusively online concertedly with her art practice, amalgamating her passion for art + fashion.
Throughout her comprehensive career, Elizabeth has travelled extensively for inspiration and enjoys working collaboratively across multiple creative disciplines in a variety of art forms + mediums. Residing in Brisbane, her work can be found in both corporate and private collections. Echoing Elizabeth’s creative practice, artist influencers are varied and include Pierre Soulages, Robert Motherwell, Franz Kline, Mark Rothko, Cy Twombly, Ellsworth Kelly, Henri Matisse (paper cuts), Clement Meadmore and John Chamberlain.
Works can be commissioned in various colours/sizes to integrate and elevate any space.
“Art need not always depict, suggest or define anything. It exists as a totality in it's own right."