Aphra O'Connor
Artist Bio
I creatively document my internal landscapes, articulating what it is to exist inside my mind, allowing audiences to perceive what I experience daily and open up conversations around mental health and neurodiversity. Time makes me anxious and everything I make dissects it in some way.
This piece expresses this, juxtaposing the left side ‘present’ where shapes are definite, and colours bold, with the right ephemeral side of malleable pastel forms referencing a changeable future.
Selected Work
Name: A Landscape of Present and FutureI creatively document my internal landscapes, expressing what it is to exist inside my mind, inviting audiences to experience my daily reality and start conversations on mental health and neurodiversity. This piece contrasts the bold, definite present with soft, malleable pastels, suggesting an uncertain, changeable future.
The painting/cutout is based on a photo from the 1930s when constructing skyscrapers became a strong drive, and the competition to build the world’s tallest building was fierce. I used this image as a symbol of human desire. I replaced the ridiculous-looking hats in the photo with more recent tall buildings, indicating ongoing development and devastation to our environment, using a lone frog to represent nature.
Medium: Mixed Media/Cutout on board (framed)
Size: 66cm x 86cm framed, (60cm x 80cm unframed)
Year: 2024