Practical Magic: Danni O'Brien
Danni O’Brien, installation view of Slinky and the Abacus, 2019
Practical Magic is an online interview series with early and mid-career creatives. Through a selection of prompts we spotlight each person’s practice and (hopefully) prove art world creatives are the real influencers of today.
interview with: DANNI O’BRIEN
artist, curator
Danni O’Brien is a queer interdisciplinary artist and art educator based in Baltimore, Maryland. We first met Danni during her residency in 2019 at The Wassaic Project and solidified the opportunity to show her work in a group presentation for Satellite Fair in the fall of 2019 in NY.
Her practice is rooted in scavenging, playing, and tinkering, and revolves around her interest in domestic histories, 1990s HGTV craft shows, and anti-capitalist survival. Trained in sculpture, fiber arts, and ceramics, she marries precarious, haphazard assemblage with meticulous and tender processes such as hand tied latch hook rug making and kneaded paper pulp encasing to compose her dually hard and soft objects.O’Brien has been awarded artist residencies at Baltimore Clay Works, The Wassaic Project, PLOP, The Maple Terrace, Art Farm, and Proyecto Ace. Her work has been exhibited at SPRING/BREAK Art Show NYC, School 33, Arlington Art Center, Little Berlin, Terrault, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, and published in Architectural Digest, ArtMaze, and Hiss Mag.
We connected in early May to see what Danni had been doing to keep herself creative during quarantine, and revisit the themes in her work - check it out!
PP: Current binge-worthy tv/film recommendation?
DO: I’m not typically a big TV watcher but during this quarantine I’ve been indulging in my dorkiness and watching The West Wing. I also adore Curb your Enthusiasm, Working Moms, and Sex Education.
PP: Where do you live and how does it affect your practice/career? What's the creative community like there?
DO: I live and work in Downtown Baltimore. I moved up the pond from D.C. about a year and a half ago because I was ready for a change of scenery and was attracted to the DIY and artist-run space scene here. I fell into an amazing sublet that turned long term in an affordable artist live/work space building and I feel so fortunate to be here. Baltimore is great- a little grungy, raw, full of good trash I can collect for my practice, and home to many beautiful, vibrant folks. The art scene here is inclusive and supportive and there are some amazing spaces like Terrault (that closed this past month), Resort, Mono Practice, School 33, St. Charles Projects, and ICA Baltimore, to name a few of my faves.
PP: What are you listening to in your studio or when you work?
DO: Soul, funk, jazz, instrumentals, and strong, sexy, silky femme voices—Cutis Mayfield, Smokey Robinson, William Onyeabor, Betty Davis, Ann Peebles, The New Birth, Ohio Players, Parliament, BADBADNOTGOOD, madlib, Cecil Taylor, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Solange, FKA Twigs, Fiona Apple, Xenia Rubinos, Sampa the Great, to name a few… [quite the list already if you ask us!}
Danni at the preview opening for the Spring/Break Art Show NY, 2020 (in the booth of work by Jen Dwyer, curated by PP co-founder Lauren Hirshfield)
PP: What is the next big milestone you've set for yourself? How close to achieving it are you?
DO: I’m not a super linear thinker but having a New York two or three-person show would be a milestone.
PP: What is a typical day in the life for you as a creative? How do you structure your day/week to manage your practice?
DO: During the pandemic I’ve developed a new motto: “Every day is a gamble!” There are days I feel so little drive or focus that I don’t work towards my practice. Other days I am up until 2am working on sculptures, collages, and drawings. My current practice has a lot to do with precarity and balance, literally and figuratively. I shove found objects into each other, dangle them off one another, and wedge them underneath each other to see how they can teeter and stand up on their own. My making is like playing a game or conducting an experiment. I allow the materials I scavenge and collect to inform and redirect me and use playing, tinkering, dancing, fiddling, and mending as guiding practices.
installation view of Tongue Puddles, Danni’s solo show with School 33, 2019
not sure if it counts as a meme, but when prompted for her current favorite, Danni sent us this (left)
PP: Did you receive a formal education for the work you do currently? Either way, do you think it has supported/informed the outcome of your career and your future goals?
DO: Yes, I got my degree in sculpture [from James Madison University] while working closely with faculty in fiber art, ceramics, and printmaking. Though my work has changed significantly I find myself returning to some of the same materials/processes I was working with then. I had amazing faculty who were actively making and showing and that had a huge impact on me. I also studied education and proceeded to teach public middle school art for a few years. My studio practice morphed a lot during this time and was synced up and overlapped with my teaching practice. Now, during quarantine, I have a chance to revisit work I was making several years ago and am finding it exciting and provocative to dissect and re-imagine.
PP: What's your favorite article of clothing to wear and why?
DO: Pointer brand work pants. They are thick and stiff and so when I put them on I am ready to work and can’t comfortably lay down [laughs]!
Arm Candies, 2020, mixed media, dimensions variable
To learn more about Danni’s practice or follow her online, check out:
Practical Magic interviews post every Tuesday and Thursday - check back weekly to see who we’re chatting with next.