Interview: Christy E. O’Connor
Christy E. O’Connor is an American interdisciplinary artist who lives and works in the New York metropolitan area. She received her BA in visual arts at Ramapo College of New Jersey. She has shown her work in galleries and museums throughout the region and extending out through the U.S., including Ceres Gallery in New York, InLiquid Gallery in Philadelphia, Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, and Water Works Art Museum in Montana. O’Connor has been awarded artist residencies to ESKFF (Jersey City, NJ) in 2021 and ChaNorth (Pine Plains, NY) in 2023, to name a few.
Prior to her professional art practice, O’Connor was an educator, teaching early childhood and special needs learners. In 2015, O’Connor transitioned her focus towards a full-time arts career. She creates immersive installations and narrative bodies of work as storytelling devices. Through a combination of 2d mixed media, sculpture, wearable art, and performance she depicts female archetypes and surreal entities inspired by mythology and literature, historical reference points, and contemporary media.
The visual landscape of her work often faces two opposing dichotomies, from dark and visceral, to vivid color hues filled with camp. The common thread seen throughout her work is shown through her use of surrealism, kitsch aesthetic, maximalist approach and embellishment.
Read our interview with Christy below!
Installation view of The Maiden and the Crone, 2021
PP: Walk us through a typical day in your studio or generally through your process to make new work.
CO: A typical studio day is determined by where I am in my art process, from planning stage to completion. I am most productive in the mornings, starting with a cup of coffee, as I work. I usually start my days with listmaking. I love a good list, and nothing is more satisfying than crossing tasks off of it. On the days I forget to begin my practice without a list, I will go back to write down what I’ve accomplished just so I can cross them off. Typically, I am working on multiple works at the time, moving back and forth in the studio between painting and sculpture, usually with trash comfort TV in the background I’ve seen a million times, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or a cult documentary.
My process is actually somewhat fluid. I may have an idea in my head of what I am aiming to create, but it moves and changes as I create. Sculpture comes more naturally to me. There is something about forming shapes and figures with my hands that I find to be relaxing and meditative. It also has this problem solving aspect to it that I just love, especially when it comes to making wearable art; “how will I get this to balance properly?” “will this move with me the way I want it to”, etc. My 2D mixed media works, however, are thought out more meticulously, as I focus on the composition and subject of my work. It is the embellishment stage that I truly love, because it allows me to have spontaneity and brings in those tactile components that I enjoy so much in my practice.
Installation view from the ChaShaMa Gala, 2024
Installation view of In Memoriam, 2024
PP: What motivates you to make art?
CO: I honestly don’t know what motivates me to make art. I would say that instead, I feel driven or compelled to create. It is a part of who I am. I have a need for my art practice. Without it, I become depressed and feel purposeless. I have dreams about a piece of artwork I’ve made and I wake up knowing I need to create it. I have these ideas inside of me that need to come out, and I only have a finite time in this world to get them out of me before I no longer can.
PP: What challenges have you faced as an artist and how do you overcome them?
CO: One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced over the years as an artist has been overcoming moments of imposter syndrome and anxiety meeting new people. Once I was finished with school, I abandoned my art practice for over ten years, after a sour experience in higher education, and a lack of confidence in my work and abilities. It was only after all of my artwork from college was destroyed in Hurricane Sandy, that I revisited the work, as I bagged it all up for the garbage, realizing it wasn’t as bad as I had remembered. That was the catalyst for me to renew my art practice. With the help of supportive friends, I began applying to put my work into exhibitions, and learned how to navigate the new terrain. The first few art openings I attended, I stood in the corner, barely talking to anyone, feeling uncomfortable and out of place. I realized, if this was something I really wanted to do, then I needed to figure out a way to change my behavior and mindset, otherwise I was just torturing myself, and to what end? I began to focus on building meaningful friendships with other artists I met and got to know in more personable settings that I was more relaxed in, including workshops, artist meetups, and even through Instagram messaging. For me, this journey has not been about networking or chasing the next opportunity. It’s about building a community and a support network of people, from so many different walks of life and different perspectives and stages, that I have admired and feel honored to be a part of. Rather than holding myself back, and continuing to allow myself to believe that “I am not good enough” or “I don’t belong” in these spaces, I have told myself, “I get to be a part of these spaces” and “I get to know these other amazing people”. I remind myself that if “I wasn’t good enough” to be in a space, then my work wouldn’t be hanging alongside my peers. Although I may not have completely rid myself from imposter syndrome and social anxiety, I continue to use strategies to help me grow more comfortable in these space and in my own skin from professional workshops I have taken, artist podcasts, like The Artist Advisory, Pep Talks for Artists and Art Problems, and books they’ve recommended along the way.
Her Tongue Was Filled with Poison, For It Spoke the Truth, Mixed media painting (acrylic, watercolor, pen & ink, intaglio, photo transfer of performance still), 21 x 27 inches, 2021
PP: What role do you think artists have in society today? What role should they have?
CO: I believe every artist has their own self defined role and personal journey. Every artist’s role in society is as unique as they are. While some artists are driven towards the political realm, others may be focused on understanding themselves and the world around them better. Some artists may simply be driven to create for the sake of it, driven to make something that may bring others joy or beauty into the world, or to create meditative processes for themselves. I am personally drawn to artwork that speaks to a larger narrative of the body politic and creates a dialogue. But I believe art is holistic. Everyone has a right to it. Everyone has a right to make it. Everyone has a right to create what they want for themselves or for others.
PP: Who is a current muse for your practice? Could be anyone fictional or real, dead or alive!
CO: I have many muses in my art practice. I have an entire series of work dedicated to a modern day caricature of Marie Antoinette. I use her as a vehicle to discuss the current state of late stage capitalism and its parallels to the French Revolution in terms of wealth inequality and economic oppression, coupled with the seemingly insatiable appetites of the upper crust, and how women within that class structure play dueling roles as both the oppressed and the oppressor.
To learn more about Christy’s work, see her Instagram and Website