Dorothy O'Connor
Dorothy O'Connor | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1970 |
| Education | Georgia State University, Creative Circus |
| Known for | Photography and installation art |
| Movement | Contemporary art |
| Website | https://www.dorothyoconnor.com |
Dorothy O'Connor is a photographer and installation artist, best known for her hand-crafted scenes that combine elements of still-life, portraiture, landscape, and performance.
Early life and education
[edit]O'Connor was educated at Georgia State University and received a BA degree in English Literature, with a minor in Studio Art in 1996.
At age 30 she returned to school to train as a photographer at the Creative Circus in Atlanta. After graduation, she worked assisting commercial photographers and worked in various roles in the commercial realm.[1]
Career
[edit]While still working in commercial photography, O'Connor began to build life-sized, fantastical sets, or "scenes", in her garage that she would then photograph.[1] The constructed "scenes" are all handcrafted by O'Connor and can take up to six months to complete.[2] Once the construction is completed, the "scenes" are captured with an 8×10 camera on film.
In 2008, O'Connor's work began to incorporate performance and the constructed installation scenes were open to the public to view in the style of a tableau vivant or "living picture".[2]
Work
[edit]Major exhibitions
[edit]In 2012, O'Connor received a Flux grant for her installation "Ceiling of Birds" to be shown in Flux Night, a large public art event in downtown Atlanta.[3]
In 2013, she was artist in residence at Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art in Nashville where she built and presented her installation, “Shelter.”[4]
In 2019, thirteen of her photographs, created between 2006 and 2017, were exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia for the solo exhibition "Dorothy O'Connor: Scenes".[2]
Public collections
[edit]O'Connor's work is part of the permanent collections at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia,[5] Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art,[4] and the Center for Fine Art Photography.[citation needed]
Awards and nominations
[edit]O'Connor has received grants from Possible Futures, FLUX[3] and the Forward Arts Foundation and Art on the Beltline[6] to present her installations as public art.
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Life and Work with Dorothy O'Conno". VoyageATL. September 11, 2018.
- ^ a b c Feaster, Felicia (September 19, 2019). "A Photographer Creates Elaborate, Magical Worlds Frozen in Time". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- ^ a b "Flux Night - Ceiling of Blackbirds".
- ^ a b Keel, Beverly (3 December 2013). "Scenes from a Room". Nashville Arts Magazine.
- ^ "MOCA GA Permanent Collection List". Archived from the original on 2021-05-05.
- ^ "Art on the Beltline - Dorothy O'Connor and Craig Appel". Art on the Beltline. Archived from the original on 2020-09-18.