Shop Available Works by Richard O'Brien

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Artist Statement

I am a self-taught artist who uses art to make sense of the mystery of life. Much of my work is abstract, which portrays a fractured sense of both the external world and the internal. My paintings then serve as a visual record of my coming to grips with reality while at the same time stoking the chaos within me, they serve to reiterate that my eternal self exists in this finite body despite the odds.

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Bio

I am a self-taught artist who lives in New Jersey (USA). I majored in English during my undergraduate years at Rutgers-Camden. Later, I went on to earn an MFA in Creative Writing at Fairleigh Dickinson University. When I am not busy painting, I write novels and teach part-time at University of Delaware. While writing fiction has been rewarding, art, specifically painting, has always been my first love.

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Awards

2026
Absolutely Abstract, Juried Exhibition, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA
Honorable Mention: Momo’s Pancakes & Blueberries

Jury Prize for Best Depiction of a Creator in Chaos: “Autobiography of a Young Alcoholic
Writer” in Creativity in Chaos (Juried Exhibition)—Off the Wall Gallery Dirty Frank’s,
Philadelphia, PA

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Online Exhibitions

2023 - 2024
Magix 2023 Group Exhibition, Exhibizone

2023
Nightmare on Art Street, KBM Art Gallery

Exhibitions

2026
Absolutely Abstract, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition

2025
Disrupted Realism, Powell Lane Arts, Collingswood, NJ

Creativity in Chaos, Off the Wall Gallery Dirty Frank’s, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition

‍Night Movies, The Plastic Club, Philadelphia, PA

2024
Absolutely Abstract, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition

Materials Matter, Powell Lane Arts, Collingswood, NJ
Juried Exhibition

Faculty and Members Exhibition, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, NJ

ViewPoints 2024, Studio Montclair Gallery, Montclair, NJ
Juried Exhibition

Works on Paper, Juried Exhibition Medford Arts Center, Medford, NJ

Small Works/Big Impressions, Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL

2023
Works On Paper, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA

Homage, 311 Gallery, Raleigh, NC
Juried Group Exhibition

The Drama of Light and Shadow, MVA Gallery, Bethlehem, PA
Juried Group Exhibition

Veterans and Active Military Pop-Up Exhibition, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, NJ