I am especially interested in how women have been perceived and portrayed throughout history, literature, and modern forms of media through the lens of the male gaze. I often wonder how patriarchal standards affect societal and cultural norms and mores as a whole, religious and social class systems and gender and sexuality.
My work often depicts female archetypes inspired by fairytales, mythologies, and historical figures in multilayered mixed media bodies of work and installations. I create maximalist works that mimic the way in which we are so frequently bombarded with imagery and notions that perpetuate patriarchal and oppressive viewpoints.
My current body of work, On Love & Consumption, is an interdisciplinary body of mixed media works that plays on a kitsch aesthetic and a maximalist approach that critiques higher social classes and gender through satire and dark humor. Using the historical archetype of Marie Antoinette, reimagined with a modern twist, I combine painting, sculpture, poetry and performance to examine the current state or 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, paying particular scrutiny on the women of this class system as they simultaneously function as both the oppressed and oppressors themselves.
Artist Biography
Christy E. O’Connor is an interdisciplinary artist who lives and works in the New York metro area. She combines wearable sculpture, performance, and 2D mixed media works to create narrative bodies of work and installations.
Education
2010 Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ M.S.E.D., Special Education
2006 Ramapo College of New Jersey, Mahwah, NJ B.A., Visual Arts
Awards & Honors
Residencies
2022
Artist in Residency, Elsewhere Studios, Paonia, CO
Two time recipient Artist in Residency, Eileen Kaminsky Family Foundation MANA, Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ
2020 Artist in Residency, AlterWork Studio, Long Island City, NY
AlterWork Studios, Long Island City, NY
2017
Artist Professional Development Program, Creative Capital, Artworks, Trenton, NJ
2016 Creative Capital Blended Professional Development Program for Artists, Trenton, NJ
Art on the Edge, AHAC, Atlantic Highlands, NJ Curator: Anthony “Weird Eye”
Women’s History Month, JC Cultural Affairs, Jersey City, NJ
Angels, Wild and Winsome, Metuchen, NJ
Triggered, Milkweed, Sugarloaf, NY
This Is Us, ChaShaMa Studios, Matawan, NJ
2017 Unapologetic Art Show, LITM, Jersey City, NJ Curator: The Vagilante
Greetings From Montclair, Studio Montclair, Montclair, NJ
Little Wonders, LITM, Jersey City, NJ
10x10 Art Show, Artworks, Trenton, NJ
About Faced, Atlantic Highlands Arts Council, Atlantic Highlands, NJ
What’s Next, Harborside Atrium, Jersey City, NJ
Eraserhood Forever 2017, PhiliaMoca, Philadelphia, PA
Trans Degenerate, Milkweed, Sugar Loaf, NY
Facing Dreams, Heaven Arts Gallery, Asbury Park, NJ
Against the Grain, Artworks, Trenton, NJ
Rinse, Lather, Repeat, Hamilton Street Gallery, Bound Brook, NJ
Fear, JCTC, Jersey City, NJ
Grass is Greener, Gallery U, Westfield, NJ
Guilty Pleasures, Volition Gallery, Orangeburg, NY
The Garden of Earthly Delights, Plaxall Gallery, Long Island City, NY,
Dusklit: Interactive Art Bazaar, The Seligmann Homestead, Sugar Loaf, NY
Undertow, LITM, Jersey City, NJ
Art All Night, Artworks, Trenton, NJ
Whatever, The Raven Gallery and Boutique, Jersey City, NJ
Solstice, Pro Arts, Jersey City, NJ
Iconic, Woodbridge Artisan Guild, Woodbridge, NJ
Wildness and Wonder, Concord Public Library, Concord, MA
Elephant in the Room, Hamilton Street Gallery, Bound Brook, NJ
The Raven Turns 3!, The Raven Gallery and Boutique, Jersey City, NJ
Everyday People, Gallery U, Westfield, NJ
Common Threads 5, Hopewell Valley Vineyard, Hopewell, NJ
Love Letters, LITM, Jersey City, NJ
Politicked Off!, Milkweed, Sugar Loaf, NY
2016 Small Wonders, LITM, Jersey City, NJ
10×10 Art Show, Artworks, Trenton, NJ
Wish List, Boonton Arts and Speakeasy Art Gallery, Boonton, NJ
Heart Wood, Hamilton Street Gallery, Bound Brook, NJ
Wicked, Belmar Arts Council, Belmar, NJ
Art of Darkness Haunting at the Bayou, Artworks, Trenton, NJ
Eraserhood Forever: Eraser Head Tribute, PhilaMoca, Philadelphia, PA
Mystic and Mayhem, The Raven Gallery and Boutique, Jersey City, NJ
Haunting at the Hive, Hive Gallery, Chester, NJ
Vanity, Jersey City Theatre Center, Jersey City, NJ
Out of the Box, Gallery U, Westfield, NJ
Dusklit: Interactive Art Bazaar, The Seligmann Homestead, Sugar Loaf, NY
Art All Night, Artworks, Trenton, NJ
Hat Show, 313 Gallery, Jersey City, NJ
Emerging Artists Series, A.J. Dillon Art Gallery, Atlantic Highlands, NJ
Boonton Arts Dog Days of Summer, Boonton Arts and Speakeasy Art Gallery, Boonton, NJ
St. Baldrick’s Benefit Art Show, The Irish Pol, Philadelphia, PA
The Raven Turns 2!, The Raven Gallery and Boutique, Jersey City, NJ
Blanco, Gallery U, Westfield, NJ
2015 Everything but the Kitchen Sink, A.J. Dillon Art Gallery, Atlantic Highlands, NJ
10x10 Art Show, Artworks, Trenton, NJ
Land of Misfit Toys, The Raven Gallery and Boutique, Jersey City, NJ
Art of Darkness—Carnival of Souls, Artworks, Trenton, NJ
Something Wicked, Gallery U, Westfield, NJ
Revolution, The Arts Corner, Atlantic Highlands, NJ
Pequenos: A Group Exhibition of Small Works, Gallery U, Westfield, NJ
Hands for Mental Health Project, Verona Park, Verona, NJ/Yanticaw Park, Nutley, NJ Outdoor Art Installation
Art All Night, Artworks, Trenton, NJ
Boonton Arts Dog Days of Summer, Boonton Arts and Speakeasy Art Gallery, Boonton, NJ
Women Waging the Way, Monmouth University, W. Long Branch, NJ Art Auction
Grand Tiny, Trenton Works Gallery, Trenton, NJ
2014 10x10 Art Show, Artworks, Trenton, NJ
Art of Darkness, Artworks, Trenton, NJ
2002 - 2006 Senior Thesis Exhibit, Kresge and Pascal Gallery of Ramapo College, Mahwah, NJ
Photography Specialization Exhibit, Courtney Art Gallery of New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ
Fine Art Specialization Exhibit, Courtney Art Gallery of New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ
Performances
2023
Diamonds Are a Queen’s Best Friend, performed with ChaShaMa, NY, NY
2022
Holding Court, performed at Elsewhere Studios, Paonia, CO
Luncheon in the Grass with Marie, performed at ChaNorth Residency, Pine Plains, NY
Diner en Blanc, performed at Lincoln Park, Jersey City, NJ
Raise a Drink to Dystopia, performed at Off the Wall Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2021
Eat, Buy, Love, performed at ChaShaMa Gala, Times Square, NY/ JCAST, Jersey City, NJ/ Art All Night, Virtual Live Stream, Trenton, NJ/ Art In Odd Places, NY, NY
Let Me Tell You a Story, The Glass Gallery, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ
2020 Christmas in Quarantine, Art All Night Virtual Live Stream, Trenton, NJ
Tea Time in Turbulence, Berrie Center for the Arts, Ramapo College, Mahwah, NJ
