Artist Statement

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Through a combination of mixed media and wearable art, I create immersive installations and narrative bodies of work and performance spaces as a vehicle for storytelling.

While my work may speak to broader narratives, a large focus centers on my own journey and experiences as a woman. I continuously search to better understand myself and the lives and motives of other women navigating through patriarchal society. I often wonder whether I would have the same belief systems and morality code if I were brought up with different environmental factors. I question if I would be the same person if I were brought up to believe different values and truths. Would I accept my role as a woman if faced with oppressive confines, living in another time or place? My work explores class and gender, throughout history, and across cultures through the women I study.

I consider how my subjects are perceived and portrayed, as governed through the standard of the male gaze, without their own autonomy. It is within this power structure and dynamic that women of all class levels and races act and react to the conditions set forth.

I often depict female archetypes inspired by religious mythologies and literature, historical reference points, and contemporary media. The subject matter of my work often drives the way in which I interpret it. At times my work can be seen as kitschy and satirical, while other times it takes a much darker, more visceral approach.

As I continue to examine the lives and motives of other women, whether fictional or actual, I begin to better understand myself.

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Artist Biography

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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. Her continued passion for education and learning has driven her research and the themes she follows in her work, incorporating history and literary references. She is always learning new techniques and processes herself, finding multifaceted ways to express her vision. In 2020 she began experimenting with performance art and wearable sculpture in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and has continued this practice in new directions of exploration and expression.

In addition to her own art practice, O’Connor has acted as an independent curator since 2017 and worked at BSB Gallery in Trenton, NJ from 2018-2020 as a gallery manager and curator. While at BSB Gallery, she coordinated educational programming and events that related to each exhibition she curated.

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Education

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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

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Residencies

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2024
Bischoff Inn Micro-Residency (March 2024), Tamaqua, PA

2023
ChaNorth Residency (July 2023), Pine Plains, NY

2022
Artist in Residency, Elsewhere Studios November 2022), 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

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Publications and Press

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2020
O'Shea, Patrick, “Creating from crisis: 6 N.J. performers share responses to COVID-19”, NJ Advanced Media, September

Norton, Sue J., “Janson Collaborative Project”

"Victim Shame, Body Blame" On Display At Chashama's Space To Present In Matawan, March, 2020

2018
Ananaia, Billy, “Treacherous Women Now Showing at the Atlantic Highlands Arts Council”, Asbury Park Press, March

2017
Gervasi, Angela, "Temple Represented by Artists at Nasty Women”, The Temple News, January

“Of Lines Drawn,”, Tales from the Forest: Issue 4, January

Indie Soleil Magazine, pg. 52-53 & back cover, January

“A Woman’s Place is in the Revolution,” Resist, pg. 24

2016
Acerra, Danielle, “Lost Connections,” X.it Artzine, pg. 21-22, Spring: Monmouth Arts Quarterly
News, NJ, 2016

Solo Exhibitions and Collaborations

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The Maiden & The Crone, (Solo, 2021), Outlander Gallery, Jersey City, NJ

Art Fair 14C (Collaboration with Laurie Pettine and Leslie Sheryll, November 2021), The Glass Gallery at Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ

Victim Shame, Body Blame (Solo, 2020), Chashama Studios, Matawan, NJ

Absent Memories, Vacant Dreams (Solo, 2018), Waterwitch, Highlands, NJ

Hallow (Collaboration with Timothy Lucas and Cecilia Martinez, 2018) Basecamp, Trenton, NJ

Treacherous Women (Solo, 2018), Atlantic Highlands Arts Council, Atlantic Highlands, NJ/WarrenCommunity College

Lost Connections (Collaboration with Kate Eggleston and Andrea D’Alessandro, 2016), ArtSpace105,Monmouth Arts Council, Red Bank, NJ

Automaton (Collaboration with Kate Eggleston, 2016), ArtLab Gallery, Artworks, Trenton, NJ

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Performance and Installations

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2024
(upcoming)In Memorium (working title), ArtLab Gallery, Mendham, NJ

Voulez Vous Danser ave Moi? (Do You Want to Dance with Me?), performed with ChaShaMa, NY, NY

2023
Diamonds Are a Queen’s Best Friend, performed with ChaShaMa, NY, NY, ChaShaMa Gala,Bryant Park, NY, Drawing Rooms, Jersey City, NJ

2022
Holding Court (2022), 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 (2021), performed at ChaShaMa Gala, Times Square, NY/ JCAST, Jersey City, NJ/ Art AllNight 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

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Group

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2023
Devil’s in the Details, WaterWorks Art Museum, Miles City, MT

Dreamland, Hamilton Street Gallery, Bound Brook, NJ

Is It Me?, Trolley Barn Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY

Making the Cut, Shoebox Projects LA, (online), LA, CA

Flora/Fauna, ProArts Gallery, Jersey City, NJ

Visions of Spring, WomensWorkArt, Poughkeepsie, NY

Facial Recognition, The Dime, Burlington, NJ

Crafting Nature, InLiquid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

GoggleWorks Annual Juried Exhibition, GoggleWorks, Reading, PA

The Marvelous and Unusual, Powell Lane Arts, Collingswood, NJ

The Unbearable Lightness of the Fantastical and Unwearable Art Show, Drawing Rooms, Jersey City, NJ

It Is Written, Powell Lane Arts, Collingswood, NJ‍

Thriller, AlterWork Studios, Astoria, NY

Can’t Look Away, The Dime, Burlington, NJ

2022
Faces & Facades, Curator, Adam Sanders & Barbara A. Friedman, Atlantic Highlands Arts Council, Atlantic Highlands, NJ

Small Works Members Show, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL

New Now V, InLiquid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

REEMERGE, Off the Wall Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Resilient II, Curator, Ivy Brown, Art 150 Gallery, Jersey City, NJ

Don’t Say Gay, Royal Society of American Art, Brooklyn, NY

In the Darkness, Brooklyn Art Cave, Brooklyn, NY

Fragile, Hamilton Street Gallery, Bound Brook, NJ

Heartlines Continue, Ceres Gallery, NY, NY

2021
Rewrite HerStory: Women Making the World Better, Drawing Rooms on ARTSY, Jersey City, NJ

Normal, Art In Odd Places 2021, New York, NY

215|610 CONTEMPORARY Juried Exhibition of Regional Emerging Artists, Delaware Community College, Virtual Exhibition
Curator: Christina Vassallo

Fotographia, Emerge Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY

Unraveled, The Untitled Space, NY, NY

Through the Eye, Women’s Work Art, Poughkeepsie, NY

The ChaShaMa Matawan 11, Atlantic Highlands Arts Council, Atlantic Highlands, NJ

215|610 CONTEMPORARY Juried Exhibition of Regional Emerging Artists, Curator, Christina Vassallo, Delaware Community College, Virtual Exhibition

Womyn’s Werq, Studio Montclair, Montclair, NJ
Curator: Donna. R Kessinger

The Empowering, Art150 Gallery, Jersey City, NJ
Curator: Danielle Scott

Privilege, Power, and Everyday Life, Studio Montclair, Montclair, NJ
Curator: Theda Sandiford

2020
Primarily Red, Emerge Gallery, Saugerties, NY

Memories, Gallery 40, Poughkeepsie, NY

Exhale, Art House Productions, Jersey City, NJ

The Feminine Agenda, Women’s Work.Art, Poughkeepsie, NY

ProArts Salons, Online Exhibition

Isolation, Emerge Gallery, Saugerties, NY

Luck, ChaShaMa Studios, Matawan, NJ

Doom and Bloom, West Windsor Arts Council, West Windsor, NJ

Annual Snow Ball Gala, Arthouse Productions, Jersey City, NJ

2019
ProArts Salons, Watchung Arts Center, Watchung, NJ

Cathedral Arts Festival, Grace Church, Jersey City, NJ

Clear as Crystal Cold as Ice, LITM, Jersey City, NJ

It’s Not You It’s Me, Art House Productions, Jersey City, NJ

Identity, The Gallery Space, Rahway, NJ

Shiny Objects, LITM, Jersey City, NJ

Inside/Outside, Plaxall Gallery, LIC, NY

2018Primarily Red, Emerge Gallery, Saugerties, NY

Winter Blues, Hamilton Street Gallery, Bound Brook, NJ

Tectum, Dusklit, Seligmann Homestead, Sugar Loaf, NY
Installation

Who Are We? Who Am I?, Grace Church, Jersey City, NJ

The Earth Speaks, Barron Arts Center, Woodbridge, NJ

Neon, LITM, Jersey City, NJ

Selected Women, Selected Pieces, Waterwitch, Highlands, 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
Fine Art Specialization Exhibit, Courtney Art Gallery of New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ