Conor O'Brien

Having graduated in 2023 from MTU Crawford College of Art & Design with a BA (Honours) in Fine Art, Conor received first-class honours, was long listed for the RDS Visual Art Awards 2023 and awarded a number of exhibitions based on the work in their graduate show: Graduate Group Exhibition @ Lavit Gallery, Student Engagement Exhibition Award @ James Barry Exhibition Centre & MART Exhibition Award. They were granted an Agility Award from the Arts Council in 2024. Conor is a member of the Backwater Artists Network, currently working from their studio at Sample Studios on their first solo exhibition at the Triskel Arts Centres ‘Triskel Sample Project Space’ in December of 2025.

Artist Statement 

Exploring the relationship between transgender bodies and the alien-other of science fiction & horror, my paintings act as a gateway to a dimension occupied by divine queer bodies.

Trans & Genderqueer bodies are being weaponised politically by right wing movements worldwide. The discussion around trans identity in media, which largely seems to ignore or underrepresent trans voices, has reduced the issue to ‘us’ and ‘them’. This dehumanises and alienates trans people, who instead become a scapegoat to be feared, rather than individuals to be understood.

Abjection as termed by Julie Kristeva in her book Powers of Horror refers to that which does not “respect borders, positions, rules,” instead “disturbs identity, system, order”. My work looks to utilise this concept of Abjection as a liberatory field to explore ways of being that challenges paternal law.

The bodies, referred to as Visitors, that appear in my paintings are fluid, porous & permeable. They pull on forms of life native to earth such as fungi or marine life, informing the viewer that they are more like us than we might initially think.

Confronted with bodies set apart from our understanding of sentience, viewers are asked to reckon with their own relationship to bodily autonomy & self determination. As trans and genderqueer people, we do not need to justify our existence or identity to anyone. By merely existing we challenge and dismantle preconceived notions of gender. This may frighten, disturb, or enrage people who refuse to recognise us. My Visitors may evoke a similar reaction, but they are beautiful and aspirational; defiantly and boldly themselves. This cannot be ignored and is a joyous expression of the queer body.

Instagram @obrien.art