Stained glass colours, glowing pools and blue skies. Stephanie O’Connor鈥檚 mercurial nature images depict people, plants and landscapes blending into one another. Swim- mers emerge from underwater, breaking surface tension. On land, figures stare out into the setting sun, whilst trees and grasses bathe in otherworldly light. The artist, from T膩maki Makaurau, Aotearoa, is currently based in Berlin, Germany. Never Tire of Looking at the Stars takes inspiration from poetry by Louise Gl眉ck, and expresses intrinsic connections between people and environments. 鈥淲hat is felt in the land, is felt in the body,鈥 she writes. In Reigning Toward Aries, O鈥機onnor explores the emotions associated with impending parenthood; the images 鈥渁llow space for the coexistence of joy and trepidation surrounding a monumental shift in identity.鈥 Themes of belonging, imagination and memory, as well as careful editing and grading, are key to O鈥機onnor鈥檚 meaningful body of work.
Image credits:
1. Stephanie O鈥機onnor, from Never Tire of Looking at the Stars (2024). Images courtesy of the artist.
2. Stephanie O鈥機onnor, from Reigning Toward Aries (2024). Images courtesy of the artist.
