About my work

I am a visual artist, born in Johannesburg and living in Cape Town, South Africa.

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Formally, elements of randomness and repetition have featured significantly in my work. I believe this reflects both nature and industry, and also illustrates the uncertainty as well as the routine that mark our lives.

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Artworks over the last two decades have found expression in various media: from drawing , sculpting, video, installation and performative work with a return in the last several years to painting.

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My work has explored an interest in ‘urban camouflage’ and consequently pattern. The urban environment has been utilised as a palette for colours, patterns and shapes... but in the studio, the 'real' world recedes and the endless possibilities of these formal elements present a look inward. 

Compositions oftentimes start with a considered shape and evolves intuitively...  so that variable elements come together to form an equilibrium: the sum of the parts equals the whole, in other words.

My process of painting is one of discovery, as if I was to build and solve a puzzle at the same time. At times the correlation of repetition and  'considered randomness' bring to mind the abstract aspect of rhythm, composition and pattern. Other times the composition will move elsewhere - choices in the work arise from the work itself and I strive to be attuned and responsive to them.

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Currently my exploration into the formal aspects of abstraction and my practice of progressing its elements  intuitively continues.

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Jo O'Connor

Cape Town 2022