Chris O’Brien is a multi-disciplinary artist who works across painting, printmaking, sculpture, digital art and artist zines. His short-form graphic novels artist videos bring together many aspects of his practice, and he is currently writing a never-ending urban story on his passion for old houses located in Melbourne and its surrounds. Concerned with representing domestic dwellings in varying states of decay, he anthropomorphises these homes and populates them with characters whom he weaves into the broader narrative of the house.
Personal connections are interwoven with his subjects and inform the narrative from the research stage through to production and public outcome. O’Brien’s recent work shifts away from traditional sculpture to soft sculpture. The brightly coloured, sewn and stuffed fabric houses and iconic buildings transform them from homes of form and function, creating imaginative sculptures that are both meaningful and playful.
O’Brien has worked in the Arts Project Australia studio since 2002 and presented his solo exhibition at Arts Project Australia in 2007. He has participated in numerous artist collaborations and group exhibitions nationally and internationally. His work is held in private collections worldwide.
