Gabby O'Connor (born 1974, Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian Installation Artist based in Wellington, New Zealand.
O'Connor's art practice involves production of site-specific works in paper, rope and light, as well as drawing and theatre-based collaboration. The works are typically large-scale and designed to fit into the location. Typically she works by transforming everyday materials into art. O’Connor often works collaboratively with partners ranging from scientists to community groups. Her works are designed to exist as installations in their own right, and also act as a bridge between art and science. A consequence is there is often an explicit educational component of the art production.[1]
She has participated in two scientific expeditions to Antarctica where she produced art pieces in situ. The science was conducted by the K131 research team from National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research and the University of Otago. The work was based out of Cape Haskell, a sea ice camp on the Sea ice of McMurdo Sound. This camp was designed and built by Tim Haskell and included a dedicated art laboratory built from an insulated Intermodal container.
Works from her 2015 expedition were subsequently displayed at Pataka Art + Museum in a 2016 exhibition titled Studio Antarctica.[2] The second expedition resulted in an exhibition at the Otago Museum titled Data Days.[3]
In 2018 she commenced a Ph.D. project (University of Auckland Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries that is part of the New Zealand Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge[4] funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. This work marked a change in her focus from Antarctica to issues relating to sea level rise and involved development of rope-based sculpture. It resulted in "The Unseen" an exhibition[5] at the Suter Gallery in Nelson.
O'Connor was awarded a Master of Fine Art degree from UNSW Art & Design in 2004. This followed a Certificate of Textile Design from RMIT School of Design TAFE (1998) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Victorian College of the Arts at the University of Melbourne (1996).
O'Connor has exhibited since 1998, in New Zealand, Australia and internationally.
O'Connor’s work is held in private and public art collections including the Dowse Art Museum, Samuel Marsden Collegiate School and the Museum Art Hotel.