Eilís O'Connell was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1953. She studied at Crawford School of Art, Cork (1970-74), Massachusetts College of Art, Boston (1974-75) and again at Crawford (1975-77). Her awards include those from the GPA for Emerging Artists (1981); the British School at Rome (Arts Council of Northern Ireland Fellowship, 1983-84); the PS1, New York (Arts Council Fellowship, 1987-88);…
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Eilís O'Connell was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1953. She studied at Crawford School of Art, Cork (1970-74), Massachusetts College of Art, Boston (1974-75) and again at Crawford (1975-77). Her awards include those from the GPA for Emerging Artists (1981); the British School at Rome (Arts Council of Northern Ireland Fellowship, 1983-84); the PS1, New York (Arts Council Fellowship, 1987-88); and the Royal Society of Arts (1998). In 1996 she had sculpture residencies at the Centre du Sculpture, Montlieu, France, and Delfina Studios, Manilva, Spain.
While O'Connell has exhibited widely, with numerous solo and group shows since the early 1970s, she has built her career largely through public commissions, some of which are on a very large scale. The distinctive sense of place that manifests itself in her work may well be a contributing factor to her success in this area. With more than twenty major commissions to her credit, the most significant are Secret Station, a sculpture in bronze, fibre optics and steam for Cardiff Bay Art Trust, sited at the Gateway, Cardiff, in 1992; Vowel of Earth Dreaming its Root, a large outdoor sculpture in Kilkenny limestone for London Docklands Development Corporation, Isle of Dogs; and Pero's Footbridge for Bristol Chamber of Commerce, designed in collaboration with Ove Arup Engineers and installed at St. Augustine's Reach, Bristol, in 1999.
Eilís O'Connell explores a plethora of materials and processes. She hoards found objects such as discarded agricultural tools and dairy vessels, which may eventually find their way into her sculpture or become an inspiration for a form or texture. She teases out of various materials - from stone and rubber to steel cord, sheet metals, glass and plaster for casting in bronze - the most extraordinary images. In both large and small works, she looks to archaeology, architecture and geometry in addition to smaller objects and materials for beginnings that may be vast or a pinpoint in the landscape.
