Siobhan O’Connor

Siobhan O’Connor is an Australian contemporary artist based on Ngunnawal and Ngambri land, Canberra, Australia. Her practice incorporates printmaking processes, traditional and experimental drawing methods, photography and embroidery. Siobhan currently works on large-scale paper to record her experiences of the body and uses screen prints to highlight the world we live in, with a particular focus on rape culture and sexual assault. 

25 | Siobhan O'Connor, If I leave this house it will burn down, 2022, screen print on rice paper, 76 cm x 10 m. NFS.

Often we are faced with statistics of sexual violence and the effects of rape culture, but these are often ignored when not faced with the reality of it, as many people do. This work is based on personal experience and asks the viewer to read and consider these texts, regardless of relatability and to give this text weight to their reality.  I set out to give form to my rage, insides and the culture I live in; viewers will be faced with a person’s reality so it can be held up to the light and not fester in the dark.  The energy to rebel comes from difficult experiences, from being bruised by structures that are not always visible to others.