Carolyn O’Neill was raised in Bendigo, Victoria and currently resides in Port Pirie, South Australia.

After seeing a mural painted by parents at her son’s kindergarten, she decided to pursue local art classes and then onto formal art studies.

Both modernism and the mid-century modernist aesthetic influence her work. One of her favourite past times is opportunity shopping. She is much like a bower bird filling her home with furnishings and objects thrifted and found.

Her work is intuitive; painting her internal dialogue whilst seeking to push boundaries and delve beneath the surface. Each work is a stepping stone to the next; they are all interconnected.

Her most current work draws inspiration from the Mid North Flinders Ranges region. It is not the literal landscape that she seeks to convey, but it’s very essence. Experimentation is at the very core of her creative process.

Each piece is compiled of many layers which are much like constructions. They are then dismantled and re built until all of the elements are unified as one painting. The paint it scraped, scratched, dripped. The surface is not precious. The process is messy, but works to serve the end result.

O’Neill’s work has been shortlisted for several high profile South Australian prizes including the Gallery M Contemporary Art Prize, The Kennedy Prize and the Tatiara Art Prize.