The solo exhibition 'Skin, Paper, Feathers' featuring works by artist Meghan O'Connor is on display at the A.D. Gallery on the campus of UNC Pembroke.
Through individual and collaborative methods, O'Connor explores diverse printmaking and sculptural processes. 'Skin, Paper, Feathers' represents a variety of printmaking and mixed media processes, as well as works that involve community engagement. It will be on display through Sept. 23.
Her piece "Fuercitas" in the past has invited participants to arm wrestle with each other. In its current iteration, it invites viewers to take a seat while socially distancing with each other. O'Connor will be on campus Sept. 13-15 teaching a lithography workshop. The works created during this workshop will be part of a new body of research entitled Casting Fingers, Casting Blame?
A closing reception for "Skin, Paper, Feathers" will be held at 5 p.m. on Sept. 23. O'Connor will give a gallery talk. Concurrent to this exhibition, 175 prints from "The (Un)Necessary Duplicates Project," also organized by O'Connor, will be featured in the hallway of Locklear Hall.
"My creative practice explores relationships, choices, and human behavior. Daily, we are faced with easy access to short-term fulfillment and instant gratification," O' Connor said.
"Often, the opposing choices that require patience, that contribute to a long-term sense of well-being, can get drowned out. My work is keenly aware of these dualities and illustrates my struggle with facing these choices personally or recognizing their effects socially and culturally," she said.
"Childhood experiences inspire the narrative format of my work. I grew up watching Looney Toons, listening to bedtime stories, and being captivated by theatre work. Though based on a sense of play and fun, when I take into account the deeper-seated meaning that was oftentimes embedded, there seems to be a potentially darker side to what is portrayed. I find these types of narratives appropriate to how I portray the content within my work."
O'Connor studied printmaking at East Tennessee State University and earned an MFA at Clemson University. In addition to teaching at Coastal Carolina University, she is active within Southern Graphics Council International, Mid America Print Council, and FATE (Foundations in Art: Theory and Education).
O'Connor's work has been exhibited regionally, nationally and internationally.
In addition to solo exhibitions, she has had work included in the Parkside National Small Print Exhibition, Southern Graphics Council International Members Exhibition, and A Curious Bestiary: Chimeras and Cryptozoology from American Printmakers at Davidson Galleries in Seattle, WA.
Her work can be found in permanent collections, such as Columbia College in Chicago; Gippsland Centre for Art and Design in Australia; the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division; Proyecto'ace Print Collection in Buenos Aires, and many other universities around the world. In the summer of 2017, she completed a printmaking residency at the Arquetopia Foundation for Development in Puebla, Mexico, which inspired many pieces in this exhibition. This created a foundation and interest in creating artwork with community engagement, such as Fuercitas! the arm-wrestling table is also featured in the exhibition.
The A.D. Gallery is located on the first floor of Locklear Hall. It is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. This exhibition is free and open to the public. Groups visiting the gallery are limited to a maximum of nine people at a time.
For more information, contact A.D. Gallery Director Joseph Begnaud at 910.521.6405 or email joseph.begnaud@uncp.edu.
