Katrina O'Brien

Katrina O’Brien paints with her hands rather than tools – and moves her limbs across the paper, with music playing an important part in the process. Her works are more like a dance on the page.

Says O'Brien of her work: “When I first began painting this piece I envisioned myself sailing across the water, or flying to great heights. I watched an eagle and I absorbed its freedom as it swooped towards the ocean then rose up towards the clouds. I felt an overwhelming sense of liberation for what I could achieve. Then tragedy struck the world; it tore my sails and wings to shreds, it threw me into uncharted waters. These works are a story of taking flight through the greatest sadness and uncertainty. They are other realms that can’t be seen in everyday life but are felt and heard. They are a reflection of souls, and the music that I felt along the way. They are life and death, existence and purpose, fragility and hope.”