Eilis O'Connell RHA b. 1953

Born in Derry and now Cork-based, Eilis O’ Connell studied sculpture in the Crawford School of Art, Cork and the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston.  She has exhibited at the Venice, Paris and Sao Paulo Biennales and the Guggenheim Museum in Venice. In 2018 her outdoor sculptures were shown at E1027 the iconic home designed by Eileen Gray in Cap Martin, France. Her first major survey exhibition took place this year at the F.E McWilliam Gallery in Armagh. 

O'Connell's work can be found in numerous high profile public locations in London (Canary Wharf and London Docklands Development Corporation), Cardiff, Newcastle, Wolverhampton, Bristol, Southampton, Milton Keynes and in Dublin, Belfast, Dundalk, Mallow and Cork. Other privately commissioned works can be seen in Lismore Castle, Waterford, Cass Sculpture Foundation, Chatsworth and in private gardens in France and Spain.  O’Connell is a founding director of the National Sculpture Factory Cork, a former member of the Arts Council of Ireland and a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy and Aosdána.

Using materials such as steel, bronze, stone and new bio resins, Eilis O’Connell explores different material properties to make hybrid organic geometric forms that she carves or constructs by hand. Her abstract watercolours mirror the textures and forms of her sculptural works with depth of tone and minimalist markings.