Bio

Colleen O'Brien, b. 1990, is an earth artist working with natural pigments and local clay.  She earned her BFA from Texas Tech University in 2014.  Since 2012, Colleen has participated in over 9 solo shows in addition to 15 group and juried shows.  Her work is in several private and corporate collections throughout the US with a heavy collector base in the Southwest.  From December 2013 to December 2014 she was an artist in residence for the Charles Adams Studio Project in Lubbock, Texas.  In addition, she participated in the 2012 field season of Land Arts of the American West.  Colleen's current research/work explores geomorphology and time.  She works out in the field using soil from the site to physically record landscape in both her painting and ceramic practices.

Artist Statement

The paintings I make are expressions of geomorphology and time.  They are physical geographic recordings.  The way I like to think about painting as an artistic practice is that it is a series of movements within a certain time frame.  The geographic surfaces I record are also about time.  I seek out exposed rock beds and boulders and use soil from the site to make surface recordings of the earth.  I move the natural pigment, water, and pastel through the erosion path and texture of the rock. The result is a record of place and time.