Ainsley O'Connell, DART

Ainsley O’Connell’s art practice is concerned with architectural concepts and spatial perception. Her works often incorporate found waste materials overlaid with bright, contrasting colour, drawing attention to the relationships between materials, colours and forms. O’Connell’s DART series suggests flight, speed and dynamism. The glossy acrylic surface of each piece is perfectly bisected with a brass plate, with contrasting coloured planes balanced on either side. 

With a background as an architect, O’Connell has been simultaneously practising as a sculptor and glass artist since 2004. She has been commissioned to make multiple trophies in glass, including the 2009 Louis Vuitton Pacific Series winner’s trophy. She was a finalist in the Parkin Drawing Prize in 2018 and the Waiheke Small Sculpture Prize in 2018, 2019 and 2023, and won a merit award in the EAA18- Estuary Art and Ecology Awards this year. O’Connell completed a Master of Fine Arts degree at Elam in 2016.