Kristin O'Connor "Untitled (Demon Study)"

Kristin O'Connor “Untitled (Demon Study)" 2024

Painting: Oil on Panel
Dimensions: 12 x 16 inches
Unique
Signed on Verso, Includes Certificate of Authenticity

Kristin O’Connor’s work is rooted in the symbolism of biblical narratives and purity culture metaphors, serving as a commentary on the societal constructs that have historically demonized expressions of desire and the pursuit of pleasure. Placing figures within the confines of a two-dimensional world inspired by Sunday school stories, she creates psychological spaces where the inherited parables of her youth begin to unravel. Protagonists are haunted by demonic figures, while familiar icons become suffocating props, blurring the boundary between memory and myth as she examines how shame is taught and internalized.

Exposing the tension between doctrine and embodiment, O’Connor’s work calls into question the effects of these teachings on girls and women. By centering the experiences of women under patriarchal religion, she reclaims the visual language once used to oppress and instead allows desire to emerge as a powerful, clarifying force, insisting on the right to inhabit the body without shame. O’Connor graduated with a BFA in Painting from the University of Tampa in 2013 and received her MFA from the New York Academy of Art in 2015. She lives and works in Brooklyn.