Originally from Melbourne and now based on the Central Coast, Felicity O’Connor is an abstract painter whose practice is informed by close observation, intuitive mark-making and a sustained engagement with the landscape. She has been a finalist in numerous art prizes and was awarded the 2026 Defiance Art Award, which included a residency with the Nock Art Foundation in Queenstown, New Zealand.

In Scripted Landscapes, O’Connor gathers visual notes from her surroundings, allowing unexpected details, forms and gestures to emerge organically as the subjects of her paintings. Rather than searching for a landscape intentionally, she responds to what captures her attention and carries these observations back into the studio.

Through observational and blind contour drawing, O’Connor develops marks that bring a lively, immediate energy to her paintings. The resulting works move between physical landscape and internal experience, favouring an authentic and instinctive response over a controlled or predetermined image.