Eryn O'Neill
Contact:
erynoneill@cmail.carleton.ca / 613–914-2974
Born in Ottawa, Eryn O’Neill holds a BFA from NSCAD University, and an MFA from the University of Waterloo. She competed her MA at Carleton University in Art and Architectural History and Curatorial Studies. O’Neill is currently pursuing a PhD at Carleton University in Cultural Mediations.
Her paintings study an urban space in transition. The paintings are the product of months of repetitive outings, in all conditions, to gather enough information, visually and mentally, to create sensory charged paintings suggestive of a figure navigating an urban environment. The images include traffic cones, overpasses and urban detritus.
Eryn attended the Vermont Studio Centre in 2016 and the Golden Foundation Artist in Residence in March 2019.
A multiple Ontario Arts Council Grant recipient, and a two time recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Award. Her work is in the City of Ottawa’s Art Collection and Global Affairs Canada.
Her studio space is located in the Byward Market at The Rectory Art House.
Artist Statement
My painting practice explores the relationship between the body, movement, and the built environments that shape everyday experience. I am drawn to overlooked urban structures and transitional spaces—detours, pathways, and construction zones that influence how we navigate cities yet often go unnoticed.
Through walking, running, and direct observation, I record sensory impressions of place that evolve into drawings, studies, and large-scale paintings. This process bridges documentation and reinterpretation, translating lived encounters into layered visual forms. Structural lines, traces of erasure, and material shifts mirror the ongoing cycles of construction and renewal that define urban life.
Rooted in an embodied engagement with the city, my work emphasizes slowness and attention amid the accelerated pace of urban change. My current project, Visualizing Urban Transformation, continues this inquiry, focusing on Ottawa’s Light Rail expansion to examine how infrastructure reshapes both physical movement and our sense of place.
Ultimately, my paintings create a visual record of transformation—capturing the tension between human perception and the evolving urban landscape. By transforming temporary disruptions and overlooked details into enduring images, I aim to reveal how the contemporary city is continually rebuilt, reimagined, and reexperienced through the act of looking and moving.
Rectory Art House, Ottawa, ON