Artist Bio

Susan Li O’Connor was born in Taipei, Taiwan. She is an artist and educator who, for the past 25 years, has been navigating themes surrounding identity, consumerism, and consumption within American culture through the accumulation of everyday objects and the transformation of them into drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations. As a first generation immigrant and naturalized citizen, she attempts to create direct and indirect connections with her themes to her own identity. Her most recent works investigate how place and space connect to her main themes of identity, consumerism, and consumption. Working primarily in mixed media (collage, acrylic, oil pastels) for her latest series serves as a way for her to untangle the daily barrage of news that fill our airways.

O’Connor holds a BFA degree from the Columbus College of Art and Design and an MFA degree from the Ohio State University. She recently completed a solo artist residency at the Kolaj Institute in New Orleans, LA. Past residencies include the Greater Columbus Arts Council 2013 Dresden, Germany Artist in Residency program, Highlights Foundation In-Person Artist Workshop and Residency program, and the Cleveland Institute of Art Summer Teacher Residency program (2017). O'Connor's arts organization experiences include various juror roles for the Ohio Arts Council, Scholastics Arts Competitions, as well as regional arts competitions. Her work has been exhibited nationally in Ohio, Colorado, California, North Carolina, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania. O'Connor lives and works in Columbus, OH, with her husband and son.