Waikato-based artist Hollie O’Neill creates luminous contemporary works that transform our experience of light, colour and space.
A full-time artist since 2002, O’Neill works across painting, sculpture and light-based mixed media, using materials including epoxy, pigment, mirrored glass, aluminium and canvas.
Her practice begins with time spent in nature—the shifting light, atmosphere and colour of Aotearoa New Zealand’s landscapes, and the feelings and sensations these experiences evoke. Rather than directly depicting what she sees, O’Neill carries these experiences back into the studio, using colour as a vehicle to intuitively translate memory, emotion and perception into form.
Her reflective works on mirrored glass and aluminium are layered with pigment and resin, creating dynamic surfaces that change with the surrounding light and the viewer’s position. Each encounter reveals something different.
On canvas, O’Neill takes a quieter approach, building translucent washes of pigment into atmospheric fields inspired by dawn, dusk, glare and afterglow. These works hold the essence of fleeting experiences in nature, inviting slow looking and reflection.
Across both bodies of work, O’Neill explores the space between nature and perception—how colour, light, reflection and atmosphere can shape what we see and, ultimately, how we feel.
Her work has been recognised nationally as a finalist in the NZ Painting & Printmaking Award, Parkin Drawing Prize and Academy Prize for Visual Art. In 2024, she received the Eden Park Best in Colour Award. Her work is held in public and private collections in New Zealand and internationally, including the Arts House Trust collection.
