Elisabeth Higgins O’Connor – Remnants
Elisabeth Higgins O’Connor is a sculptress and textile artist residing in Sacramento, California. She creates sculptures of slumped, exaggerated animal-like creatures using remnants of common materials such as bed sheets, pillows, blankets, and other discarded fabrics. She cuts, re-sews, wraps and ties layers upon layers of fabric and cardboard onto wooden structures. The effect is that the sculptures look like they are struggling to exist, that at any moment they might collapse into a heap of rags and seams. Elizabeth utilizes her imagination as a tool to push against boundaries and established notions. She attempts to close the gap between the grotesque and tenderness. “I want the struggle to stand upright to be easily perceived; I want the fatigue, vulnerability and weakness to be present, but also certain resourcefulness…all the realities of our lives,” she says. Her creatures exist somewhere on a spectrum between reality and absurdity.
