Stained glass colours, glowing pools and blue skies. Stephanie O’Connor’s mercurial nature images depict people, plants and landscapes blending into one another. Swim- mers emerge from underwater, breaking surface tension. On land, figures stare out into the setting sun, whilst trees and grasses bathe in otherworldly light. The artist, from Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa, is currently based in Berlin, Germany. Never Tire of Looking at the Stars takes inspiration from poetry by Louise Glück, and expresses intrinsic connections between people and environments. “What is felt in the land, is felt in the body,” she writes. In Reigning Toward Aries, O’Connor explores the emotions associated with impending parenthood; the images “allow space for the coexistence of joy and trepidation surrounding a monumental shift in identity.” Themes of belonging, imagination and memory, as well as careful editing and grading, are key to O’Connor’s meaningful body of work. stephanieoconnor.co.nz

Image credits:
1. Stephanie O’Connor, from Never Tire of Looking at the Stars (2024). Images courtesy of the artist.
2. Stephanie O’Connor, from Reigning Toward Aries (2024). Images courtesy of the artist.