Born in 1876 to well-known WA engineer C.Y. O’Connor, Kathleen was an impressionist painter right up until her death in 1968 and one of the biggest inspirations behind Darvall’s work.
Her latest work will be exhibited at Merenda Contemporary in Paris Bled into the Indian Ocean, the second of a trilogy of exhibitions about the O’Connor family.
Darvall said after living in Paris for many years, Kathleen O’Connor returned to Perth and threw the majority of her work into the Indian Ocean before disembarking in Fremantle.
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READ NOW“The premise for this exhibition is to create the art works that were lost,” she said.
“I wanted to find the paintings and recreate them, but of course they are my own paintings with my own techniques and additions to the story,” she said.
“The exhibition is not only about finding the lost art works but it is about communicating the legacy of a WA artist.”
Last year’s first exhibition ‘Walking the Pipeline to the Water’s Edge’ was a big success, and Darvall said she hoped local art lovers were still hungry for more on the family.
“The first exhibition was supposed to be a gift to the people to WA,” she said.
“As it happened the exhibition was a sell out show and WA gave back to me once again.”
Darvall will keep herself busy in the near future, talking part in the Artist Open House in Fremantle next month as well as a group show in Melbourne and a residency in Singapore in 2016.