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My work is rooted in the evolving nature of salvaged cardboard and discarded materials. At the heart of my practice lies an exploration of memory, place, labor, and the latent potential within materials that “once were.” Rather than conforming to fixed boundaries, my practice thrives on embracing unpredictability and reimagining traditional materials and techniques.
Cardboard, whether retrieved from packaging, found on city streets, or gathered from alleyways and garbage piles, already carries the marks of its journey. Weather and time have shaped these materials, leaving traces—tears, folds, discolorations, and other signs of exposure—that inspire me. I transform these remnants into visual narratives, further enhancing them by integrating traditional techniques such as drawing, painting, and shibori dyeing alongside experimental and non-traditional printing methods.
Exhibitions
2025
Save Our Planet, Red Bluff Gallery, California
Consumed, The Drawing Room, San Francisco, California
O’Hanlon Annual Members’ Exhibit, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, California
2024
Augustina Caprioglio, Artemis Jones, and Pat O’Connor Cafe Alma, San Francisco, California
Reclaimed/Repurposed, Gearbox Gallery, Oakland, California
Relaunch, SOMARTS Gallery, San Francisco, California
Women Artists Making Their Mark The O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, California
Paper Arts, California State Fair, Sacramento, California
Fiber Art, The Expressive & Innovative The O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, California
Pint Size, Transmission Gallery, Oakland, California
2023
The De Young Open, De Young Fine Arts Museum, San Francisco, California
The Shared Studio Artists Exhibit, San Francisco, California
Launch, SOMARTS, San Francisco, California
2022
Artemis Jones, Pat O’Connor, and Krishna Prasad Cafe Alma, San Francisco, California
Summertime-Noe Valley Artists, Sanchez Gallery, San Francisco, California
Landscapes and Seascapes, Laguna Gallery, California
2019
50 x 50, Gallery Sanchez, Pacifica, California
2011
Nature, Thoreau Gallery at the Presidio of San Francisco, California
2010
Postcard as Art, The Lab, San Francisco, California
2009
Visual Aid, SOMARTS, San Francisco, California
2001
Inaugural Bay Area Artist Exhibition Mercy High School Gallery, San Francisco, California
1998
Bay Area Arts Educators Exhibition Branson High School Gallery, Ross, California
1994
Asian Roots/Western Soil: Japanese Influences in American Culture, Berkeley Art Center, California
1992
Judith Litvich Collection: Hobaica, Farnsworth, and O’Connor, Piemonte Restaurant, Oakland, California
1991
Exploring Paper, California Crafts Museum, San Francisco, California
1990
Three Paper Artists, Pence Gallery, Davis, California
1989
Off-Site, Artists in Response to the Environment Richmond Art Center, Richmond, California
Paper Dimensions: Sculptural Paper by Bay Area Women Artists, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, California
1986
New Directions in Paper, Mendocino Arts Center, Mendocino, California
Paper Pushing the Limits, Fiberworks Gallery, Berkeley, California
1985
Cartography: A Collaborative Exploration The Romberg Environmental Studies Center, Tiburon, California
Paper, Ephemeral and Enduring, Matrix Gallery, Sacramento, California
1984
Site as Subject, invitational one-person exhibit Pacific Basin Textile Arts Center, Berkeley, California
Heller Gallery Invitational, University of California, Berkeley, California
1983
Fiber and Paint, Fiberworks Gallery, Berkeley, California
1981
Masters in 1981, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, California
California Printmaking: A Bay Area Perspective Artlink Gallery, Fort Wayne, Indiana
1980
Fiber, Olive Hyde Art Center, Fremont, California
Honors and Awards
2024
California State Fair, Fourth Place, Other Paper Arts Division
1999
Robert Rauschenberg Foundation “Power of Art Award” Lab School of Washington D.C. – Honored for designing an interdisciplinary visual arts course that enhances literacy development in children.
1998
Superior Court of California, San Francisco Unified Family Court Children’s Art Task Force – Appointed by Judge Hitchens to develop a program placing children’s art in the Family Court Division
2001
America’s Registry of Outstanding Professionals
1998
Who’s Who Among American Women
1997
Who’s Who in American Education
1996
Art Teacher of the Year, De Young Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
1985
San Francisco Foundation Grant Recipient, Artist-in-Residence at the Romberg Center for Environmental Studies, Tiburon, California
1980- 1982
Appointed by Mayor Feinstein to the San Francisco Arts Commission, Street Artists Division
Corporate and Public Collections
Adia Services, San Francisco
American National Bank Chicago, Illinois
Heritage Bank of Commerce, Sunnyvale, California
Hersh Family Law, San Francisco
Hersh and Hersh Law Firm, San Francisco
Kaiser Medical Center of Walnut Creek, California
Solutions, San Francisco
Trammel Crow Corporation of San Mateo, California
University of California Medical Center, San Francisco
Wells Fargo Bank, Oakland, California
Education
2007
Certificate, Educational Therapist Professional University of California, Santa Cruz
2001
Project Zero: Teach for Understanding Seminar, Harvard University
1981
M.A., Mixed-Media Arts, San Francisco State University
1975
Single Subject Teaching Credential, Art, San Francisco State University
1972
B.A., Drawing and Painting, University of California, Davis, California
Teaching Positions
1989 – 2021
Head, Upper School Art Department Cathedral School for Boys, San Francisco, California
1986 – 1989
Art Teacher, Painting and Drawing, Mercy High School, San Francisco, California
1986 – 1989
Art Teacher, Mixed-Media Arts, Fort Mason Arts Center, San Francisco, California
1982 – 1989
Art Teacher, Textile Arts, City College of San Francisco, California
1986 – 1987
Independent Studies Professor, Graduate Art Program John F. Kennedy University, Moraga, California
1983 – 1987
Art Instructor, Hand-made Paper De Young Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, California
1981 – 1986
Art Instructor, Textile Processes Pacific Basin Center for Textile Arts, Berkeley, California
1982 – Fall Semester
Visiting Artist Professor, Mixed-Media Textile Arts San Francisco State University, California
2024
1994
“The Form of Stillness” by Mary Hull Webster Artweek, January 20, 1994, Volume 25, Number 2
1986
“New Directions in Paper”, by Elizabeth Berrian and Fred Nelson Mendocino Art Center Arts and Entertainment
1985
“Substance Grows From Form in Works of Paper”, by Ellen Schlesinger The Sacramento Bee, April 14, 1985.
1983
“Papermaking”, by Pat O’Connor Spindle, Dyepot, Volume XIV, No.3
Pat O'Connor_ _Debris Assessment VI__,salvaged cardboard, rusted finding, handmade paper_35inHx15inWx2.5inD_2023
Pat O'Connor__Binding_salvaged cardboard box lid, waxed linen, bookbinding tape, staples_7inH x 7inW x 1.5inD_2024
Pat O'Connor__Moon Rising__cyanotype printed salvaged cardboard, shibori-dyed fabric, acrylic paint_ 30inHx23inWx1inD_2024
Pat O'Connor_Can Alexa Help__salvaged cardboard, architectural finding,raw pigment_34inHx24inWx3inD_2024
"Debris Assessment IV"
Cardboard, cyanotype print, twigs, paper covered wire; 39" x 10" x 1.5"; 2022
Pat O'Connor_The Surface of Water_cyanotype printed salvagedcardboard,shibori-dyed fabric_57inHx41inWx1inD_2024
Pat_O'Connor_ _Tidal Rhythm__ cardboard, cyanotype, acrylic paint, chalk pastel, fabric, lumber_34inHx 44inWx2inD_2024
Pat_OConnor_-_Tidal-Rhythm__-cardboard-cyanotype-acrylic-paint-chalk-pastel-fabric-lumbe
Pat_O'Connor_ _Debris Assessment II_ cardboard, acrylic, rusted finding_.30inHx 24inWx2inD_2024
Pat o'connor debris assessment ii cardboard, acrylic, rusted finding .30inhx 24inwx2ind 2024
Exhibitions
