Mary O’Connor was born in Wexford. She studied visual communication and 3D design at DIT in Dublin, and painting at Chelsea College of Art and in New Zealand. She has lived in Belize and (for 11 years) Kazakhstan, a place of vast landscapes and infinite white winters; during her time there she published two books of photojournalism on central Asia. She paints in mixed media, often on a large scale. Her work features in private and public collections including those of the Office of Public Works and the Environmental Protection Agency. She is a member of Black Church Print Studio.