Fran O’Neill is an Australian-born abstract painter whose large-scale, gestural canvases transform memory and sensation into dynamic fields of luminous colour. Born in Wangaratta, Victoria, she established a significant career in the United States – particularly in New York – where her vibrant works garnered critical praise, before returning to live and work in Cheshunt, in northeastern Victoria. While based in Australia, she continues to maintain a global presence, exhibiting regularly across Australia and North America.
O’Neill’s paintings are evocative and immersive, drawing on fragments of memory that unfold as emotional landscapes rather than literal depictions. Her sweeping gestures and luminous layers of colour create shifting fields of depth and light, pulling the viewer into a space where movement and sensation take precedence over representation. The works invite a visceral response, at once intimate and expansive, affirming her place within a lineage of abstraction while asserting a distinctly contemporary voice.
Educated in both Australia and the United States, O’Neill holds a BFA and postgraduate qualifications from Monash University, a certificate from the New York Studio School, and an MFA from Brooklyn College. Across more than two decades she has exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions throughout Australia, the United States, and the UK. Her work is represented in private collections worldwide, and she has been recognised with awards including the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award.