Deirdre O’Connell

O’Connell was born in Philadelphia and raised in Pittsfield, MA. She is a self-trained artist, who attended the Studio School, NYC in 2003. She has exhibited her work at the Gallery at Jimmy’s Number 43, NYC, and the Broderick Fine Art Gallery, Freehold, NY. 

Deirdre O’Connell’s current series of small paintings are inspired by the works by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. O’Connell’s passion for Chekhov’s texts is more than that of an avid playgoer. She has appeared in many Chekhov productions as a stage and film actress for more than 25 years, most recently playing Liubov Ranyevskaya in Cherry Orchard. O’Connell moves her characters from stage to the canvas, giving them an eternal role in a perpetual performance. The artist’s paintings evoke Medieval icons in their small scale, golden hues, built up paint, flat perspective and deliberately distorted anatomy.