Robyn O'Neil

Robyn O'Neil, (b. 1977), a Nebraska native who currently lives and works in Los Angeles, is known for her large-scale graphite drawings. In these intriguing prints, she has successfully adapted the spirit and the aesthetics of her drawings to the intaglio printmaking medium.

O'Neil received her BFA from Texas A&M University, received a fellowship for Graduate Studies in Fine Art at the University of Illinois, Chicago. O'Neil has had many solo exhibitions including shows at the Susan Inglett Gallery in New York, Dunn and Brown Contemporary in Dallas, Tony Wight Gallery in Chicago, and Praz-Delavallade in Paris and Berlin.

She was included in the 2004 Whitney Biennial and has received numerous awards including the DeGolyer Grant (1999), the Artadia Grant (2003), Hunting Art Prize Recipient (2009), and last year she was awarded the Spirit Award in the Brooklyn Film Festival. O'Neil's work can be found in public collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Modern Art Museum of Forth Worth, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Blanton Museum of Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Microsoft Corporation Art Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Ulrich Museum of Art, the Kemper Museum, and the Des Moines Art Center.  

Take Root, Facing You

Take Root and Facing You contain numerous related images held together in a loose, humorous narrative revolving around human faces and heads.

Covenant Trace

Covenant Trace is a direct gravure created by transferring O’Neil’s original drawing on mylar to a copper etching plate through the photogravure process. A second run used water bite, an aquatint etching technique, to make the distinctive vignetting that beckons viewers into O’Neil’s drawn world. To produce the painterly effect, which is distinctive for its subtle shift from dark to light, aquatint ground was used to paint the shape of the vignetting frame on a copper plate. Next, one side of the plate was partially submerged at a slight incline in a water bath, and a printer gradually added acid to the bath. Because acid is denser than water, in the water bite process the acid sinks to the bottom of the bath; thus, the deepest etch occurs along the bottom of the plate. A progressively lighter etch is created higher up, where acid creeps up and mingles with the water bath as a printer adds more. To produce the halo-like effect around O’Neil’s drawing, this process was repeated four times for each edge of the plate.

 

Further Resources

Artist's Site: robynoneil.com

Printmaking + Sculpture Terms

Printmaking Glossary

Sculpture Glossary

Sales

For sales, or more information about an edition, please contact Graphicstudio at (813) 974-3503 or gsoffice@usf.edu.

Copyright + Reproduction

Images of the artwork are jointly owned by the artist and Graphicstudio. Reproduction of any kind including electronic media must be expressly approved by Graphicstudio.