Wednesday Wonder: Artist Maureen O'Kane

I'm told my grandmother always said she would work until she died 

because she loved it so much and I am sure I will do the same.

~ Artist Maureen O'Kane

Maureen O'Kane, based in Wales, describes herself as "a professional public artist specializing in site-specific public art works in a variety of media." She works with mosaics primarily but also does casting in plaster, bronze and other materials, and creates concrete and mixed media relief murals and other sculptural pieces. Recently, she began creating medals that are purely art objects.

O'Kane works alone and collaboratively, on small commissions and large, producing art for interior and exterior locations, such as schools, hospitals, art centers, urban environments, and woodlands. She is a teacher, too, offering workshops in art and design for all ages. She travels around the world — Spain, Argentina, Canada, Japan, Finland, Russia, England, the United States — presenting seminars on her work or on Byzantine and Roman mosaics. (O'Kane studied Byzantine mosaic production at Studio Arte del Mosaico in Ravenna, Italy. Ravenna is known for its extraordinary Byzantine mosaics. Its early Christian churches and mosaics are designated a World Heritage Site.)

Much to my delight, I discovered that O'Kane has an interest in animation and has produced two films, Unswept Floor and Dove Life. Both were the subject of a feature on the blog Mosaic Art Now. Both are truly inspired works of art, lyrical and playful and entrancing.


Unswept floor from maureen o'kane on Vimeo.



Dove Life from maureen o'kane on Vimeo.


O'Kane's blog is Momosaic. You'll find there photos of O'Kane at work, as well as images of completed pieces, which are wonders to behold.

A brief but excellent BBC interview with the artist is here.

For information on Byzantine mosaics, go here. Information on where to find examples of Roman mosaics is here.
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