Emma O'Connell is a contemporary abstract landscape artist based on the Central Coast of NSW. Drawn to the vast, resilient beauty of the Australian landscape, her work is defined by a distinctive palette of rich earthy tones - burnt oranges, terracottas, deep reds, and rusts.
Recently, she has begun exploring cooler greens and blues, reflecting her desire to experiment with colour while continuing to channel the landscape's energy and movement.
Self-taught, with a background in Visual Communication and Design, O'Connell builds her paintings through intuitive layers of colour, reworking and refining until they feel alive - like the land they represent. Her process translates the emotional terrain we inhabit into texture, movement, and form.
Her paintings celebrate the spirit of the Australian landscape: its ever-changing colours, textures, and the reverence it inspires in those who experience it. Collectors describe her work as taking them on a journey - bringing life into their spaces and sparking joy each time they pass
by.
Emma was a finalist in the Northern Beaches Art Prize in both 2024 and 2025. In 2025, she presented her debut solo exhibition, Grounded in Abstraction, at Theia, Woy Woy, and debuted at the Affordable Art Fair Sydney - marking a significant year of growth and recognition. Her work has been featured in Art & Style Magazine and is held in private collections across Australia. She is currently represented by Tyger Gallery (Yass) and Northern Beaches Gallery (Cromer).
Emma accepts a limited number of commissions each year for collectors seeking custom works. View available originals or get in touch to discuss a commission.
In the Studio
Emma works from her private studio in Wadalba on the Central Coast, where she has the space and quiet to follow where the work wants to go.
Her process is intuitive. She lets colour, texture and light do the talking, responding to what emerges rather than planning the destination.
Emma paints the Australian landscape from feeling rather than reference. Not what it looks like, but what it does to you. That particular stillness. The weight of heat. The way distance makes you feel small and held at the same time.
Her work is an invitation to bring that feeling home.
