INTERVIEW
Introducing Gemma O'Brien
We’re excited to welcome illustrator and mural artist, Gemma O'Brien, to the Grand Matter family!
Known for her bold illustrative typography and immersive large scale installations, Gemma has worked on a wide variety of projects around the world, collaborating with brands such as Nike and Google, arts institutions including the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City, and many more.
One of the things we love about Gemma's work is her ability to combine graphic and bold type together with illustration seamlessly and with huge warmth, featuring intricate hand-finished details and often taking inspiration from nature. Always furthering and developing her craft through personal projects, she enjoys exploring language and creating experiences through her artwork.
To introduce her way of working in more detail, we spoke with Gemma about her artistic journey, from dropping out of law school to becoming a commericial illustrator, delving into her processes, where she finds inspiration and her dream collaborations!
"
I like to create a unique immersive experience – something that takes you away from flatness and into the physical world
– Gemma O'Brien
How would you describe your work in one sentence?
Words elevated to art.
Can you sum up your journey to where you are now as an artist?
My art journey has been three decades in the making! I was a creative kid but originally went to law school. I dropped out after a year and switched to a Bachelor of Design at the College of Fine Arts in Sydney. Here, I became obsessed with letterpress printing and typography which became the basis for my career. Over the last decade, I’ve worked on illustrations, packaging, patterns and large scale murals for brands and clients around the world alongside my own art practice.
What are your main influences and inspirations?
Nature, language, patterns, posters, puns, flowers, space, music and pop culture. Some of my favourite artist influences include Jenny Holzer, Yayoi Kusama, Jeffrey Gibson & Sister Corita Kent.
We love the way you combine illustrative motifs and typography together so symbiotically. Was this something you chose to do from the start?
This evolved over time but came from the feeling that the typography and written language I experienced day-to-day didn’t always reflect the depth, complexity and beauty of language and communication. I like to play with legibility and make the words and illustration a seamless piece of art.
What sort of impact do you aim to achieve in a space, with your murals?
I like to create a unique immersive experience – something that takes you away from flatness and into the physical world. I like creating pieces that pop on screen, but show the imperfections and brush strokes in real life.
Mural installation for Tiffany's in Shanghai
Talk us through your usual methods and mediums
I love to combine analogue and digital methods. My usual process begins with physical visual diaries and collecting inspiration. I then work in pencil for sketches and often shift to digital for colouring sketches. Final art is either painted by hand (murals) or digitally rendered for speedy commercial deadlines. For my murals I translate these from small scale to large using either a projector or a pounce pattern with charcoal/chalk.
Lately I’ve been exploring more pastels, charcoal and oil pastels and loving it!
Hand-painted illustration
Come Hell or High Water, created in charcoal
"
I like creating pieces that pop on screen, but show the imperfections and brush strokes in real life
– Gemma O'Brien
And finally, do you have any bucket list projects or dream collaborations?
I would like to collaborate with calligraphers in different languages, create an intricate stone carved headstone for myself, and design a business card for the sun 
!
Paint brushes at the end of the day
About Gemma O'Brien
Gemma is a typographic illustrator and mural artist, combining digital and hand made techniques and creating artwork for both small and large scale outputs. Clients include Nike, Google and Apple.
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