Chris O'Brien is a Naarm/Melbourne based artist who has worked with Arts Project Australia since 2002. His diverse artistic practice spans painting, printmaking, sculpture, moving image, and zines. His work often focuses on domestic dwellings,  introducing characters to bring them to life.

Renowned for his soft sculptures, O'Brien crafts vibrant sewn and stuffed fabric representations of houses and iconic buildings. Through this practice, he reimagines these spaces, transforming them from functional structures into playful, imaginative sculptures imbued with deeper meaning. 

He has exhibited widely, including in Intimate Imaginaries, TarraWarra Museum of Art (2024); Soft Landings, Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne (2024); Melbourne Art Fair (2024); Spring 1883, Melbourne (2023) and the Outsider Art Fair in New York (2020). His work is held in public collections, including the National Gallery of Victoria, the State Library of Victoria and private collections worldwide. 

Chris has recently co-curated the exhibition Houses, Spouses, Crises and Chrises, a meticulously constructed 3D real-estate fantasy now showing at APA Gallery, Collingwood Yards. Set in and around an abandoned house in Northcote, the exhibition brings together real and imagined characters within a world that shifts between the everyday and the surreal. The show runs until March 7 2026.

ATW + Arts Project Australia Partnership Residency

As part of our longstanding partnership with Arts Project Australia (APA), O’Brien is the 2026 ATW + APA Partnership Resident. This ongoing residency supports APA artists through access to ATW’s studios, facilities, and networks, creating space for focused practice, experimentation, and connection within Melbourne’s contemporary art community.