BIOGRAPHY
Mira O’Brien is an American visual-artist based in Berlin since 2008. Her practice includes painting, installation and pedagogy, with a focus on the human relationship with nature. She received her BA from UCLA (2004) and her MFA from Yale (2008). She is the recipient of many awards and residencies; recently her exhibition, publication and workshop series “A Curious Herbal” was awarded the Draussen Stadt grant by the Berlin Senate. Her work has been included in institutional exhibitions at venues such as Documenta (13), Torrance Art Museum, Kunsthalle CCA Andratx, New Mexico Museum of Art and others; as well as galleries such as David Zwirner in NY and ChertLüdde’s project space in Berlin. She has had solo exhibitions in Berlin, Zürich, Venice, San Francisco and Cologne; and group shows all over the world. She is the founder of the Berlin Drawing Room, an independent art school.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work explores our shifting place within ecology as humans, specifically through our relationship with plants. I start by observing my immediate urban landscape, finding intimacy in everyday plant encounters. My research process ranges from the practice of botanical watercolor to learning about the medicinal properties of weeds and their complex histories, culminating in lush oil paintings, works on paper, and installations. Pressed specimens from my Herbarium are wielded as painting instruments to create nature-print silhouettes. Plants are depicted as actors in dramatic scenes set within landscapes in a state of metamorphosis. These works reinterpret the Sottobosco painting genre of the turn of the 17th century, which combined naturalist research with still life painting at a moment when the rationalist view of nature was emerging. As we progress within the Anthropocene, this Enlightenment perspective of duality no longer holds and our vision of nature requires a new lens. By revisiting the early stages of this belief system, I imagine alternative outcomes that embrace an entangled, hybrid coexistence.
MIRA O’BRIEN
b. 1982, USA
Based in Berlin, Germany.
Education
Yale University
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
2006-2008
UCLA (University of California Los Angeles)
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Fine Art with a minor in Philosophy
2000-2004
Awards & Residencies
2024 Project Grant, In the Company of Plants: Multi-species Care with Dr. Hilal Alkan, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, Germany
2022 Project Grant, A Curious Herbal, Draussen Stadt (Stiftung für Kulturelle Weiterbildung, Berlin Senate)
2017 Production Grant, Tanztage, Berlin
2016 Artist in Residence, Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Venice, Italy,
2015 Artist in Residence, State of the Art, Berlin, Germany
2014 Artist in Residence, Artist Pension Trust/ Berlin Collective, New York, NY
2013 Artist in Residence , CCA Andratx, Mallorca, Spain
2010 Project Grant, US Embassy in Berlin for solo exhibition “Brittle Thicket”
2009 Artist in Residence, Pilot Project Gropius Stadt, Berlin, Germany
2007 Schoelkopf Travel Grant Prize, Yale University
2004 Lillian Levinson Award, UCLA
Artist in Residence, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
2003 Hoyt Scholarship Award, UCLA
Solo Exhibitions
2025 Toad’s Eye View, Galerie HELL, Berlin, Germany
Emergent Gardens, Denizen Eiswerk, Berlin, Germany
2024 Pleasure Dome, Five Flights Up, Berlin, Germany
2017 Imperfect Barriers, DD55, Köln, Germany
Shade, with Tarren Johnson, Tanztage at Sophiensaele, Berlin
Glaspalast excerpt, Porcino Gallery at ChertLüdde, Berlin
2016 Ohne einen Glaspalast, Berlin Weekly, Berlin
Leaked Prints, Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Venice, Italy
2015 if-then-else, with choreographer Tarren Johnson, State of the Art, Berlin
2013 The Spoils of Transparency, General Public, Berlin
2010 Brittle Thicket, Vierter Stock Galerie, Berlin
2009 When Breaking a Current, Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin
2006 Landfall, Live Worms Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Group Exhibitions (selected)
2025 Chaosmosis, SCOTTY, Berlin
2024 Undone, Hilbertraum, Berlin
Art and Nature, Marsano, Berlin
Mädchenheit // Gxrlhood, New Fears, Berlin
2022 A Curious Herbal Prinzessinnengarten, Berlin
2019 Power Cage, State Gallery, Berlin
2018 Das Haus 2, Marktplatz der Möglichkeiten, Köln
Frozen to Pieces, Gussglasshalle, Berlin
2017 Preservation, KUNSTSAELE, Berlin
2016 Under the Surface, DD55, Köln, Germany
Unfixed Positions, BALTSprojects, Zürich, Switzerland
Drawing Part 2, Lokal14, Zürich, Switzerland
Kantine, Bedsitter Art Fair Vienna, Austria
Berliner Bahnhof, Kunsthalle CCA Andratx, Mallorca, Spain
Gallery Tally, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE)
On Site in 16 Cities, Babette, Berlin/ Create or Die, Sydney/ Chéri, NY, NY
2015 Looking Forward, Looking Back New Mexico Museum of Art, NM, USA
2014 Geteilte Stadt/ Divided City, Artspace Pot72, Berlin
Person, Place or Thing, 68projects, Berlin
Fresh, Kunsthalle CCA Andratx, Spain
Trockene Wahrheiten, Schau Fenster, Berlin
Gallery Tally Project, For Your Art, Los Angeles,
– travel to Área: Lugar de Proyectos in Caguas, Puerto Rico
2013 On Looking, Kunsthalle Galapagos, Brooklyn, NY
Über das geistige in der Kunst Poseidon Projekte, Berlin
2012 Die Letze Metro, Galerie Metro, Berlin
No Illusion, Kreuzberg Pavillon in Kassel (program of Documenta), Kassel, Germany
Fuel for the Fire, David Zwirner, A Temporary Space, NY, NY
Do It Again: Repetition, Reflection and Repulsion, Galerie Europa/ HBC Berlin.
Shelf Life ,Kunsthalle am Hamburger Platz, Berlin, Germany.
2011 Transregional Aesthetics, Castle Inn Gallery in Delaware Water Gap, PA.
Navigating Darkness, Tape Modern, Berlin, Germany.
Follow the Broken, Stefan Demming, Gianni Moretti, Mira O’Brien, Kreuzberg Pavillon, Berlin.
XYZ: about understanding, curated by Marc Bijl, Atelierhof Kreuzberg, Berlin.
2010 GP Site Exploration, Golden Parachutes, Berlin, Germany.
Love Letters To A Surrogate, Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA.
2009 Outside In, La Viola Bank Gallery, NY, NY
In Real Time, Capricious Gallery, NY, NY
2008 Yale MFA Thesis Exhibition Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT 2007A Summer Introduction Togonon Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Is That All There is to Fire?, High Energy Construct, Los Angeles, CA
The Greek Play, Root Division, San Francisco,CA
2006 Fevered Days Like Waters Cool Hayworth Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Anyhere But Where? Circus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Events and Workshops (selection)
Ongoing: Founder, Director and Instructor for Berlin Drawing Room (since 2011)
2025 “Wild Botanical Watercolor,” Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, USA
“Botanical Strategies: Site as Source,” Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden (HfBK Dresden)
“Botanical Art as Knowledge Production,” Keynote speech at Urban Utopia Conference, Berlin
“Botanical Watercolor Workshop,” German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
2024 “Plant Companions: Watercolor Workshop,” Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin
“ROOTS: Botanical Watercolor Workshop,” Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin
2022 “Wild Botanical Watercolor Workshop,” Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Oregon, USA
“A Curious Herbal,” Prinzessinnengarten, Stiftung für Kulturelle Weiterbildung Berlin
2019-20 Wunderkammer Watercolor Workshop, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin
2017 “How to Remember, How to Forget” St Paul’s Girls’ School, London, as part of study abroad in Berlin
2013 “The Art of Walking” London Freemen’s School, London, as part of study abroad in Berlin
Curatorial Projects and Events
2022 A Curious Herbal, Prinzessinnengarten, Berlin
2016 “On Site in 16 Cities” with Berlin Collective, Bar Babette, Berlin
“Unfixed Positions” BALTSprojects, Zürich
2014 “Three Artist Talks: Nicole Cohen, Ece Pazarbasi, Jaanika Peerna” Berlin Collective Event, Berlin
“Berlin Drawing Room Exhibition” group exhibition of student work
2013 “Land, Sea, Sky, Mountain” curated evening with Opalnest, Berlin
2012 “Berlin Collective Video Screening with Madeline Stillwell,” video screening and artist talk, with musical performance by Mark Golamco, Berlin
“BC Artist Editions” curated online exhibition with Berlin Collective
2011 “Navigating Darkness” group exhibition, Tape Modern, Berlin
2010 “GP Site Exploration”collaborative project, Golden Parachutes, Berlin
2003 “Terrain” group show at The Hellman Building, Los Angeles
Bibliography
2022 “A Curious Herbal,” catalogue/ artist book, Berlin
2018 “Das Haus 2,” exhibition catalog
2012 “Case Study: UCLA alums have embraced, found inspiration in Berlin’s vibrant art scene” Daily Bruin
2011 “Wo Kunst Entsteht: Besuch in drei Berliner Atelier” Mitteschön, Issue 14
“Studio Visit” Berlin Art Link, published online
“Transregional Aesthetics,” exhibition catalog
2010 “GP Site Exploration” exhibition catalogue/ artist book
2009 “The Author Dreams of Glass” by J. Mae Barizo, At Large Magazine
2008 “Yale MFA Thesis Exhibition” catalog essay by Susanna Newbury
2007 “Is That All There is to Fire?” catalog with essays curated by David Horvitz