KELLY O'BRIEN

O'Brien's long-term practice is rooted in lived experience, drawing on a shared knowledge shaped and passed down by the working class women in her life, women whose lives and labour have historically been rendered invisible.

 

Humour and defiance underpin her approach. Through deliberate playfulness, O'Brien cuts through class

shame and reclaims agency, carrying the sharp wit of working class storytelling without trivialising experience. Using irony and tenderness, she challenges the scripted language and imagery long used to degrade poor women, framing her practice as both self-preservation and rebellion.

 

At its core, No Rest For The Wicked positions working class women's lives as both sacred and political - insisting that invisible labour is not ordinary or expendable, but powerful, worthy of visibility, dignity and recognition.

 

"Scrubbers of the world unite!”