Urban Skies and Feathered Eyes is a contemporary mixed media painting in which two overlapping female faces merge with birds, wings and botanical forms. At the centre, a large dove with outstretched wings crosses the portraits, its feathers intersecting the women’s features so that female portraiture and bird imagery become almost inseparable.

The title Urban Skies and Feathered Eyes is reflected directly in this layering. Vivid blue eyes emerge among feathers and wings, bringing together two recurring symbols: vision and flight. The dove, traditionally associated with peace, freedom and spiritual transcendence, overlaps the female portraits rather than occupying a separate sky, suggesting that freedom may be understood as an inner state. The combination of eyes and wings can similarly evoke heightened perception, inner vision and seeing beyond boundaries, while the overlapping faces introduce ideas of duality and multiple states of the self.

Around them, branches, leaves, floral motifs and a rose emerge through washes of ochre, rust, turquoise and electric blue. Associated with growth, renewal and beauty, these botanical elements further dissolve the boundaries between the human, animal and natural worlds. Lace-like organic patterns and sweeping linear marks fragment the surface and create a strong sense of movement.

O’Connor’s use of acrylic, spray paint, sand texture and paint marker gives the work an urban, street-art-inflected visual language. The “urban” element of the title therefore lies less in a literal cityscape than in the painting’s materials, graphic marks and layered energy, creating a contrast between urban expression and the freedom of the natural world.

Urban Skies and Feathered Eyes is an original, one-of-one contemporary mixed media painting on canvas, 91.4 × 91.4 cm, available through Eclectic Gallery, Fitzrovia, London. To enquire or arrange a private viewing, contact the gallery.