Chaz O’Neil » Ohio Artist Registry

Chaz O’Neil is fascinated by space exploration, and this body of work reflects his interest in the messages that humans have sent into outer space in search of intelligent life. The repeated image in his Messenger Series is taken from the etched plaque designed by renowned astronomer Carl Sagan for NASA’s Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft. The plaque contains informational diagrams about human beings and the location of Earth in the infinitesimal chance that the spacecraft are intercepted by extra-terrestrial life forms. O’Neil’s process of making these works involves a tension between control and chaos. The cut-out shapes that form regular grids and patterns are mathematical in their precision, while his spray paints, washes, and other use of pigments and resins open the work up to chance. Inspired by a visit to Terra Mineralia, a museum in Freiberg, Germany housing one of the world’s largest collections of minerals, the vinyl installation Terraform (2020) is one of O’Neil’s most ambitious works to date. O’Neil works at the Ohio Arts Council as the Individual Artists Programs & Percent for Art Coordinator.  Previously he worked and taught at Otterbein University, Ohio. He also taught at Shanghai Publishing Printing College in China. Recently, he had residencies in El Bruc, Spain as part of the Ohio Art League Can Serrat Residency Award. In 2019, he also took part in the Greater Columbus Arts Council’s Residency Exchange Program in Dresden, Germany. He currently lives in Columbus OH