Inspired by Modernism, as well as the history of material usage of Outsider Art, O'Brien's multidisciplinary practice is a search for identity and genuine expression through material and process.

O'Brien has held solo exhibitions at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Renaissance Society, Chicago, KMAC Museum, Louisville, MAD Museum, NYC, Witte De With, Rotterdam, and The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City among others. In 2014 he had his first major museum survey at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago curated by Naomi Beckwith.

He has held residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and the U-Cross Foundation. O’Brien has received awards from the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation and Artadia. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Cleveland Clinic, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Miami Art Museum, Pérez Art Museum, Hammer Museum, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, and The Art Institute of Chicago. O’Brien is also Professor, Chair of Ceramics at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

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On behalf of William, Outer Space will donate 5% of its profits from any sales of his work to a non-profit of the artist's choosing.

I like repetition. Mantra. The sound of objects, people, and the world. The fuzziness of things. I‘d like to think that these qualities shine through in my pieces.

Layers. Feeling color. Feeling line. Feeling Shape. How something visual can be a dance, tell a story, be nothing, be everything, be funny. I love how art can be a refuge, a true refuge.

The best pieces I have made are when I am not thinking, goofing around and many times make something as a joke. Direct experience. Being surprised. Startled.