Selina Ou is known for her large-scale colour photographs of metropolitan working life. In documentary style, she often seeks out employees in the service industry. In her works, she explores themes of identity and consumerism.
Ou was born in Malaysia and moved to Australia at the age of two. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Art with Honours majoring in Photography at the Victorian College of the Arts, and now lives and works in Melbourne. Ou has undertaken numerous artist residencies in Australia, China, Japan, Chile and the USA, funded by grants from the Australia Council, Arts Victoria and by municipalities in China and Japan. She has also been the recipient of the Australia Council for the Arts Greene Street residency in New York and the Gertrude Contemporary studio residency. Awarded the ANZ Emerging Artist Award in 2005, Ou’s work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, the National Library of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, Monash Gallery of Art, Hobart City Council, Artbank, the Australia Council and the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo in Chile. Her work is also included in the UBS Art Collection and the JGS Collection in New York, as well as in numerous private collections.