McConnell, Brian

This thesis exhibition explores how digital culture affects identity and connection through a series of paintings made through collage, mixed media, and reflective surfaces. It looks at how identity is fragmented in the digital age when we construct personas online that are selected and, therefore, less authentic. The paintings juxtapose the use of analog methods with digital imagery, in order to ask about the tension between vulnerability and performance and the authenticity of online interactions. The series is about emotional exhaustion, curated personas, and the search for genuine connection. Reflective elements and textures mounted and layered encourage viewers to engage in a dialectic between themselves and the mediated world, between 'digital self' and the 'authentic self.' The thesis hopes that this work can provoke discourse regarding the ramifications of digital culture on self-perceiving and interpersonal relations in recognizing the human dependence on depth and vulnerability in our fragmented reality.

“Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s Day” is a manic line of dialogue spoken by Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. I have chosen that line as the title of my thesis and exhibition. Much of my graduate work has emanated from scenes in Shakespeare’s plays. I make dimensional paintings, prints, and sculptures that leverage a wide variety of media, material, and processes. I have chosen the intense drama of Ophelia’s final appearance on stage to inspire this body of work. The drama and imagery of Shakespeare’s plays has been a profound source of ideas for me. They motivate me to connect with all available resources in an energetic way to create visually captivating pieces of art. My objective is not to illustrate any given scene but to leverage the text for a personal artistic experience. The result is an abstraction that captures the energy of a dramatic moment. The art I produce is an expressive record of my relationship with the literature.