Michael McConnell

Artist Statement:

Making art is how I make sense of the world and my forgotten childhood. Observing my own anxieties and awkwardness I create visual narratives that examine loneliness, responsibility, and choice.

In my work the innocence and vulnerability associated with children and animals is constrained. These stories unfold in the space between memory and nostalgia, and focus on the tension between youth and maturity. In the sculptures, composed of discarded stuffed animals sewn over taxidermy forms, I am observing how childhood and adulthood circle one another. The forms usually used as hunting trophies have now become the mementos of a lost childhood.

Michael McConnell was born in Michigan, where he grew up watching squirrels through the front window. After high school he went on to study art at the Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio. He graduated from CCAD with honors and concentrated his studies in printmaking and painting.

He then loaded up a U-haul and moved to San Francisco where he has lived for the past 12 years. He is represented by the Braunstein/Quay Gallery (where he has had 5 solo shows in the past 10 years), and has shown nationally in New York, Santa Fe, LA, and Nashville to name a few. Most recently he has just ended a month long residency in Noyers, France. This was his first time in Europe and he is smitten.

He has been a guest lecturer at Berkley and Eastern Oregon Universities and is a regular visiting artist at Redwood High in Marin. His work has been seen in New American Paintings, Blue Canvas and in the latest issue of Watercolor Magazine. He was named one of the 25 artists to watch.