MOLLY COLLEEN O’CONNELL (American, b. 1986) based in Berwyn, IL.
My work is telling stories, often synthesizing fantasy and personal history. As a cartoonist and comics historian, I feel that comics can seamlessly combine the surreal and the mundane and mimic the way our minds travel through narrative. I use the language of cartooning in combination with diverse techniques and materials such as ceramics, painting, poetry, candle making, felting, airbrush, puppetry, and papier-mâché to construct vibrant and immersive installations, comedic performances and narrative books.
MCO’s work has been performed, screened and exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), AALA Gallery (Los Angeles), Evening Hours (New York), Andrew Rafacz (Chicago), Waiting Room Gallery (Tokyo), Julius Caesar (Chicago), Vox Populi (Philadelphia), Roots + Culture (Chicago), Silvermine Arts Center (Connecticut), MOHS Exhibit (Copenhagen), MoCCA (Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art), LA Chicago + New York Art Book Fair(s), and Evening Hours (New York). She was a recipient of the James Nelson Raymond fellowship in 2017. She has been an artist in residence at Vermont Studio center, Acre Residency (Wisconsin), and Colorama Clubhouse (Berlin).