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Oliver McConnie’s work explores the contemporary subversive potential of printing-making, which is traditionally associated with satire and political commentary. As such, his prints employ the grotesque, historical symbolism, and modern social mores to form a critique of the contemporary political environment. Etchings, in their scale and intensity, create a strong sense of looking into something, a cave, another world; this fits with the origin of the term grotesque which is ‘looking into the grotto’. Drawing on this quality and without employing reductive irony McConnie wishes to produce parodic prophecies which explore subjects including environmental destruction and class hierarchies. Humour is important to McConnie, and his images mix beauty with vomit and daemons.
Oliver McConnie’s work explores the contemporary subversive potential of printing-making, which is traditionally associated with satire and political commentary. As such, his prints employ the grotesque, historical symbolism, and modern social mores to form a critique of the contemporary political environment. Etchings, in their scale and intensity, create a strong sense of looking into something, a cave, another world; this fits with the origin of the term grotesque which is ‘looking into the grotto’. Drawing on this quality and without employing reductive irony McConnie wishes to produce parodic prophecies which explore subjects including environmental destruction and class hierarchies. Humour is important to McConnie, and his images mix beauty with vomit and daemons.
