Jeffrey Eugenides’ Characters Reimagined

I was working on this polyptych from November 2022 till February 2023. Perhaps it is the longest I ever spent on a connected group of artworks. A handful of pieces selected, approx. 70% crossed out of the list.

It was a song by Air that reworked memory. I was a gloomy, distant kid, and thus prone to audio-visual aesthetics behind Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicide. The movie is one long scrupulous photo composition, that has the quality to carve deep into memories.

The storytelling transcendentally runs on another level, thanks to the original author Jeffrey Eugenides. 

Listening to the distant but familiar soundtrack, I questioned myself, what if the story happens now when presence online became a prerequisite to successful social life? 

One can argue with the necessity. Generations online though, from Millenials to Z to those who take a first breath this very second — gonna continue the digital realm mass exodus anyways. For them, digital deprivation feels like cutting flesh alive. I never felt this body as mine but I feel like losing my limbs.

I am reimagining Jeffrey Eugenides’ characters, looking at them through the prism of enforced social de-communication. Restraint comes from both directions, overprotection & boredom. When going off-pitch, it makes you feel numb. Perhaps, this is where the desire to hurt yourself originates from. The human mind is so fragile.

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“Therese” will be exhibited offline at #NFTNYC2023 Community Artist Showcase (Artists Village, North Javits, April 12-14 2023).

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Digital-native mixed media: the artwork created using digital ink emulation, gif dither, ASCII symbols, and a limited color palette. Non-generative. Non-AI. Optimized for 16:9 displays.