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Max O’Connor

@oconnor.creates

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queer & trans | 19
writer, poet, & wannabe artist
SAIC ‘29
support mpls, fuck ICE 👇👇

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i love you. by @oconnor.creates

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7 months ago

I love you, 2026

This installation was an intimate deep dive into my experiences with depression, suicide, and love. It features photographs of loved ones, printed screenshots of times people told me they loved me, an essay I wrote a year after my suicide attempt, and 118 “reasons to keep living” handwritten on index cards. Red yarn connects these elements at intentional points, showing the connections between all that I love and all who love me.

#art #installationart #suicidepreventionawareness taken in School of the Art Institute of Chicago by @oconnor.creates

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7 months ago

my heart on your sleeve, 2026

BUH-BUM. BUH-BUM. BUH-BUM. BUH-BUM. / YOU WEAR MY HEART UPON YOUR SLEEVE. / IT PULSES THERE ETERNALLY. / YOU WISH YOU COULD GET RID OF ME. / BUH-BUM. BUH-BUM. BUH-BUM. BUH-BUM. / YOU DID NOT KNOW THAT BLOOD BLEEDS BROWN. / LET’S SAVE BRIGHT RED FOR CIRCUS CLOWNS. / I TURN MY LAUGHTER UPSIDE DOWN. / BUH-BUM. BUH-BUM. BUH-BUM. BUH-BUM. / IT’S KEEPING TIME THERE ON YOUR SLEEVE, / YOUR WATCH, MY IMMORTALITY. / YOUR EYES ARE SPUN OF WOOL AND BEES. / BUH-BUM. BUH-BUM. BUH-BUM. BUH-BUM.

Acrylic and marker on cardboard + styrofoam and clay for the heart, which is held in place by hundreds of strands of sewing thread without glue or other fasteners.

I want to figure out a way to display this piece so that it can be rotated. This would allow the viewer to read the poem, and to see the heart moving precariously within the net of threads that attach it to the cardboard.

#poetry #mixedmediaart by @oconnor.creates

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9 months ago

for the good of society, 2024

Today, on Transgender Day of Remembrance, I would like to share a piece of art I made last year for a school project. This is what I wrote to accompany the piece at the time:

“42% of transgender adults have attempted suicide in their lifetime. A stunning 82% have considered it. Hate crimes against trans and gender nonconforming individuals are on a heartbreaking surge increasing a whopping 32.9% from 2021 to 2022. Most likely to die because of a hateful attack are Black trans women. Hateful anti-trans legislation is also on the rise. In 2022, 174 bills were introduced (26 passed). In 2023, 600 bills were introduced (87 passed). In just the first 4 months of 2024, already 547 bills have been introduced and 24 passed.
For my justice plan project, I created a piece of art to highlight the lives lost due to the rampant transphobia that permeates American culture. Each name is the name of a trans person who died before their time either by suicide or transphobic violence. In bold are 7 of the 24 bills that passed this year that have and will continue to harm trans people. I entitled this piece “for the good of society”, in reference to CPAC speaker Michael Knowles’ horrendous comment calling for the eradication of “transgenderism”. “

Since I’ve created this piece, anti-trans sentiment has only continued to rise. So far in 2025, 124 anti-trans bills have been passed into law. Over 1,000 have been introduced. These hateful laws feed the cycle of violence toward trans people, all too often leading to our untimely deaths.

Take time today to remember those who have been taken from us, and find ways to fight for trans rights in their memory.

#tdor2025 #protecttranslives by @oconnor.creates

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10 months ago