Justin Liam O’Brien’s figurative paintings depict social interactions that emphasize physical touches but evoke feelings of loneliness and ennui. He depicts his mostly male subjects as soft-edged figures in carefully crafted tableaux, reflecting his technical background in digital arts and 3D animation. O’Brien has exhibited extensively in New York City, and his works reflect a widespread sense of social isolation in the city and across the globe. While O’Brien draws on his personal experiences as a queer millennial living in an age of unparalleled anxiety, the narratives he portrays are universally relatable. Each quiet moment, pregnant with tension and tinged with pathos, speaks to internalized feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, and powerlessness.
