Sophia Blackall - Missed Connections

Sophie Blackall’s “Missed Connections” takes the wishful yearnings of anonymous posters and turns them into acute representations of their desires. To create these paintings, Blackall uses the website Craigslist and it’s Missed Connections section, a section of the website where people post about missing a chance to meet or talk to a stranger in hopes of reconnecting with them.

Much like Stacey Williams-Ng’s “Status Update Paintings”, Blackall is putting these lamentations into a new context. Through her unique art style, Blackall takes what could be considered sad and woeful texts and adds some humor and color to them. Her style also conveys a sense of whimsy, like you’re looking back at that moment in a dream.

Year(s) Created: 2009 and ongoing

Media: Watercolors

Artist Statement

Messages in bottles, smoke signals, letters written in the sand; the modern equivalents are the funny, sad, beautiful, hopeful, hopeless, poetic posts on Missed Connections websites. Every day hundreds of strangers reach out to other strangers on the strength of a glance, a smile or a blue hat. Their messages have the lifespan of a butterfly. I'm trying to pin a few of them down.

Exhibition History

"Missed Connections" has been available online since 2009 and continues to add new pieces at the following website.

http://missedconnectionsny.blogspot.com/

Image Sources

Blackall, Sophie. Doing Laundry in Our Building. 2009. Missed Connections NY. 16 Nov. 2009. Web. 10 Dec. 2009. http://missedconnectionsny.blogspot.com/2009/11/doing-laundry-in-our-building.html.

Blackall, Sophie. HOT Toll Collector. 2009. Missed Connections NY. 11 Oct. 2009. Web. 10 Dec. 2009. http://missedconnectionsny.blogspot.com/2009/10/hot-toll-collector.html.

Blackall, Sophie. If Not For Your Noisy Tambourine. 2009. Missed Connections NY. 4 Apr. 2009. Web. 10 Dec. 2009. http://missedconnectionsny.blogspot.com/2009/04/if-not-for-your-noisy-tambourine.html.

Bibliography

"Art of Craigslist Missed Connections." Mademan.com. 17 Nov. 2009. Web. 10 Dec. 2009. http://www.mademan.com/art-craigslist-missed-connections/.

Blackall, Sophie. "Missed Connections NY." Missed Connections NY. Web. 10 Dec. 2009. http://missedconnectionsny.blogspot.com/.

Katz, Leslie. "Artist Finds Muse in Other's Missed Connections." CNET News. CNET, 1 Oct. 2009. Web. 10 Dec. 2009. http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10364890-1.html.

Wortham, Jenna. "Craiglist's Missed Connections As Art." Bits. New York Times, 29 Sept. 2009. Web. 10 Dec. 2009. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/craigslists-missed-connections-as-art/.