Brady Fullerton
Calgary, Alberta
ARTIST BIO
Brady Fullerton (he/him) is a neurodivergent and mentally ill lens-based artist and academic whose work raises philosophical questions regarding themes of trauma, isolation, mental health, addiction, and beauty, through a visual exploration of the quotidian and mundane. Brady is a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at the University of Guelph and a predominately analog photographer. He primarily works in a photographic documentary style, exploring the ways philosophical questions are raised in art as well as the ways they are raised in traditional philosophy. His award-winning photographic work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions, group exhibitions, online, and in print. Currently, he is working on several projects including Nowhere, a lens-based exploration of trauma and memory in his hometown of Drumheller, Alberta. This work is generously funded by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.
PROJECT STATEMENT
Missed Connections is an ongoing project exploring a constellation of themes surrounding the sometimes creepy, occasionally beautiful, and often sad longing expressed in missed connections ads posted online. Missed connections ads are a longstanding staple of online classifieds. They express desire, lust, longing, and crude attempts to overcome alienation in our modern society. Using the information in the posted advertisement including locations described and GPS data left by the poster I return to the most relevant locations and find images that evoke the emotions expressed by the ad, whatever they might be. I hope that this exploration, this archeology of space, serves to uncover some of the complexities of the emotions and psychologies expressed. Still, I know full well that my own feelings taint the project and I struggle to overcome my fluctuating feelings of optimism and pessimism. I embrace this lack of objectivity and hope the work can one day become a broad study of these desperate little digital notes tossed out into the void.
