Payton O'Neal

translation

In moments of intimate connection and vulnerability, how we translate memories and longing onto the objects of our desire can be just as meaningful as the actions we do or don't take. Featuring Sofia Coppola's indie classic Lost in Translation, words from ee cummings, Yukio Mishima, James Merrill, and William Somerset Maugham, paintings from John Kacere, John Singer Sargent, Elizabeth Peyton, and Faye Wei Wei, and set to Roxy Music's More Than This.

Payton O'Neal
translation
Payton O'Neal

the green ray

the elusive green ray reminds us to revel in fleeting moments of meaning in the ceaselessness cycles of everyday life. featuring eric rohmer's le rayon vert, jules verne's novel of the same name, paintings from eric ernest johnson, passages from rimbaud and the idiot by both elif bautman and fyodor dostoevsky, and set to music from sandy's.

Payton O'Neal
the green ray
Payton O'Neal

on earth

on earth we’re shaped by our family traditions, the places we’re from, the moments we cherish, and the futures we long for. featuring lulu wang’s the farewell, ocean vuong’s on earth we’re briefly gorgeous, photographs from luo yang and nguan, and passages from works by jenny zhang and the late qui miaojin. music by mitski.

Payton O'Neal
on earth
Payton O'Neal

king of a rainy country

the past and present clash at the hands of the ceaselessly cyclical clock. our regrets and hopes are skewed and magnified by time, imagination, and lost loves. featuring prose from baudelaire’s paris spleen, trauffaut’s jules and jim screenshots, sculpture from brancusi, closed eyes in many iterations by odilon redon, illustrations from bonnie camplin, quote from king of a rainy country by brigid brophy, the first modern painting by manet, a poem ode from lawrence raab, and experimental music from ruth white.

Payton O'Neal
king of a rainy country

defacement

published 31 years to the day after spike lee’s do the right thing was released in the US, this compendium is a study on how we document oppression and form collective narratives when we witness and experience gross injustice. featuring arthur jafa’s love is the message, the message is death, spike lee’s do the right thing, ultralight beam by kanye west and chance the rapper, lorraine hansberry’s a raisin in the sun, paintings by basquiat from the 2019 guggenheim defacement exhibit, the social contract by jean-jacques rousseau, jacob holdt photograhy, and john paul sarte’s black orpheus.

defacement
Payton O'Neal

lightness

centered around milan kundera's masterpiece, the unbearable lightness of being, this post is about our unending struggle to give life meaning and escape its' inevitable linearity.

Payton O'Neal
lightness
Payton O'Neal

window

a compendium on how we adapt to inevitable change—giving in to the wind and maintaining resilience in the face of the infinite void.

Payton O'Neal
window
Payton O'Neal

the world is dreamt

this compendium is a musing on confronting memories, freudian nightmares, and the possibility of unexpected hope. featuring ingmar bergman’s wild strawberries, paintings by edvard munch, words from august strindberg, and more.

Payton O'Neal
the world is dreamt
Payton O'Neal

ash is purest white

this compendium traces the passing of time as the river flows and the sometimes-violent inevitability of flames turning to ash. featuring jia zhangke, liu xiaodong, zhai yongming, and more.

Payton O'Neal
ash is purest white
Payton O'Neal

invisible man

fantasy and light, toxicity and darkness, come together in this compendium as a commentary on belonging and identity. featuring ralph ellison, joe talbot, duke ellington, and more.

Payton O'Neal
invisible man
Payton O'Neal

river

greta gerwig’s ladybird · to june by ganglians · run river by joan didion · paintings by wayne thiebaud · words by raymond carver

Payton O'Neal
river
Payton O'Neal

espuma

alfonso cuaron’s roma · mar y espuma by aclpulco tropical · el mar by jorge luis borges · photos by gabriel orozco · vija celmin’s oceans · john steinbeck’s the pearl

Payton O'Neal
espuma
Payton O'Neal

badlands

terrence malick’s badlands · robert plant’s big log · stephen shore’s roads · claude monet’s haystacks · kurt vonnegut’s cat’s cradle

Payton O'Neal
badlands