My name is Patrick McConville and I have created this site as a medium through which I can communicate to you my story. Through sketches and pictures of the various sculptures I have constructed, I hope to demonstrate the pain of suicide. When asked to create an imaginative final project through which I was to relate my life and my experiences to those of a story we had discussed in class, I could think of nothing better to share with you than my experience with suicide. J, my closest friend during Freshman Year of High School, became "obsessed" with me. I did not share her intimate feelings, and J eventually attempted to kill herself by consuming a Value-Sized bottle of Extra-Strength Tylenol. Worse than that, she intended to die on the phone, telling me that this was all my fault and that she was now going to be gone. In effect, J intended to "curse" me. She intended to burden me with a guilt that was not my own. Fortunately, I was able to get an ambulance to J in time to save her life (had it been five more minutes, the paramedics said she would not have lived). When I wrote J to inform her that I no longer felt comfortable maintaining a close friendship with her, she selected parts of the email, pasted them into a new email, and proceeded to send the 'adjusted' version to several members of my close circle of friends. They, of course, turned their backs on me without knowing the truth about what had occurred. The sculptures and drawings contained within the pages of this site represent my attempt to re-create for you the pain which I endured upon J's attempt to kill herself. I have chosen to relate my experience to that of Aeneas. Dido, crazed by her love for Aeneas, first curses him and later kills herself over his having left her. And the VISUAL story begins (For some reason, the links to the pages do not always work the first time and it's necessary to refresh the page or click the back arrow and re-click the link. I apologize in advance for this inconvenience)...
Photographs and Various Artwork:
Charcoal Sketches
The Sculptures
The Apprenticeship
