Roy Uptain

Roy Uptain is a post-conceptual artist and experimental filmmaker who recently completed an MFA in Visual Art at the Sam Fox School. Rooted in a multidisciplinary practice, their work investigates the interlocking systems of propaganda, surveillance, and social control in the digital age, and how those manifest in psychological and bodily experiences. Raised in the intersections of a fundamentalist evangelical cult, Wyoming’s hypermasculine cowboy culture, and the structured environment of the U.S. Army as a Mass Communication Specialist, Uptain investigates the mechanisms of power that define uniquely American and often hyper-online forms of belief, behavior, and identity.

Recent achievements include being named a Counterpublic Fellow (2023–2024), participating in multiple group exhibitions such as “Slow Gardens” at the Kemper Art Museum and “Double Take: Reimagining Duality” at the Des Lee Gallery, and receiving multiple Sam Fox School graduate travel and research grants. Their solo exhibitions, such as “PAINTING//WAR” and “Greenhorn,” have been shown in Wyoming, reflecting their early explorations into cyber war and the rise of hyper-masculine mythologies online.

Through projects like “Surveillance Erotica” and “Edgelord Ethnography,” he uses absurdity and abstraction to disrupt institutional control and challenge propagandistic narratives. Recurring motifs like grids signify systems of categorization and power, while abstraction opens spaces for mystery and contradiction. As a graduate recruitment specialist for the Sam Fox School, they foster creative dialogue while continuing their artistic and research practice.