The Puppet Pathos

All My Dreams

The art of Greg Simkins is like some alternate Looney Tunes universe on Acid. Creatures ooze and slither throughout the space like they’ve just been beamed down and reassembled incorrectly. They’re slimy, misshapen and thoroughly disturbing, and yet manage to retain a cartoonish sense of fun — twisted — but still fun. See the rest of the universe at www.imscared.com.

Fear of Meat

Children of the Night

You feel a little guilty for laughing at Michael Mararian’s Inky Dreadfuls, but, I’m sorry, they’re funny. They are completely innapropriate, but his mix of innocent children in less than innocent settings is the stuff of mirth. Think Edward Gorey and you’ll get the idea. As Michael says:

“The use of contradiction is an integral part of my work to magnify the absurdity of any given situation and add humor to the piece.” 

Have a good laugh at www.michaelmararian.com

Crows

Sheryl

Nicoletta Ceccoli’s illustrations have a sinister innocence to them. It seems like a contradiction of terms but if you look at here work there is a childlike innocence emanating from the subjects of her dark paintings. Her use of color portrays a dark landscape, desaturated and devoid of sunlight. At any moment the subjects of her painting could easliy be snatched away by some unknown, out-of-frame hobgoblin. If you’re looking for dark whimsey, this it it. See the rest of her world at www.nicolettaceccoli.com

Redstar

Michael Hussar’s richly painted canvases are richly colored, disturbing iconic visions. As Michael says, they are:

a voyeuristic snapshot of perceived humanity, complete with freaks and fakery; a gothic wonderland illuminating the gray area between truths and lies.

And they do bring to mind Alice’s wonderland taken a dark, freakish turn. Harlequins, popes and freaks are all regulars in his unusual artistic vision. To get the full effect go to www.michaelhussar.biz

The Bride of Stan

If you thought the old photos in your family album were weird, take a look at the work of Travis Louie. Using tightly drawn graphite renderings and acrylic paint he produces victorian portraits that are as odd as they are dignified. Influenced by the cinematic lighting of the German Expressionist filmmakers and film noir, he sticks to a limited color pallette which give his victorian freakshow inhabitants a timeworn appeal. Check out more oddities at www.travislouie.com. The Bride of Stan is available as an intaglio print framed in a molded resin frame with convex glass, with an edition size of 50 at www.hifructose.com/

Memory and Forgetting

To Wed a Beetle

Looking at Kelly Louise Judd’s paintings is like wandering through a dark, Victorian fairy tale where the wolf actually eats Little Red Riding Hood. They have an amazing sense of place, dread and beauty that invites you to create a story behind each eerie scene. She creates paintings, drawings and dolls all with the same gothic charm. Take a walk in her fairy tale world at swanbones.com.

Fertility

Naoto Hattori says that his vision is like a dream, whether it’s a sweet dream, a nightmare, or a trippy dream. After looking at his work I think most of his dreams are a bit on the trippy nightmare side of things. He’s an amazing illustrator whose work documents a strange world indeed. Real and surreal comingle in a nightmarish wonderland that makes you wonder which pill you took. Get the full effect at www.wwwcomcom.com.

Southern folk art is one of the influences Michael Egan sites in his artists statement and it shows in his simple yet powerful work. Also present is the influence of having worked in a funeral home for the past five years, an experience that has helped solidify his themes of life, death and religion. Using acrylic paint shellac and sandpaper on wood or stretched canvas he creates meaningful icons which embody our fascination with spiritual life and death. See more of his work at www.eganpaintings.com.

There simply aren’t enough superlatives to describe the work of Daniel Martin Diaz. The son of Mexican born parents, his art is heavily influenced by their traditional beliefs. His work explores traditional iconography in new ways which attempt to neither endorse or decry, but rather leave the viewer to their own interpretations of the richly painted canvas. Layered with mystical symbolism, his depictions of man’s fascination with life, death and the afterlife never cease to amaze. If I win the lottery, I’ll be buying a couple of originals. In the meantime, I’ll settle for one of his ultra-cool tees. Check it all out at www.danielmartindiaz.com and www.mysticuspublishing.com.

s the first and possibly only vinyl piece from Mark Ryden and available through Last Gasp and Outre Gallery to name a couple. To see his amazing paintings and drawings visit http://www.markryden.com.