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.

Years in the making the fantastically creepy and appropriately named YHWH is the creation of surreal artist Mark Ryden. Known for his darkly humorous and sometimes disturbing paintings, he has partnered with Necessaries Toy Foundation to produce this vinyl figure based on his painting of the same name. It’

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.