The art of Seungyea Park (aka, Spunky Zoe) is a meeting with “monstrousness”—that is, the product of our fear as it festers among us. Fear is necessary to social systems because it distinguishes the self from a monstrous Other—the enemy, the freak. “Monsters are everywhere,” Park writes, because we compulsively create them. To help herself […]
Category: Drawing
Visceral Enigmas in the Art Work of Allison Sommers
“Pink viscera, heroic dogs, war detritus, barnacled crabs, and embedded nothings” are among the many curious images, both literal and metaphoric, that the Brooklyn-based art worker Allison Sommers uses to describe her creations. Across her portfolio, animals and human appendages unfurl and splatter into gleeful-grotesque jumbles of rot and metamorphosis, defying the confines of prescribed […]
Nebula: Graphite Portraits by Thomas Cian
One of Thomas Cian’s recently launched art series is “Nebula,” which was on display at the Malaka Gallery in Milan, the native city of the artist. Working with graphite and water and mixing it up with different textured techniques on paper, his drawings are both experimental and expressive—see “Laura” and “Two Girls,” both strong examples […]
Shadow-Filled Serenity and Terror: Art & Tattoos by Suhwan Bak
Suhwan Bak is a Seoul-based artist telling his “goth-gloomy” tales on paper and skin. In a style that brings to mind Tim Burton’s lanky-limbed characters and the ghoulish terrors of Edo-Period ukiyo-e, his world is anything but ordinary; cadaver-faced women linger alone, dressed in black and partially obscured with shadows and chaotic fine lines that […]
Welcome to Faunwood: Enchanting Beasts by Miranda Zimmerman
Miranda Zimmerman, working under the title Faunwood, is a freelance artist currently based in the Pacific Northwest. With a bachelor’s degree in Evolutionary Biology, a graduate certificate in Science Illustration, and experience working on paleontological reconstruction in Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, it is clear she has a vested interest in the transformations and […]
Fusions of Body and Myth: Art by Stephanie Inagaki
Stephanie Inagaki is a Southern California–based fine artist and metalsmith. Her charcoal drawings are dark, poetic fusions of self and myth, drawing especially from Japanese folklore. The female subjects—which are often representations of herself—merge with crows and supernatural monsters, their bodies transmuting into uncanny hybrids inscribed with ageless mythologies. A particular emphasis is placed on […]
Strange Things Are Happening: Drawings by James Lipnickas
James Lipnickas is an artist living in the woods of New England who draws the “strange and unusual.” He finds inspiration in his wandering mind, envisioning absurd events that could occur in ordinary situations. His black-and-white images are set in rural environments, where cabins and lone wanderers are beset by tentacled, multi-dimensional beasts that seem […]
Drawing in Space: Incredible Floating Cities by David Moreno
David Moreno is a Barcelona-based artist creating floating cities using steel rods and piano wire. He (somewhat modestly) describes his work as “trying to draw sculptures,” and indeed there is a correlation between his practices of illustration and sculpture; he creates digital sketches of his work and then transfers them into mind-bending 3D forms. Whether […]
Illustrations Held at the Mercy of Secrets by Patrycja Podkościelny
“I love to draw plants and faces,” Patrycja Podkościelny tells me, “‘cause you can hide [in] there a lot of secrets.” Known for her compelling characters, the figures in her illustrations appear at the mercy of what they’re keeping. They tell none of it but rather suffer the consequences instead; whether they’re being bullied by […]
David Gluck Interview: Transitioning From Painting to Tattooing
While David Gluck has only been inking bodies for a few years, he has been inking canvases for over a decade. His oil paintings evoke classical artists like Rembrandt in their use of light and shadow, and through careful practice he has brought that style to his tattoos as well. His friendly and engaging demeanor […]