El Gato Chimney is a self-taught artist based in Milan. His colorful paintings are a form of modern alchemy, combining the aesthetics of medieval art (the 9th and 10th centuries) with steampunk culture, pagan symbolism, street art, and surrealism. In each piece, anthropomorphic animals and uncanny hybrids populate Bosch-like fields, gathering to perform arcane rites […]
Category: Storytelling
Sorrow, Healing, and Peace: Visuals by Martin Stranka
Martin Stranka is a photographer whose atmospheric images walk the line between dreams and awakening. His journey as a photographer began 10 years ago, following the tragic loss of someone close to him. “I felt like I had to express my self somehow,” he explains. “I felt like I needed to find something like a […]
Stories of Death and Creation in Illustrations by Lauren Marx
Lauren Marx is an artist based in St. Louis, Missouri, who tells stories about birth, death, nature, and the suffering caused by mental illness. Her subjects are animals (her longstanding passion), which she draws with a morbid and mythical flair; peruse her gallery and you will see three-headed calves, geese entwined by their entrails, and […]
Bodies of Emotion: An Update from Alex Stoddard
We’ve featured the work of LA-based photographer Alex Stoddard before, but over the last year, he has continued to create a stream of mind-blowing imagery. Featured here are 10 self-portraits, all containing his characteristic symbolism and emotional potency. Whereas his previous work explored scenes of the human experience in grand environments, Stoddard tells us that […]
Vivid Fantasy Imagery with a Dark Twist by Ransom & Mitchell
Ransom & Mitchell is an artistic duo based out of San Francisco, comprised of Stacey Ransom (designer, digital artist) and Jason Mitchell (director, photographer). Together, they produce vivid, story-filled fantasy images. Their process starts from the ground up, combining set design, costuming, and prop construction with computer graphics. Drawing influence from the “Italian and Dutch […]
Hidden Hearts: Creepy Hollowed-Out Dolls by Mari Shimizu
Mari Shimizu is an artist from Amakusa in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, who creates hollowed-out ball-joint dolls. Each doll is unique in that the contents of their eviscerated torsos reveal different elements of horror and fantasy. In a statement provided to Illusion, Shimizu explains how “We hide our hearts from our families and friends in order […]
Disembodied Rebirth: Charcoal Artworks by Aurore Lephilipponnat
Aurore Lephilipponnat is a French artist who incorporates Japanese Butoh dance into her charcoal drawings. Her visions often comprise of female or hybrid bodies who move gracefully across the page, suspended in various stages of life, death, and decay. In an interview with Artists of France, Lephilipponnat explains how Butoh is an art form capable […]
Exploring the Unconscious: Dark Photos by Peter Zelei
For Hungarian photographer Peter Zelei, there is no “black and white” when it comes to humanity; “I believe . . . we are a very complicated mix of good, bad, darkness and light,” he explained in an interview with Citizen Brooklyn. His photographs are filled with beauty and cruelty, with scenes and scenarios that simultaneously […]
Playfully Complex Narratives in Collages by Sombra
Sombra (aka, Victor Ruano) is a freelance multi-disciplinarian artist working in collage, graphic design, filmmaking, and more. As a self-proclaimed “visual storyteller,” he is devoted to developing personal narratives in his art, as seen in his colorful and experimental collages. Modern and vintage imagery combine to tell complicated stories of humanity, such as swamp monsters […]
Cement Eclipses: Mini Public Sculptures by Isaac Cordal
Isaac Cordal is a Spanish street artist who builds miniature installations in public spaces around the world. Titled “Cement Eclipses,” his project consists of tiny clay people who interact with urban environments in ways that explore society, capitalism, and the absurdity of human existence. From homeless figurines sleeping overtop storm drains to the aftermath of […]