Sas + Colin: Colin Christian
Colin Christian makes larger-than-life sculptures of space-girls, aliens, and femme fatale creatures, in a style I dub cyber retro-erotic which takes influence from many different subcultures. Statuesque and cast in fiberglass and silicone, these cartoonishly exaggerated, indomitably perfect figures with piercing, gigantic, pellucid eyes, featuring campy titles such as Adventures on Planet Freud and The Callgirl of Cthulhu, are a sort of oddball mixture of his diverse inspirations, including “old sci-fi movies, pinup girls/supermodels, anime,” and “H. P. Lovecraft.” I find some of his work to be not to my taste, bordering on obscene or downright creepy (not to say disturbing), but these pieces below I do like. Also check out Sas’ art in the previous post.
Tags: alien beauty, bizarre, cartoony, cyber aesthetic, distorted bodies, doll-like, enlarged eyes, erotic, fetish, futuristic, life-sized, lolita-esque, monsteresque, pinup, pop surrealism, realism, retro, sci-fi, sculptures, sinister arts and crafts, space girls, strange beauty
The Magic Bottle
The Magic Bottle by Camille Rose Garcia is a wonderful children’s book (for weird kids, maybe) that demonstrates her writing skills as well as her visual artistry. This book is dark, whimsical, and delightfully imaginative. It expresses in a very complete way her concept of “The Tragic Kingdom,” of strange animals and inanimate things (even the ocean is alive and conscious) on a human level living and struggling under the black cloud of industrialism; creating a whole roiling breathing world that has never been seen before. Her cutesy, yet melancholy and acid trip-like style features constantly weeping, lugubrious-looking cartoony characters, in a world entirely of her own creation, populated by bizarre, menacing, and threatened creatures. Growing up in the sinister shadow of Disneyland, Camille was intensely disillusioned with the artificial, sterilized promise of heaven that it offered.
Tags: animated inanimate things, camille rose garcia, cartoony, cute n creepy little creatures, dark side of disneyland, environmentalism, pop surrealism
Tara McPherson
I picked up a copy of Lost Constellations: The Art of Tara McPherson yesterday when I saw it in the “Arty Comics” section at my university bookstore (yeah, who knew?). It’s true that artists with a Pop Surreal aesthetic featuring cartoony cute alternative girls with motifs of hearts, bubbles, etc., are really, really, common nowadays, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still charmed by every one I see. I’ve noticed Tara McPherson‘s work before, but this time around I just felt an urge to pick the book up and buy it and take it home with me.
Lovelorn or love-vicious space-girls and hollow spaces where hearts should be are at the heart of Tara’s work. Her paintings and illustrations are sweet, surreal, and occasionally almost mystical with a mysterious symbolism. They often come in series. Below are some of my favorite pieces from the book as well as others that aren’t in it.
Tags: cartoony, pop surrealism, poster illustrations, space girls, tara mcpherson
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