Phantasmaphile

Evan Harris

Evan Harris

Evan Harris creates undulating pictures that feel homespun and lyrical.  A muted color palate lends itself well to these organic dream scenes, allowing the intricate linework and floating protagonists to take center stage.

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Julia Swaney

Julia Swaney

Victorian ladies abound in Julia Swaney's delicate drawings.  These works are quietly elaborate, and whisper of nature's magic. 

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Jared Joslin

Jared Joslin  "Jessica"  2001

Jared Joslin's paintings are at once noir and mythic.  His grotesquely beautiful portraits are rife with the color and symbolism of the old masters, but with a decidedly modern edge.

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Fred Tomaselli

Fred Tomaselli  "Toytopia"  2003

Fred Tomaselli's mystic collages are jam-packed with stimuli.  I love every single one of his pieces, and feel ecstatically overwhelmed by them.  (If you like his stuff, too, check out Miriam Wosk and Wangechi Mutu.)

Michael Hsiung

Michael Hsiung  "Still Life of A Distinguished Merman with tea cup, kettle, and a rose"

I find Michael Hsiung's drawings to be silly and wonderfully eccentric, what with their bloody unicorns and mustachioed mermen.  They are juvenile and sophisticated at the same time, filled with clarity, whimsy, and at times, violence.  Joy!

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Fables

It was only a matter of time.  An utter inevitability, in fact.  Yes, I am officially obsessed with the comic series, Fables, by Bill Willingham.  The premise is that myriad characters from fairy tales and classic stories are forced to live in exile in New York City.  They must hide their magical identities from humans (called the Mundanes, or "Mundys" for short), and maintain order amongst their ancient community, while figuring out how to eventually win back their homelands from the Adversary.  It is an extremely clever and entertaining series, and I can't recommend it highly enough, especially to those of you who share my deep abiding passion (and subsequent mourning) for Neil Gaiman's Sandman.  As an added bonus, the phenomenal James Jean does all the Fables cover artwork.

Tomoko Konoike

Tomoko Konoike  "Chapter 3: Wreck"  detail  2005

I wish there were more images of Tomoko Konoike's work online.  I discovered her when travelling in Japan in April of 2006.  She does huge canvases, amazing animations, and divine mixed-media installations.  Like a post-modern fairy tale, her work tells stories of girls, wolves, knives, forests, stars, and insects, to name a few.

J.J. Gaudel

J.J. Gaudel  "Green Nike" 

The materials which make up J.J. Gaudel's sculptures remind me of old Dada assemblages.  In Gaudel's case, however, these elements are fused together to create towering and captivating mythological characters.

(Thanks, Suzanimal!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FREEMONSTER

A very happy birthday to Matt Freeman, playwright, rapscallion, and apple of my eye.  Incidentally, a new, 10-minute play of his will be featured in this festival.  Do go see it!

Felix Labisse

Felix Labisse  "Histoire naturelle : la Guivre-Guénégote" 

Felix Labisse was a surrealist painter, but I believe his strengths are best highlighted in his lithographs.  He had a penchant for hybrids and aberrations in nature, and a keen eye for color and composition.

Dario Robleto

Dario Robleto  "If We Do Ever Get Any Closer At Cloning Ourselves Please Tell My Scientist-Doctor To Use Motown Records As My Connecting Parts"   1999-2000

Speaking of wonderful titles, I am delighted by those of Dario Robleto.  Even better, he has an outrageously brilliant media inventory for each work.  For the above piece, he lists the following materials: 

melted Motown records from mother's record collection, hand scratched and powderized Motown records, polyester resin, altered turntable, dissolved audio tape, vinyl letters, cast vinyl skulls, cast vinyl brains, bacteria from vinyl records, petri dishes, soy agar (5.0% defibrinated sheep blood, 4.5g pancreatic digest of casein, papaic digest of soybean meal 5.0g, sodium chloride 5.0g, agar 14.0g, Growth Factors 1.5g), my blood sample, predigested protein, butterflies (lemon butterfly, pansy butterfly), homemade red, blue, green and yellow crystals (monoammonium phosphate, water, dye), crystal inlaid 12-inch woofers, amino acids, carbon, amethyst crystals, sulphur, iron pyrite (fool's gold) poysddium iodide, B-12, calcium hydroxide, hemlock, gold dust, dinosaur dust (dicophites gulosus), tryptophan, methylene, rose quartz, amber, shrimp eggs, sea salt, rock salt, slides with various prepared Motown vinly samples, slide boxes, test tubes, test tube rack and grabber, microscopes, beakers, various glass and plastic cials and bottles, ceramic mortar, scalpel, tweezers, glass and plastic droppers, magnifying glass, glass stirring rod, eye goggles, gelatin pill, styrofoam, dead wood, chopped drumsticks, fake flowers, plexiglas and rods, electrical parts, electrical wiring, acrylic paint spray paint, home made labels   

Marvelous. 

(Thank you, Joanna!)

Andrew Sendor

Andrew Sendor  "Alice didn't tell anyone what she saw, but Margot found her diary and read it aloud at camp."  2005-2006

Andrew Sendor's paintings are bizarre, and you know I mean that as a very high compliment.  His pieces are a melange of styles and strange stories.  Odd characters convene with nature in wonderfully warped environments.  And I love his titles!

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Lipstick Queen

Lipstick sorceress Poppy King just launched her new line, Lipstick Queen, and I can tell you after buying two different shades (one from the Saint collection, and one from the Sinner collection), that they are exquisite.  Every detail of the brand, from the color-drenched pigments, to the typeface and packaging, is luxurious, evocative, imaginative, and romantic.  I am in love.