Aesthetic Apparitions

     We have all experienced it. We see a work of art, or stumble upon a picture in a book or on-line, and an immediate perplexing fervor overtakes us. Oftentimes, it is indefinable...obtusely explicable...familiar yet baffling. This is the vibe I strive for in my paintings...sketches...sculptures. I am not sure why I endeavor to elicit that feeling, but my internal voice rattles off in an excitement when I tap into that vein. I float out of myself, become an imaginary fly-on-the-wall when my work falls into an observer's gaze. What do they see? what do they feel? Do they think the piece is odd...funny...daft? Are they engrossed in questions?

excerpt from The Cracker-Barrel Surrealist Sketchbook

     What do I like? As an audience member, what makes me linger...ogle...flinch...weep...scream?! Wow, that is a very broad question, but (cue music) "here are a few of my favorite things". 

• DaVinci...how could you not be enamored with his genius. 
• Hieronymus Bosch...his tortured conflicted visions are brilliantly disturbing
• Kale...I know, it's a plant/food, but I love the taste, love the nutrition
• R. Crumb...his line work, his aesthetic pen work is mesmerizing...his wacky toon lifestyle fascinates me
• Glenn Barr...wow, his retro-style and mastery of paint...awesomeness
• The Wonders of the Universe...Brian Cox does a great job humanizing astronomy
• The Golden Age of Illustrators...NC Wyeth, Howard Pyle, Arthur Rackham, Edward Dulac, Maxfield Parrish, Frank Schoonover....
• Children's artworks...from the early (and ongoing) work from my own kids to all others...their work exemplifies a cathartic honesty and integrity I covet 
• Norman Rockwell...I feel his caricatures and painting style are brilliantly executed
• "Alien"...they should have stopped with the 1st movie, but the others have merits...just not as significantly on an artistic level
• Astronomical Art...I love the visionary concepts of other worlds

So, as a matter of aesthetic investigation...I will shift my discussions from my own work (although I might dredge them up along the way) to a broader commentary on the world as I see it. These topics/persons that I find fascinating will be my focus from here on out. The above list will get me started and I hope to push it as long and as far as I can. MM :)

Appendages...Chassis Outgrowths

"Auspice of the Tin Man" 2010
marker and ballpoint pen

   What makes us "Human"? One can argue that it is our appendages. Yes, we have relatively the same number of bones and bone structure as most vertebrates, but it is the remarkable attributes of our arms and legs that are significantly different from other species.
   But again, what happens if we alter those limbs...are we not still human? The answer is a resounding yes. I argue limb-alteration makes us even more human. Why? Because, humans are the only species capable of altering or perhaps enhancing our appendaged physical structures.
   It mystifies me how we ostracize folks with prostheses...stare at them like they are subhuman...gape at them as if they are circus freaks (whom I dig very much). Nevertheless, I have been guilty of the same faux pas. A young girl from my high school had an accident where both both of her arms were amputated and replaced with artificial limbs; I stared at her and seldom mingled with her. Mind you I was chumming with the stoners and we seldom mixed with anyone without a spliff, still what an abhorrent reaction.
   How warped can our sense of idealized beauty be? ...might I add, Westernized body aesthetics...a very narrow minded sense of attractiveness, that has spread like a virus across the globe. The norm seems to be super thin to the point of absurdity for women (Bratz and Monster High dolls), and super lean butch guys (six-pack abs...who has that much time for the gym?).
   Anywhoo...Here are a few images impounding this topic. I was not really focused on this subject at the conception of each piece...I just noticed a theme afterwards, and thought about addressing it here.

"Bird Lover with Vortex Curls", 2011
marker and ball point

"Clawshoe...Gesundheit", 2010
marker and gel pen

Mental Anabiosis

"Mental Anabiosis" 1843, ink 

   Artists are regularly impelled towards a cognitive/aesthetic slumber when a creative drought strikes. I have oftentimes found myself in such a stasis; yet low-n-behold a life sustaining shower of inspiration will reign/rain down on me, and I am once again sprouting noetic ballyhoo.
   My tool/weapon/manner of germination has always been my sketchbooks. I keep at least one (typically 3 or four) growing at all times. Ironically this medium has become my primary means of artistic creation/formulation.."it" has flourished into a forest of psychical weeds, esoteric soliloquys, graphical tryouts, character environses, and media oodles.
   What you seed is what you begat.

Art with my Kids

"Underground Revitalization", co-created when Liam was 9 years old

   I am very fortunate to have two VERY creative kids. My son Liam has been doodling on paper with me since he was able to hold a pencil. Our first collaborations began shortly after that, when he instructed me to "decorate my picture daddy"...so LiaMarx became an entity then and there. We have continued working together...however, once he became a teen and established his own visual-voice...he did not want me modifying his work. So, we shifted the co-creations from visual art to a writing. Now we have begun conjuring own own original tales; we must have compiled over a dozen stories so far. Hopefully we can publish our work someday soon.

"Water Breathers", co-created when Liam was 8 years old

    My Daughter Paige also has the creative spark. Arguably, she has an even stronger visual muse than her brother...and perhaps even me. She compulsively draws every day...easily going through a ream of print paper on a regular basis. I have posted some of her very first sketches with me (PaigeMarx), so her primordial vignettes are very ethereal...even visceral in origin. This made my alterations more abstracted...more surreal...more dada-ish. She also has continued her own narrative path...scoring her own toons and comics in a unique visual style.

"Green-Cookie" co-created when Paige was 4 years old

"Candy Thorn" co-created when Paige was 5 years old

   Later on, I will post their own "unembellished" work (if they give me permission). They are a bit more guarded than their old man.

"Monster Heads", 2011 & 2012, Sculpey, glass beads, and acrylic paint mounted on a wood base

"Vampire Trophy" 2011
photography by Seth Benson

   These heads are derivative of trophies one might have after a hunt. Of course they are injected with the same dose of whimsey and satire typically seen in most of my character designs. The initial idea for these stemmed from a sculpting workshop I gave...it  was only to last 3 days so I had to conceive of method that could be rapidly sculpted, fired, and painted. Taxidermy monster heads seemed to be the best fit.

   Each piece was formed over an aluminum foil core; Sculpey(TM) served as the sculptural vehicle. I wanted to include slightly "realistic" eyes because sculpted eyes are often too "lifeless". The vampire's ears were formed over thick cardboard cutouts. I wanted to make him appear older and battle-scarred, so I placed a long fleshy trench down his face over his left eye. His scale is approximately 9" x 12". I mounted him to the stained wood base with Liquid Nails.
   "Glob" is supposed to be the remnant of a viscious/viscous cyclops warrior; I wanted it to appear to be still oozing. His eye, (like the vampire's) has a hole punched deep into the head.  It was painted black prior to firing to give the impression of a pupil. Since the glass is green, I treated it like it was pure iris (no sclera).

"Glob" 2012
photography by Kristina Phillips

   I haven't created a sculptural piece in a while now; but it is time to makes plans to jump back into it again soon.

"Sol" and "Luna", 2010 acrylic on manikin forms

Sol and Luna as seen at the Litchford Gallery Show
now owned by Liz Gray

  This was an experiment I must try again. A while back, I had bought these manikin forms online (actually  the unpainted forms hung in my bedroom for over a year). After getting motivated for a group show at a makeshift gallery in Litchford Village and an upcoming solo show at the Atomic Salon I decided the time was right to finally inundate/liberate/elucidate the forms. With a plethora of contemplation (and yes procrastination) the theme would  be derived from reciprocity...terrestrial/celestial...male/female...day/night...aridity/fecundity...phallic/vulvar.
  The male form was to be earth-bound...xerotes...Prometheus chained for his deeds of fire. The iconic buttes of Monument Valley served as a perfect setting for maleness...testosterone laden cowboys...phallic projections thrust upwards from a desolate terrain/physique like a sublime Calvin Klein underwear ad. Sol looms high in the sky with a manly tattooed arrogance...the sky is certainly cloudy with threatening rains/reins/reigns. The time is high noon...time for vultures and unfinished violence.
  Juxtaposed with a slightly more diminutive proportion, Luna floats effortlessly in an umbrageous sky. A fertile treeline silhouette offered up in a sensuous/sinuous undulation...with a low-cut panties seductiveness. Quiet...moist...reflective...luminous stardust scattered around mother moon...snuggled within clandestine breasts. Luna is the heart, the soul/sole illumination within the dark of night. Primipara...matron...lover...intimate...nurturer...reflector...guardian of the empyrean gate.
  ? Have you noticed that both forms possess ironically capped hooks...things that hold up the forms...support them...secure them...bind their backs against the wall...leave them hanging. Perhaps that is the grandest gesture of all as it is revealed/reveled/reviled/re-veiled between the sexes. Not knowing...yet yearning to do so.

Bugaboo Portraits

   I love Monsters!
    There has to be some psychogenic implications at work here. Seriously, what drives me (and many like me) to be captivated by these fear-evoking creatures? Perhaps it is a way of emasculating the fears we herald in our heads. By evoking dreadful imagery and horrific imaginings we take control of them...we trivialize their power over us...construe a way for us to understand our own anxieties. Whatever the reason...I am fascinated by this genre and return to it time and time again.
   My own formulaic tendency is to inject a healthy dose of whimsy into fearsome creatures. Perhaps this buffers the blow...certainly it trivializes the horror even more. Maurice Sendak, Dr. Seuss, Charles Addams, Tony DiTerlizzi, Gahan Wilson, Brian Froud, Basil Woverton, Edward Gorey, plus local artists CJ Calvin and Eric Knisley...these are the inspirations for me. They add just the right ingredients to make the most appetizing recipe...satire + gore + witticism to make a delicious serving of macabre illustrative mastery. I strive to emulate their essence...nibble at their aesthetic substance...cite their authoritative magical inspirations. Here is a spattering of several older images to exemplify my ramblings:

Bugaboo Tag, amalgamated sketches, date? ink/digital

Monster Lineup (LiaMarx) 2008 my son Liam's childhood sketches with my embellishments 

Wooley Booger and HippoRex, 2008, Ink/Acrylic/Digital

I plan on continuing this theme for the next posting.