Letters from Earth

these are a few works that were included in my show at Eckhaus last winter.

www.eckhaus.com

my friend Cody Brinkman and i were approached by the curator of Eckhaus after she saw a show we did at our highschool.

we titled the show Letters from Earth, a name taken from a short story by Mark Twain. the story is about satan, when he was still an archangel, being sent to earth to observe the human race. he writes letters back to gabriel and michael, describing the absurd and cruel world we live in.

we wanted our show to reflect this theme. my monsters with human masks were a common theme in my work at the time. people are fake, they put up facades and you often can't see what they truly are on the inside. check it:













this depicts a group of human art collectors examining a piece of art. i believe the people who collect fine art are simply doing so to make up for their own lack of creativity. they pretend to understand and relate to the work that they pay absurd amounts of money for, but in reality they have no idea what it's about.













a portrait of a fake person. at the time i was experimenting with india inks. i painted the monster yellow with ink, and outlined it in thicker black ink while it was still wet. the black outline bled and dripped into the yellow, creating the effect you see. i like the random and uncontrollable nature this technique creates.













this is a picture of a dope-sick monster. drug withdrawal is one of the worst feelings a person can have. i tried to depict that feeling in this piece.













another dope-sick monster. this is one of my personal favorites, i achieved a texture resembling dying and peeling skin by applying layers of tissue paper held down by a mix of ink, water, and glue.



















an emotionally driven depiction of pain in physical form. a little too dark for my taste, but it just sort of happened.

a few random pictures from the show itself:



































































cody and i chillin in front of our mural. a collaboration depicting most of the recurring characters in our work. a lot of fun to do.










me in front of our other mural. can't really see it, but it's a factory churning out false idols.

i feel like my style has matured a lot since this show. nevertheless, i'm proud of the work i included. it was a rough time in my life, and the work reflected that. working in the studio and setting up this show with cody was one of the best experiences of my life, and i can't wait to do it again.

jake