Pharmaceuticools, acrylic on wood panel, panel 1, 2003, 12x12inch
Disguises of the Empire, acrylic on wood panel, 2012, 72x48inch
camille rose garcia's paintings use the conventions of cartoons and children's books to tell darker narratives often related to patriarchy and consumer culture.
garcia was probably a subconscious influence on my style of illustration, as her adaptation of alice in wonderland was popular in the emo subculture when i was younger. i think the visual style resonates because it looks like the visual media associated with western childhood, but dark, frayed, and corrupted. it reflects how capitalist media corrupts out memories and desires.
TRIAD, vinyl print on arcade game cabinet, 2021, 12x4.5x5inch
Pure Trance, vinyl print on arcade game cabinet, 2020, 12x4.5x5inch
over the summer break, the miramar bunker became a weekly music venue. this ended up being my personal utopia, and a space that existed firmly outside of the consumer culture you feel in everything when you go to mainstream town. they're also functionally a community-managed gallery, covered in decades worth of graffiti and illustration, following a mutually respected ettiquite within the street art community.
Psychic TV are one of my favourite bands, and an incredibly interesting example of an attempt to alchemise countercultural art into a religious experience. An example of this I love is their 23 recordings of live performances in 23 nations on the 23rd of each month for 23 months, serving as holy communions for their adjacent pseudo-religious organisation Thee Temple ov Psyhcick Youth. They’re also a bit of a cautionary tale as to how this approach to counterculture can turn into a dangerous cult of personality. I take inspiration from their ability to bring a community of outsiders together through subversive and strange art.
HIROPON, 2001
Flowers From The Village of Ponkotan, 2011
my work has gotten more progressively cartoonish and flat as I’ve continued to explore themes of the taboo under consumer capitalism, & i partially think this is due to murakami's influence. i think a lot of japanese artists execute this visual language so beautifully because of the country's culture of cute packaging and marketing. once again i have a problem with murakami's occasional violent and gross portrayal of women, but i honestly don't think it would be as gross if i were to use similar motif seeing as misogyny is My lived experience.
I've previously referenced jess johnson's work as an Aoteroa artist working in a similar context of the digital/repetitive/unreal/psychedelic. her collaboration with simon ward saw the gallery space painted and transformed into one of these alternate dimensions that is normally confined to a print or poster. i like the way works are installed on wall paintings, having the wall act as a frame, and the way the works interact with the space to transform it. this is something i could apply in my studio wall works. The element of the exhibition that utilises a VR headset is an interesting exercise in marrying the digital/physical