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FLIES HOLES AND ROACHES!
SURREAL
ARTWORK! Weird nightmare creatures with decorated burnt
orifices inhabit the telepathic mind-scape
of the
metropolis. Anonymous humanoids fall asleep only
to
discover themselves trapped in endless line-ups, perpetually pestered
by flies, and lost in a world of dreams echoing primal screams. With
each monotonous
motion, the city’s repetitious
routines
breed conformist culture critters designed
to
manipulate
opportunities, annihilate
hopes
and harvest
destructive habits evading
all
analysis.
Fill out the forms, paint your mouth black and wait for your turn to
disappear, compelled by distraction and addicted to false security
the Flies, Holes and Roaches are
breeding
in
epidemic proportions.
The
Roach drawings were inspired by a
common yet
contradictory psychological state which drives people away from their
dreams. So many of us wish we could be something special; a singer, a
clown, an artist or even just
something
as simple as an honourable
person. Many
people also discover they have more practical skills yet wish to
apply them in a moral manner such as scientists, doctors or even in
some instances lawyers. However
the pressures of society, survival, and monetary success tend to
dominate decisions regardless of our true desires. Most
of these ambitions will become either warped or crushed. The
entertainer must sell his or her body and soul to succeed while the
professional is coerced into commercialized practices rather than
humanists ones. The
city seems to have a limitless capacity for forsaken talents, false
motives and forgotten morals. In
many cases the honest intentions of the childish dreamer become some
deeply buried that they might as well never existed at all. The
Roach monsters represent the
hidden widespread
angst permeating just beneath the formalities and false smiles. These
strange beings are literal manifestations of mankind’s
dissatisfaction with the work force, the world and our selves.
The
Flies Holes and Roaches artworks were originally created as a street
art graffiti series. I painted several monster murals around the city
of Toronto including an 8 x 150 foot wall painting along the back of
the Ontario College of Art and Design. The designs were simple enough
to produce quickly yet vicious enough to evoke the
unsuspecting pedestrian upon encounter.
Most of these outdoor paintings were done on temporary construction
walls or in alleyways around Kensington Market and Spadina Ave. This
series of also included approximately 300 small ink on paper
portraits, a self published comic strip and a short stop motion
cartoon. The works were originally shown at the Toronto Outdoor
Exhibition June 2003.
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