Friday, May 1, 2009

Inky Dreadfuls



"Michael Mararian possesses a poetic propensity for taking traditionally cheerful images and concepts and turning them into frightening, yet humorous, tableaus. Focusing on children as the last bastion of innocence, Mararian draws on a diverse range of influences to deliver the peculiar ink work he aptly calls, M. Mararian's Inky Dreadfuls. In this world our fondest visions of childhood’s naiveté are darkly rearranged to uncover lost innocence and the fear of our modern times.

Though often shroud in the macabre, Michaels' ink paintings are also suffused with a sense of mischievous, almost self-deprecating humor. What can on one level be construed as melancholy and cruel, can alternately be viewed as amusing, even charming. He enjoys letting his viewers decide."

-A portion of Michael Mararian's bio from his website.

The image above, "Pupaphobia-Fear of Puppets" is from Mararian's Phobia Series. Each piece in this specific series is disturbing yet comical. Although, that is true for most of Mararian's work.

To see more of his work take a look at his website.
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