Muse Profile

Star 27

From the official Star 27 Bio

"I have known the lost souls who haunt this world searching for life in all the wrongs places, I was one of them. So many wondrous people lose their purity to exploitation, and hang a price tag on their bodies and souls; these are the subjects who populate my works." The world is filled with bright lights to dazzle the eyes, and fast ways to thrill the senses. My work reflects on the examples I have seen of the casualties of this twisted consumerism based society we live in today. Those who stray into self-destruction seeking basic needs: love, acceptance, and happiness, and find it in dangerous places. I try to use my medium to undermine preconceptions and expose a society that praises wealth, possessions, and its own predetermined standards of beauty, at any cost. "

Q. I have noticed that a central theme in some of your work is screaming and suffering.

A. Well, I really strive to capture an emotion in my pieces. Everyone can relate to pain in some way. The suffering that is portrayed in my works is my own commentary about how it isn't necessary. I draw the subject matter from what I have seen or experienced in my life, stuff that I was around for a long time. It was all unnecessary suffering, those who think there is no way out of the hell they are in, or those who didn't care enough about themselves than to think they deserve better than suffering.

The screaming, well that's more about being heard. Letting people know what you're thinking and feeling and allowing yourself to be who you are. I guess I think again about stuff that I went through, just getting fed up with evreyone else's ideas of what you should be and finding one's individuality.

Q. Women also play a theme in your artwork. What do you think Freud would say about your artwork?

A. Haha, oedipus complex? Latent desires? It really is pretty simple. I think the female form is the most beautiful thing on earth. However, it is the most exploited. It's been one of the hottest commodities since the beginning of time. I just see so many women not being able to accept themselves because they are hung up on what the majority is taught to be beautiful.

from the official Star 27 Bio

"The artist grew up in a loving home and began creating at a young age. Fearful of the world around him he strayed into addiction. I was an illusion of great freedom, but proved to be a prison that he was locked in for many years. He spent time in Manhattan, San Francisco, and all points in between. Always looking for the next thrill, he soon lost his health, peace of mind, and spirituality. Today he resides on Florida's West Coast where he creates art about the darkness he has seen, and the light he has found. "

Q. Some of your subject matter is dark, but is painted in light almost upbeat colours. What do you think about light and dark, good and evil, yin and yang?

A. I was alway the one rooting for the bad guy! They always seemed to be so much more colorful an interesting. So at one point I found I had kind of become the bad guy. There was a point in my life where if you came into my range you were going to be brought down with me. I obviously still find that subject matter intriguing but there's always a message, I am not condoning living in darkness! As for the color, when I do a lot of really dark stuff, I am always keeping in mind the cities I have lived in. I was always drawn to the bright neon lights. I am still captivated by the way that light plays across things.

Q. Your piece, Emerging Nova, is very powerful. The woman emerging from the frame makes the piece very real and engaging. Do you have an insight to share about this piece, and in general what/who are your inspirations, artitistic, musical, literary or other?

A. Once I had seen Jessica Nova's modeling work I instantly knew I had to capture her poses and style in painting. I started painting that piece and getting to know her at the same time. We see a lot of things in common, and in her words, what I seek to speak out against in my work is what she seeks to speak out against in how she walks through life. I had originally painted it with a very colorful background. I then got some good input from a good friend and emerging artist Brandi Read, and at the same time decided it would be the largest piece in my show which is previewing tonight, opening tomorrow in L.A. at La Luz De Jesus. I thought a lot about the name of the gallery and how she was bearing the frame like a cross. Then it was obvious to just put a sky in the background that gets darker and more stormy the deeper in sinks withing the frame. As for inspirations, I don't know if any music or literature really has consciously made it's way in. I have mostly modern influences as far as other painters, Shawn Barber is huge, Joshua Petker is a favorite, Liz McGrath, Lori Early, and Glenn Barr were the ones who originally got me exited about the who pop-surrealism scene that sprung up. There's so many.

I don't want to be stagnant, I want to contently push myself to do better. Better execution, better ideas, better compositions, everything.