Musings Across A Continuum

Cute, surreal, unsettling: Mark Ryden

Posted by Ms Harker | Filed under Creepy Pictures, Horror Art

Following up from my feature of dark kooky artist Camille Rose Garcia, I present for your consideration Mark Ryden. Mark Ryden is a relatively new artist to my favourites list. His depictions of nubile little girls often surrounded by surreal toys, iconic characters (Jesus, Santa and Lincoln drop by) and at times meat, leave the viewer in a state of confusion. Is this cute, is this messed up, pop culture, or just odd? Either way I think his art rates a mention within the horror genre especially considering the first image below. His bio describes his work as follows:

“Upon first glance Ryden’s work seems to mirror the Surrealists’ fascination with the subconscious and collective memories. However, Ryden transcends the initial Surrealists’ strategies by consciously choosing subject matter loaded with cultural connotation. His dewy vixens, cuddly plush pets, alchemical symbols, religious emblems, primordial landscapes and slabs of meat challenge his audience not necessarily with their own oddity but with the introduction of their soothing cultural familiarity into unsettling circumstances.”

Porcine Tea Party anyone?

Ms Harker

Mark Ryden

Tags: Horror, Horror Art

Read more | Comments (2) | May 25th, 2009

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter… my hidden shame.-

Posted by Ms Harker | Filed under Horror Reading

Skin Trade by Laurel K Hamilton, released 02/02/09.

My name is Ms Harker… and I have read every book in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series… *applause* (Crowd Replies) ‘Hi Ms Harker.’ The first step to change they say is admitting you have a problem, what I politely say to ‘them’ is ’smell your mother’. I admit the Anita Blake series may be horror lite, some may even say trash. However when I am tired, worn out and need a little light reading the Anita Blake novels have been there for me. I would also like to over share and disclose that they have served their purpose in the boudoir *wink, wink*.

The Anita Blake series is written by one Laurell K Hamilton, Anita Blake is a Necromancer, an angry young woman who comes from a long line of Necromancer’s, however is working in a time, where being one who can raise zombie’s, can earn you quite a tidy living. Wives seeking inheritance, sexually abused children wanting to confront their evil priest abuser, police seeking witnesses for crimes the list goes on. She also does freelance work for the FBI working on preternatural murders.

The novels although not high end literature create an interesting supernatural world, not dissimilar to True Blood. Vampires have gained recognition as ‘citizens’ and are fighting for equal rights as ‘humans’. Anita gets herself mixed up with the local head Vamp Jean-Claude, who runs a number of strip bars and nightclubs the most notable of which is ‘Guilty Pleasures’. A strip club where vamp’s and were-beasts get their gear off for preternatural groupies, who flash the cash to be close to these mystical man lumps.

Anita is unlucky in love and life. In love she is resisting her obvious attraction to Jean-Claude (head Vampire) however has met a nice science teacher Richard (werewolf, who is not coping with his werewolf powers) and angst’s between who she should be with, the decision being made more difficult by the fact she has mind blowing sex with each.

What makes these novels interesting (apart from the delightfully described scenes of coitus, in pairs or threes, with vampires, humans and were-beings), is Anita’s ever increasing Necromancer abilities and the demons, ancient goddesses, witches and uber strong vampires she takes on throughout the books.

The reason I am disclosing my now not so hidden shame, is the next book in the series Skin Trade is due out in June. I have pre-ordered it through Amazon and I am proud that I read the Anita Blake series *crowd applause*.

So ladies (maybe gents) try the first few books, my best friend and I refer to these books simply as “The Raunch” and pass them to each other in paper bags.

Seriously, for a bit of light reading, the new novel from the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series, ‘Skin Trade’ by Laurell K Hamilton, releases June 2nd, 2009.

I also from time to time watch Bold and the Beautiful, but that’s another post.

Ms Harker

Ron Moss aka Ridge Forrester, Bold and the Beautiful.

Tags: Horror, Horror Novels, Vampire

Read more | Comments (1) | May 24th, 2009

Art that takes us dark and kooky places.

Posted by Ms Harker | Filed under Creepy Pictures, Horror Art

I feel it’s time to share some of the other sides of my horror interests. We have traveled through the dark and twisted forests of TV, film, games and various forms of literature, ducking swooping owls (who are not what they seem), flailing limbs, evil children and women, crab walking upside down.

To enrich our continuing adventure across the musing continuum I thought I would share with you an artist I have recently discovered, via a book given to me be a charming young gentleman, an artist who has quickly become a favourite.

Camille Rose Garcia, is an artist based in Los Angeles, she was born there and grew up in LA in the 1970’s. Her bio states that: “…she grew up in the generic suburbs of Orange County, visiting Disneyland and going to punk shows with the other disenchanted youth of that era.”

Garcia’s work is communicated via cartoon character based creatures, invokes disturbing yet cute images of people and creatures in dark places, enacting the themes of humanities current horrors and challenges. Her work’s maintain an ambience though which she creates by using a palette of certain colours in order to portray her theme. Her sets of work include ‘The Saddest Place on Earth’ and ‘Ultraviolence Land’. The book I recently purchased was ‘The Saddest Place on Earth’, which is a commentary on many things including the war in Iraq, the use of pharmaceuticals and the culturally enforced belief that we must always be happy. The palette used is one of oranges, reds, browns and blacks, merging to greens and purple, conveying a definite feeling of anger, frustration, oppression and disease.

Her work is twisted, cute, yet haunting and I feel it reinforces the thoughts of many, obviously myself included, that animated/cartoon based art can portray and emote some of the evils of our species; causing us to reflect on where we are today and the crossroads of where we should go tomorrow.

Ms Harker