Carlos The Snake

60/60 Event At The Everson Museum of Art!

I’ll be participating again in this year’s 60/60 event at the Everson, and I will be donating the following in-progress piece.

Dueling Popes

Graphite on Reeves paper. 2011

Another Piece on my struggle with mental illness. To your right is me as an artist (who I want to be) and to the left is me as ill, dealing with religiosity and “god” telling me not to do art.

30+ hours of work, unfortunately the detail in the photo isn’t strong enough to show how Pope Benedict’s mouth is dripping with blood.

Stone Canoe!

Please forgive the poor image quality.

Stone Canoe Issue Number 5 is out! It will be available on Amazon.com no later then March 1st and is available some places around Syracuse. My piece “The Runner, part 1″ is found on page 182.

Http://www.stonecanoejournal.org

Untitled Photo

Once your feet go numb, it’s easy to take barefoot photos in January.

The Runner: Part one, continued.

This coming spring, “The Runner, Part one” Will be published in a book known as “Stone Canoe”.  ”Stone Canoe” is a journal of arts and ideas from Upstate New York, is published annually, each spring, by University College of Syracuse University.

I’m excited to have a piece of my art in such a publication.

The Savage Files

Savage!: Aloe, Deer, Tape and I

Savage! 2:

A series of two photos showcasing how someone without a mental illness may see someone afflicted by one.

The Runner: Part one

The Runner: Part One

Acrylic and india ink on canvas

The majority of the backdrop for this painting (the india ink) was crafted during therapy sessions, in roughly four hours; or four sessions. This is the painting in it’s current stage, before I add an image over the india ink.

Main Attraction at the Moccasin Circus

Acrylic, gold leaf, paper and a moth on canvas. 2001-2002

2009 People’s Choice winner of the Everson Museum of Art’s first annual 60/60 event for most emotional piece in Syracuse, New York.

This painting came to fruition because after my initial psychotic break in 1998, I was bombarded by people who for curiosity’s sake wanted to know what was happening. Why did I lose 20 lbs and go down to 82 (I’m 5’8), and what was with my word salads? These were church people who wanted to “prayer-chain gossip”, or gossip in the guise of prayer requests.  One woman in particular was always trying to egg me on to talk, her and I weren’t that close but she was close to other people that for health’s sake I needed to avoid. It always felt like she wanted to know so that she could tell them, or just because she wanted to know. There was no real concern for my well being.

I felt trapped by my illness, (the cage). Oppressed by church people (the apes). longing for freedom/health and any god not associated with those apes. (the dove with the rope) And also I felt bombarded and overwhelmed by my medication and illness (the prescription paper in the red t-shirt) and “Moccasin Circus” because this individual lived on Moccasin Circle.

Tarr’s Coffee

I decided that I would utilize my own experiences with mental illness in my art. “Tarr’s Coffee” was birthed out of stress, and a delusion one night that a coffee pot was mumbling at me.

“Tarr” is actually based off of a friend of mine that I’ve had for a few years, who shares a similar struggle.