AJ Fosik, a self-described “sawdust provocateur,” crafts wooden sculptures that appear as totem-like beasts, extending from the wall with a spiritual vibrancy. The artist counts taxidermy, rituals from varying cultures, and folk art as influences in these pieces. The nature of how the pieces stand or are mounted to walls, in particular, references taxidermic practices. His work adorned the cover of Hi-Fructose Vol. 18.
“Ideas of empathy and synthesis are a common duality in the work, whereby the anthropomorphized figures communicate the basic human condition,” a statement says. “Totems and fetishes, as well as the ‘random, chaotic and arbitrary nature of existence,’ fascinate Fosik; though less overt, the animals he creates represent a plethora of icons from various theologies, giving them the subversiveness of a cast of fictional, anti-religious gods. The artist delights in the endless interpretations the works have inspired in his viewers.”
The artist has a new show with Library Street Collective in his native Detroit titled “From Ripe to Rot.” The show collects the artist’s latest flamboyant creations.
In Buddhism, the concept of Samsara is the repeating cycle of birth, life and death or reincarnation as well as one's actions and consequences in the past, present, and future. Japanese artist 
The figurative sculptures of 
