Melissa Cook does extremely realistic graphite drawings. But this particular series of plastic bag self portraits are extra frightening. Says the artist: “The Vacuum series ascribes to the devices of melancholia in order to explore society’s fascination with violence, death and insanity. In this series I create a fictional, tortured persona in order to fulfill the stereotype of the tragic artist. Within my avatar, I am able to exaggerate the characteristics of the crazy, unstable, melancholic artist in order to question its glorification and validity.”
