Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

The Surreal, Drifting Worlds of Mike Worrall

It’s easy to get lost in the arresting vision of Mike Worrall, who was last mentioned on Hi-Fructose in this 2014 piece. But maybe lost is the wrong word, as there is a definitive space viewers inhabit as they look upon works like "The Lost Narrative," above, which takes us to the “World’s End.” The paintings’ subjects often gaze back at the viewer, further shackling passers-by into lingering.

It’s easy to get lost in the arresting vision of Mike Worrall, who was last mentioned on Hi-Fructose in this 2014 piece. But maybe lost is the wrong word, as there is a definitive space viewers inhabit as they look upon works like “The Lost Narrative,” above, which takes us to the “World’s End.” The paintings’ subjects often gaze back at the viewer, further shackling passers-by into lingering.


And sometimes, the U.K.-born, Australia-based artist gets more playful. “Call of the Wild” features a hand extending out of the forest, taking a call from an enormous telephone. “The Alley of the Kings,” above, takes a similar approach with both elegance and humor. He stirs in a slightly more serious tone with “Miss Pandemonium,” whose titular figure looms over a populated maze.

Worrall’s vision has founds its way outside of oil on linen, too. As an “ideas artist” in the film industry, he’s created imagery for films like Alien III. Even director Roman Polanski cited the artist’s work as a major influence in making his version of Macbeth. In all of his works, the “almost entirely self taught” artist explores his love of dreams, the subconscious, “and the weirdness of how we go from one thought to another in an almost drifting process.” These entities, like Worrall’s works, intrigue in both serious and humorous incarnations.

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
Naoto Hattori's creatures are both vivid and dreamlike, rendered in vibrant acrylics. The Japan-born artist creates absorbing work teeming with innocence. Each bends expectation and reality into beings alternate between disconcerting and ambrosial. Hattori was last mentioned on HiFructose.com here.
Moscow based photographer Katerina Plotnikova has been making a name for herself for her daring photos of young girls embracing wild beasts. (We first posted her work on our Facebook page.) Her haunting portraits are created with real, specially trained animals such as bears, owls, deer and foxes, blending surrealism with inspiration from fairytales. Perhaps our fascination with her images comes from a place we’ve almost forgotten, as deforestation and global warming become imminent threats to our planet. With each series, her work pushes the boundaries even further. Read more after the jump.
Jacob Brostrup’s oil paintings overlay backdrops and scenes, creating dreamlike journeys into the subconscious. Figures and the natural world blend with both unruliness and precision, carefully crafted works that make use of the artist’s talents with color and depth.
"A Student's Dream," the central oil painting in Mario Moore's new show, is inspired by the artist's recent surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. "Recovery" kicks off at David Klein Gallery in Detroit at the end of the month, and in the show, the artist looks at how African-American men experience recovery from hardship and trauma.

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List