The eerie works of William Basso blend painting, drawing, photography, collage, and sculpture. And even more varied are the influences of these strange scenes, from Eastern European art and the Renaissance to pulp comics and folklore. The artist’s work is influenced by his experience in the film industry, crafting special-effect characters.
“The characters in my work exist in a distant, half-remembered, autumnal place where even Halloween can last forever,” a statement from the artist says. “Images emerge through a cross-referencing of many artistic influences, memories and ideas. Ancient and flickering, monochrome films of the fantastic and macabre play continuously, running through rusted projectors. Long, silent corridors are hung with varnished, cracked paintings and brittle prints from another age, while rows of tall, wooden cabinets display bones and other arcane specimens behind panes of misted glass. In a lonely field of dry grasses under an overcast sky, sits an abandoned theater where puppets, props and painted backdrops are quietly waiting with peeling paint and thick dust … It is here in this world of my subconscious that a childlike sense of fantasy and imagination can mingle with adult anxieties or dreams.”
See more of his work below.
