Brooklyn-born artist Joseph Grazi utilizes a variety of mediums to recreate images of ancient fears, and then conquer them. Through amalgamations of taxidermic animals, acrylic, wood, and other experimental materials, Grazi produces sculptures, paintings, portraits, installations, and drawings that evoke unnerving feelings of fearful imagery that have haunted humanity throughout the centuries.
Bats, skulls, and butterflies are some of the prevalent phobias that have plagued society, and have made for significant themes in art, from Hitchcock movies to Rorschach inspired drawings.
Grazi tries to go back to these elements, which can trigger fright as well as relief, to heal these fears through recognition of our individual power and control. This sort of acknowledgment can lead us, the viewers, to not only alleviate our own anxieties, but also to gain a deeper understanding of our place in the world of nature.
Grazi’s bold use of strong colors, play with shapes, and focus on the occult, animals, skulls, and dinosaur bones, unites past and present, nature and art, and leads the imagination to a new place, where seeming opposites unite in harmony.
Check out some of his work.
