When I first wrote about the work of Sydney, Australia’s
Mark Whalen years ago, I was fascinated by his use of bright pinks and blues in angular ways that can’t possibly exist in “real life”. Now, in 2012, Whalen has taken those same tendencies and brought them into a Homer Simpson-meets-3D-world level of trippiness, as parabolic three-dimensional grids cross with graph paper lines and shapes in various stages of dimension transformation. Lankier versions of the same characters Whalen used before traverse his far out illustrated environments in varying chaotic states. Some are being swallowed up by giant golden chess pieces; some engaging in ritualistic sacrifices; others falling down stairs and holding up basketballs on royal pedastals.
More on Whalen soon. For now, enjoy these works, for a modern M.C. Escher-esque take on pattern and space, as swabbed in bright colors, humor, perversions, and rituals.
All works are mixed media, created from a combination of acrylic, ink, and gouache on paper — then mounted to wood and resin coated.