Every month, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine chooses one of our favourite artists to TAKE OVER our social media for the day. Just in case you missed it, below we present the full TAKE OVER from Camilla d’Errico.
When speaking of pop surrealist royalty a few names come to mind. Camilla d’Errico is certainly up there with the Queens of this genre. On top of being an incredible Pop Surrealist painter, Camilla is also a comic artist/creator and contributes to the vinyl art toy movement and has expanded her style into fashion, accessories, toys and other merchandise. She is also an amazing teacher who shares all her knowledge openly in her extensive book series. Owning a piece of Camilla’s work is on my bucket list and to have her do a TAKE OVER was up there too! One of those things is happening today. Camilla took over our socials on the 13th of March all day! How lucky are we to see her favourites! Over to you Camilla.
Beyond The Rainbow – Camilla d’Errico // This painting holds a special place in my heart because to me it’s a painting of my heart-of-hearts. It came to me when I was feeling drained by the demands and expectations of years of gallery art exhibition experiences. Being told and expected about what and how to paint was just sucking the passion out of me. Like all the colors were spilling out. When Tara McPherson asked me to show at her Cotton Candy Machine Gallery in 2012, she was the one who encouraged me to just paint what I wanted. This was a new perspective at that time. And I have to thank her for it- without that support and encouragement, I might not have gotten to express just how many luscious melting rainbows my creative soul has to offer!
Portrait Of Young Woman With Unicorn – Raphael // My love of classic art stems from my Italian heritage, and my parents being very active in teaching me my cultural history. My mother taught me all about masters like Leonardo da Vinci. Michaelangelo. However I most identified with Rapheal. Because he was a younger bolder artist. He did portraiture that was very surreal. I really love this unicorn piece because it’s straight out of mythology with a dash of surrealism. I love how he renders women, how soft their skin looks, how almost cartoonish they are yet real. As a teenager, his tragic past really spoke to the emo in me. I’m a sucker for tragedies.
Sophia’s Mercurial Waters – Mark Ryden // Mark Ryden is one of my favourite artists. I fall in love with his pieces each time but this may be one of my favourites. There are so many moving parts to his scenes yet they don’t overwhelm they move like a ballet. I adore his uses of color and the softness of his characters that complement the edginess of his context. There are no others that can depict the elements that he does, creating disturbing visuals in a delicate way that are masterfully rendered.
The Whereabouts of God #3 – Hikari Shimoda // I love this piece, I love it and wish so desperately that I could own it. It’s so beautiful. It is serene yet disquieting. I’m almost at a loss for words, because I look at it with a deep sigh like my soul just falls in love with this little demon every time. I love there are dark elements mixed with the stickers. Hikari has the most perfect sense of neutral colours mixed with vivid colours. There’s such a beautiful blending of the two that it does disquiet at the same time it makes you feel peaceful and happy.
Vanity – James Jean// I love James Jeans’s work. He’s one of those transcendent artists who creates various works of art in different styles, every single piece is like a Beatles song- it’s unique but has his signature look. He’s unbelievable that way, he’s able to be so creative yet be so varied but so distinctive. You always know it’s a James Jean, it’s simply breathtaking. I fell in love with his Fables cover art. His blending of monotone coloring with pops of flat color was unbelievably beautiful.
Illustration from Black Marker 2 Exhibition – Terada Katsuya // I remember seeing Terada’s art when I was coming into the manga art world and having my mind blown by his painterly version of manga. But what I love most is his ink work and the way he puts so much detail into his art. This piece is bizarre, even creepy, but beautiful. There’s always juxtapositions that draw me to it. There’s multi level emotions in his work that really speak to me. I always feel raw yet powerful at the same time when I look at his art.
Finding Home – Greg Simkins// Greg Simkins is a master painter. This is one of my favourite paintings of his. All the elements are blended together in this anamorphic creation. I look at this and see a poem created in acrylic. There are so many elements that should make it busy but it isn’t. He makes it dreamlike- like a cloud.
Cinderella – Enchanted Doll // I am in love with Enchanted Doll! Marina is a master artist that breathes life into her dolls the way no other can. I look into her doll’s eyes and I swear they look back. I remember seeing this doll “Cinderella” and feeling my heart skip a beat. There is so much detail, so much beauty in this doll that words cannot explain express how I feel when I look at her. Her creations are elegance and grace combined with whimsy and charm. Utterly stunning.
This was the last piece chosen by Camilla d’Errico, for today’s TAKE OVER! Thank you again Camilla, we really appreciate you taking the time to put this day together.
