Aaron Metzger

 

Fueled by an affinity for the absurd, my work depicts a world of Metaverse Fruitcakes—crazy and eccentric quasi-human characters who flip our notions of normal upside down. Brutal imagery of chokeholds and gunfights depicted in a high-chroma, cartoonish style evoke a universe where the unusual and unorthodox are commonplace. Through the use of traditional and digital media, physical and virtual converge to make their world almost indistinguishable from our own. Influenced by professional wrestling, sensationalized violence in film, and Cormac McCarthy novels, my work turns real-world violence into parody where blood and guts become juice and pulp. In this series the characters take on a more demure appearance, and are depicted pensively smoking or sipping espresso. The tattoos that adorn them offer a glimpse into the contents of their personas and inner thoughts. The ritual introspection of a cigarette and coffee offers a counterbalance to their usual ostentatious antics.

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