Exhibitions          Available   Artwork          History          Submissions          Contact          Press

Under the Influence 2 March 6 - April 4, 2009

Clayton Chandler, " gang of beaus", ink on paper, 2008

Clayton Chandler

Imagine Clayton Chandler as a kid, feeding his brain: a constant fix of comic books and smut and horror movies. Creepshow freaks hiding under his pillow at night, dancing through his head. He still can’t turn out the lights without waiting to get eaten, still can’t ride a subway without seeing ghouls in the seats.

Anyway, the art, what’s it about? Big Brother blowing kisses. Barbie Dolls with teeth. That barely controlled sense of mass hysteria that we call civilized society: obese monsters belching noise, frantic slobs spouting thought. Sound, rage, movement crowding in – bodies chewed apart by clockworks. The devils with their crucifixes; saints with their hard-ons. Love and death and sex; blood in the machinery.

How do I feel while I’m making it? Let’s just put it this way: if it’s working right, I’m sick when I finish. Hot tension shivering through my arms, my stomach boiling over acid. Shoofly eyes buzzing over their lids. Can’t sit still, don’t have the strength to stand. I’m spent.

 site content ©2009 C.Emerson Fine Arts     909 Central Avenue         Saint Petersburg, Florida 33705          727-898-6068