Lee Harvey Roswell is a self-taught artist from Freefall, New York, whose work is noted for its blend of angst and humor. Themes of death and entropy, tribulation and futility run amok in his distinctly surreal, often-slapstick, often-nightmarish world. The result is at once mocking and melancholic. For the past decade plus his attention has turned almost exclusively to oil painting, though it’s always a surprise what direction he’ll steer things next. Lee now lives in San Francisco, and his work is shown, collected and published internationally.

As a product of the Baby-Boomer generation, Joanne DeLomba found herself surrounded by iconic images of the times. As a child she enjoyed the Pop Culture of her generation and as an adult, has become an avid collector of those magical days-gone-by. In Art school, Joanne recognized all her favorite themes in the visual vocabulary of the Pop Art movement and began her head-first journey into that world.

“I enjoy the graphicness of everyday objects we take for granted, and draw my artistic influences from vintage advertising art, antique tintype photography, Pop Art and contemporary popular culture.”

“For over 25 years I operated my successful ceramics studio, creating hand painted Art-Pottery while raising my small family, doing laundry and feeding the dog! In my down-time, I taught myself photography and began manipulating images to create whimsical scenarios with a timeless quality. I first introduced my compositions as a collection of Giclee prints.

I begin my process by photographing textures, people, objects and whatever I need to build my image. I also draw from my extensive collection of 18 century tin type photographs which I have gathered over the past 30 years. Using my flatbed scanner, I enter this information into my art program to produce a large pixel image. It takes many, many hours to finally derive the composition that I desire. I print on Metallic Pearlesence Archival paper to give it that antique, tintype feel. The medium perfectly mirrors the emotional tone of the art.”

As the sophistication and complexity of Joanne DeLomba’s imagery has evolved, her attention has turned to finding new surfaces suitable for her digital collages. Her most recent experiments involve printing on photographic metal plates, opening the possibility for much larger compositions and the incorporation of new techniques. Recently she has introduced her signature style of design onto hand blown glass vessels. DeLomba’s enthusiasm for her work is infectious, and her wry humor elicits giggles and guffaws. We look forward to seeing what great things the future brings!

ARTBUZZ 2015

Mark Ryden is an artist based in Los Angeles, California. He was dubbed “the god-father of pop surrealism” by Interview Magazine. Ryden’s work prominently features meat, kitsch, religion, and more recently, Abraham Lincoln. He explores pop culture with masterful technique.

Via Ryden’s website:

Ryden’s vocabulary ranges from cryptic to cute, treading a fine line between nostalgic cliché and disturbing archetype. In Ryden’s world cherubic girls rub elbows with strange and mysterious figures. Ornately carved frames lend the paintings a baroque exuberance that adds gravity to their enigmatic themes.

Aof Smith is an artist based in Bangkok, Thailand. His expertly-crafted work is dialogue with the pop-surrealist masters such Ron English and Mark Ryden. His earlier work featured sorrowful monochromatic paintings while his 2015 paintings seem to be exploring chaos and color in a more explosive and vibrant pop-surrealist language.