Influences (thesis prep post)

Quite frankly, this is going to be a difficult post for me.  The idea is to examine artists and works which have influenced my own work, focusing in particular on modern and contemporary artists.  The struggle is in that I'm fairly certain there are... two, maybe three modern/contemporary artists whom I could point out as having been inspirational or influential to me.  I'll be honest-- this is pretty much my own fault.  Up until recently, I'd largely dismissed contemporary work in particular for a number of reasons, namely, I figured there was little point getting hung up on that which history had yet to prove the importance of, I never considered myself a "gallery" type artist, more focused in on entertainment media, and I tend to ignore that which comes off to me as arrogant, high-brow work, too caught up in its own importance to stoop to the level of the common viewer.  
For those of you with fingers poised ready to learn me a thing or two and solve my abject ignorance, rest easy, I'm aware enough to know that my perceptions can be changed-- and changing they are.  So, given that preface, here's what I did manage to scrounge up of modern and contemporary work which has influenced my own:

Alright, so let's go for the obvious one first.

 Like I said, obvious.  To the best of my knowledge, Roy Lichtenstein has been the most successful in drawing traditional comics into a gallery setting.  His work emphasizes the importance of scale, turning comic panels into high art by painting them larger than life, and enhancing the (in my opinion) charming melodrama of pop culture fiction.

Damnit, obvious again.  A little while back I posted a video of one of Miwa Matreyek's performances.  I adore the playful way she mixes animation and performance, and my own recent doodles of silhouettes draw a lot from her work.

Okay, so imagine your favorite artist and your childhood hero getting together to chat and make something together.  Now, once you're done cleaning up, since your mind has just been blown to bits, take a look at this:  Destino, a collaboration between Salvador Dali and Walt Disney (officially completed later in 2003).  Dali's dream-like and unsettling style combines beautifully with the child-like romance of a Disney film.  This marriage of distinctive style with exploratory flexibility is something that I'm beginning to really strive for.

Finally, I have to indulge myself and include this one:  Okami is a 2006 video game developed by Clover Studios.  The visual style is based in Japanese watercolor and ink paintings.

The game has gained a bit of a cult following of fans (and I suppose I have to confess to being one, huh...) due to stunning visuals and a plot which centers around characters who are truly passionate about what they do (also using a paintbrush to kill demons-- I guess there's that too).


I suppose the common theme here is that the work that appeals to me right now is that which combines "high" and "low" art influences and explores the possibilities in a playful and sincere way.