"Pharmakos" is the Greek word from which we get "pharmacy." But in Greek, the word means not only a medicine but also a poison (see Derrida), and also signifies a ritual scapegoat, kept by the city so that he could be sacrificed/exiled as a form of communal catharsis. This image was particularly inspired by the mythic archetype of the ritually unclean, poisonous healer, a spirit or deity with a sinister domain —such as abortion or disease— whose help is also sought in healing, due to their power over the cause.

Publication/Show Highlights: DigiTech Showcase 2012; Summer Artbrary 2012; Art to Remember 2012; Legacy Exhibit 2012; Oglesby Gallery 2012; Fermentation Lounge 2012.

Hackberry Emperor butterflies will frequently land on a person's hands or face, but it's a myth that they're friendly. They actually eat human skin and sweat, though their primary diet consists of carrion. If a body is ever left in the woods in Northern Florida (or other areas populated by related species of butterflies), as soon as it begins to decay it will be covered in butterflies.

Publication/Show Highlights: Euphemism Literary Journal 2012; Artists' League Exhibit 2012; Metamorphosis 2012; DigiTech Showcase 2012; Weekenders Magazine 2012; FSReview Journal 2013.

One earlier reworking of "Mustang" was published in "The Kudzu Review" in 2005. The current version retains its earlier references to America's destructive collisions between technology, humanity, and the natural world, but also speaks to ancient myths of labyrinths, biformed saints, and the paths of the Underworld.

Publication/Show Highlights: Oglesby Gallery 2012; Fermentation Lounge 2012; Kudzu Review 2005; Metamorphosis 2012; DigiTech Showcase 2012; Summer Artbrary 2012; Weekenders Magazine 2012.

In modern terminology, "Iatrogenesis" refers to an illness or injury caused by medical treatment. Originally, the term simply meant "brought about by a healer" and could be either good or bad. In addition to continuing the Gift Series' interest in the uncanny, this piece intentionally references the "Photoshop" body alterations made to models to give them extreme, and often inhuman, proportions.

Publication/Show Highlights: Euphemism Literary Journal 2012; Women Empowerment 2012; Summer Artbrary 2012; Oglesby Gallery 2012; Fermentation Lounge 2012; With This Ring by Allie Marini Batts 2012.

"Rehab" (as seen here) has not yet been completely reworked, though it's in progress. This is the closest of anything in my portfolio to MANDEM's early work.

Publication/Show Highlights: Euphemism Literary Journal 2012; Oglesby Gallery 2012.

"Marooned" was published in Sole Literary Journal (Winter, 2011), and has appeared in multiple gallery shows and public spaces, including Tallahassee City Hall. This painting has created intense debates among viewers, much to our delight, regarding the character's gender, race, and background story.

Publication/Show Highlights: Sole Literary Journal 2011; Creative Tallahassee 2012; Westcott Galleries Project 2012; Valdosta National 2013; The Lyrics of Abney Park 2012.

This piece was commissioned for the "Airship Pirates" universe with the only description/requirement being "We need hyeanadons." When I showed the finished piece to the artistic director, he commented that the human character was truly doomed. A few days later, I showed it to a friend, who is struggling with cancer, and she said, "Wow, those hyeana-things are in trouble!" Subsequently, the piece has been called "Allie's Battle" in her honor. This piece has also been published in "The Tavern's Vault," a fantasy literature magazine.

Publication/Show Highlights: Abney Park's Airship Pirates by Cakebread & Walton - 2011; The Tavern's Vault - 2011; Fall Artbrary 2011; Canvas 7 Art Premier 2012; DigiTech Showcase 2012; The Tits: Round Two 2012.

"...Doll" was created for the "Airship Pirates" universe, in which clockwork dolls serve as sex workers in a dystopian society. It was very important to me to use this story to reflect the way in which our own society expects women to perform unrealistic gender roles and discuss the violence that objectification does to the self and society. This piece was also published in "Inopinata Literary Journal."

Publication/Show Highlights: Abney Park's Airship Pirates by Cakebread & Walton - 2011; Inopinata Literary Journal 2011; The Lyrics of Abney Park 2012; Fall Artbrary 2011; Canvas 7 Art Premier 2012; Wallflower (Tampa, FL) 2012; DigiTech Showcase 2012; Women Empowerment 2012

Publication/Show Highlights: Abney Park's Airship Pirates by Cakebread & Walton 2011; DigiTech Showcase 2012; Oglesby Gallery 2012; Fermentation Lounge 2012

This piece has been published by Cakebread & Walton and the "Inopinata Literary Journal." This piece is in dialogue with the German Expressonist classic film "Metropolis," the paintings of John Atkinson Grimshaw, and the writings of Victor Hugo and James Barrie. This piece is as much about relationships as any of our works; it's a love story between the constructs of human invention: a city and a mechanical policeman.

Publication/Show Highlights: Abney Park's Airship Pirates by Cakebread & Walton 2011; Inopinata Literary Journal 2011; Fall Artbrary 2011; Canvas 7 Art Premier 2012; Oglesby Gallery 2012; Fermentation Lounge 2012; eSteampunk Magazine 2013

Publication/Show Highlights: Spring Artbrary 2012; Oglesby Gallery 2012; Fermentation Lounge 2012.

"Skin Horse" was published in "The Stone Hobo" literary journal and also appears on the cover of the "Ruined Empires" game supplement, published by Cakebread and Walton; the piece was actually completed well before the book came out -- the character from the painting was written into the world. This piece was partly inspired by the legend of the taming of Pegasus (the god-horse who was bent to human will by a golden bridle) and partly by the postmodern myth of the Velveteen Rabbit (which suggests that a toy becomes real when a child treats it as real).

Publication/Show Highlights: Ruined Empires by Cakebread & Walton (cover) 2011; Abney Park's Airship Pirates by Cakebread & Walton 2011; The Stone Hobo 2012; Fall Artbrary 2011; Canvas 7 Art Premier 2012; DigiTech Showcase 2012; The Lyrics of Abney Park 2012.

“Marian” was conceived in mid-2012 under the influence of non-stop election coverage, with the working title of "It’s Not a War On Women Until They Start Fighting Back." This piece is in dialogue with the Frank Frazetta fantasy-heroic type, where a helpless maiden lies contorted on the ground (usually flashing her breasts and buttocks simultaneously) while the hero or villain towers over her. We wanted to see if the female type could have agency even in a position that seemed hopeless -- if she could exist as a protagonist rather than a sexualized object -- if the viewer could be pulled in to identify not with the figure that towered over her, or the hero coming to save her, but identify with her struggle to find a way to turn the tables. We used Noir/German Expressionist film motifs to add to the political content, because it’s referencing eras of tyranny, social unrest, and the potential for necessary revolution. And the juxtaposition of machine and human added to the sense of body politics, as it were -- a struggle between the right to one’s own flesh and the power of the state machine. This image donned the cover of eSteampunk Magazine and it is also to be found in "Underneath the Lamplight," one of the Airship Pirates books.

Publication/Show Highlights: Fermentation Lounge 2012; eSteampunk Magazine 2013; Underneath the Lamplight (Airship Pirates) 2013.

This piece was created for the "Airship Pirates" universe — visual inspiration comes from 1940s German Expressionist film and propaganda.

Publication/Show Highlights: Abney Park's Airship Pirates by Cakebread & Walton 2011; Oglesby Gallery 2012; Fermentation Lounge 2012.

This faux pulp magazine was created as part of a world-building project for the "Airship Pirates" universe. In gallery shows, it is displayed as part of a collage.

Publication/Show Highlights: Abney Park's Airship Pirates by Cakebread & Walton 2011.

This is another piece conceived for the time travel supplement for the "Airship Pirates" universe. Turner may roll over in his grave if he finds out he's been invaded by comic book characters.

"Endzeit" is a diptych, with the top three scenes appearing on the upper panel. "Endzeit" was inspired by an out-of-context quote from Gaston Leroux ("I have invented a mask that makes me look like anybody else.") and a deep appreciation for the difficulties of attempting to appear neurotypical. This piece has been reworked with mixed media for my shows, but is shown here in its original form, which was optioned for Airship Pirates several years after its original creation.

Publication/Show Highlights: Abney Park's Airship Pirates by Cakebread & Walton 2011; "Next to Last Armageddon" Exhibit at 621 Gallery 2011; Canvas 7 Art Premier 2012; DigiTech Showcase 2012; A Little Bit... at Renditions Gallery 2012; Fermentation Loungue 2013.

This piece was created specifically for the 2012 Dragon-Con Horror/Dark Fantasy Track. It was inspired by the connections between the Lovecraft Mythos and the ancient myths of Tiamat.

Publication/Show Highlights: Dragon-Con Horror/Dark Fantasy Track Official Artwork 2012; Strozier Artbrary 2012; The Lyrics of Abney Park 2012 .

Celtic and Gaelic mythologies both describe a fairy/hag/goddess who washes the clothes of the dead and soon-to-be departed and frequently appears as an omen before battles that will be lost. Why does everyone think that fairies glitter?

Publication/Show Highlights: Penduline Press 2012; Canvas 7 Art Premier 2012; DigiTech Showcase 2012; Fermentation Lounge 2012.

Publication/Show Highlights: Penduline Press 2012; Eternal Essence "A Light in the Distance" CD 2012; Oglesby Gallery 2012.

This piece is a collaboration with Rogue Dupont, created as an album cover for The Crüxshadows' CD "Ethernaut." My base painting for this piece, which I called "Catalyst," originally had a less digital feel (there were no decorative curliques and wheat textures), and the central figure had a more aggressive and androgynous pose. However, this final print version has been widely popular and sold many, many copies and I am proud to display it here.

Publication/Show Highlights: The Crüxshadows "Ethernaut" 2010; "Next to Last Armageddon" Exhibit at 621 Gallery 2011; Spring Artbrary 2012; Oglesby Gallery 2012; Fermentation Lounge 2012.

"Perimeter Guard" was recently optioned to be part of a strategy board game featuring zombies. I personally consider this to be a landscape painting of Detroit, but I can see why some people think it's zombies.

Publication/Show Highlights: "Next to Last Armageddon" at 621 Gallery 2011; Canvas 7 Art Premier 2012; "12-12-12 Project" 2012; Oglesby Gallery 2012; Fermentation Lounge 2012.

This was the cover art for Maize's Honors Thesis, "The Cretan Cycle: Sex, Sacrifice, and the Sacred Beast". It depicts Ariadne, with her iconic ball of thread, and her brother, the Minotaur. As my thesis discussed, the labyrinth is an ancient symbol of the woman's womb and power over life and death (the thread is the key to the labyrinth, which Ariadne gives to her lover, Theseus, enabling him to kill the Minotaur).

Publication/Show Highlights: "Sex, Sacrifice, and the Sacred Beast" by M. Arendsee; Visual AIDS "Postcards from the Edge" at Cheim & Read Gallery 2012; DigiTech Showcase 2012; "Oracle" 2012; Fermentation Lounge 2012; Oglesby Gallery 2012.

This image was originally created to stand on its own, but after it was selected for use in the Crüxshadows album "DreamCypher," a companion piece ("DreamSeeker") was created and the two are now displayed either as a diptych or as a triptych with "When You Tame a Thing." Curiously, the original working title for this piece was "Scary Gas Mask Man of Doom," which just goes to show that we occasionally have a goofy streak.
The imagery in this piece references the myth of the angel set to guard the trees of knowledge and life and prevent the return of humanity to Eden.

Publication/Show Highlights: PeaceKeeper - The Crüxshadows "DreamCypher"; Exotic Visuals of the End Times 2012; Fermentation Lounge 2012; Oglesby Gallery 2012; Right On Gallery 2012.

This image was created for the cover of The Crüxshadows' album "DreamCypher," and is the sister piece to "PeaceKeeper." The album draws heavily on stories of the fall of Troy, which also inspired this piece.

Publication/Show Highlights: The Crüxshadows "DreamCypher"; Spring Artbrary 2012; A Little Bit... at Renditions Gallery 2012; Exotic Visuals of the End Times 2012; Fermentation Lounge 2012; Oglesby Gallery 2012; Right On Gallery 2012.

This piece takes place in the same visual moment as "PeaceKeeper" and "DreamSeeker," (though it was not published in the same album) and generally goes with them to gallery shows as a triptych. The title is a reference to a line in The Little Prince, and refers to the responsibilities that exists between humans and the creatures (or forced) they have tamed.

Publication/Show Highlights: The Stone Hobo 2012; Fermentation Lounge 2012; Oglesby Gallery 2012; Right On Gallery 2012.

This image appeared in the Crüxshadows' DreamCypher album and references the myths of Galatea and Athena.

Publication/Show Highlights: The Crüxshadows "DreamCypher"; Penduline Press 2012; Oglesby Gallery 2012; Fermentation Lounge 2012; Right On Gallery 2012.

The Rhacid birds frequently follow after Neobedouin caravans, picking through the waste left behind by our intrepid heros.

Indricotheriinae have many uses.

It is a little recognized fact that a super soldier with gun arms is incapable of reloading by himself.

One ought never make hasty conclusions regarding the difficulty of a mission based entirely on its description. Nuns and orphans are not always as harmless as one might expect.

When preparing for long journeys, be sure to bring sufficient fuel. (Credit goes to the crew of the Neverwas Haul for imagining and building the prototype of this vehicle!)

Local fauna may vary dramatically in size and ferocity over the millenia.

Resistance to dominant trends appears in most times and cultures.

Dystopia is easier to achieve than one might think, and seems to be the natural order of human affairs.

"Orion" is a Greek hero/dying god who was blinded for his sexual indescretions and went on a long quest --with the help of the god of smiths and makers-- to find the sun that would restore his sight. The blind man's difficulty in locating the always-shinging-sun seems to be a perfect metaphor for the attempt to restore balance to human affairs.

They say that Zeus struck down the demigod of healing, Asclepius, as punishment for raising young Hippolytus from the dead. The lesson does not appear to have been entirely learned by medical profession.

This shows how the aged/distressed pages from the journal appear when on display as a group.

This shows how the aged/distressed pages from the journal appear when on display as a group.