Bleeding hearts and the traps of love — this is the ephemeral, sad, hopeful, quirky, beautiful world of Tara McPherson's art. Her paintings are a cross between a Space Channel 5 videogame and a goth Magritte. Barbed hearts, bleeding chest wounds, love in all its chaos — her art is fabulous in its broken-hearted optimism.
McPherson's latest art has been collected by Dark Horse Comics under the title Lost Constellations: The Art of Tara McPherson Volume II, a follow-up to her 2006 collection, Lonely Heart.
Lost Constellations consists solely of McPherson's paintings, sketches, poster art (for cool alternative bands like The Melvins) and sculptures, including her simplistically clever balloon creatures.
There are no words and no explanations in the book, just a foreword by artist Tim Biskup, in which he describes McPherson's art consists of "altered forms and transfigured ideas."
Like Lonely Heart, Lost Constellations also shows "before and after" images that shed light on McPherson's creative process. Each picture is matched with the original black-and-white sketch that came before the final product. It’s interesting to see how the work sometimes changes from the original thought, and how much the color adds to the style.
McPherson's art has evolved since Lonely Heart. It's more polished. The colors are more vibrant. Her line drawings have transitioned into oils and sculpture. Oh, and by the way, the cover of Lost Constellations is actually squishy. Perhaps to protect you from the sharp edges of McPherson's artwork.
Lost Constellations: The Art of Tara McPherson Volume II will be released by Dark Horse Comics on April 8, 2009.
See also:
