Creepy, Cute and Categories in Between at WWA Gallery

A fun and freaky showcase where treacly sweetness and spooky visions collide, “Creepy Cute” at WWA Gallery features paintings by seven artists: Peter Adamyan, Jonathan Bergeron, Dee Chavez, Desiree Fessler, Kelly Hutchison, Larkin and Chase Tafoya.

Under the category of cute is a series of paintings (acrylic on wood) by Dee Chavez. Redolent of childhood fantasies with a surreal edge, Chavez depicts otherworldly creatures in exaggerated settings, as in Lilypods, an underwater seascape with cheerful pod creatures in a whimsical liquid world.

Also on the cute side are Kelly Hutchison’s pin-up girls, represented faithfully in their requisite fishnet stockings and high heels. But wait! These classic ladies in the style of another era all have tattoos, as in Kiss of Death, in which a red haired female sits on a rocket, suspended on a cloudy sky. The unexpected luster of oil paint adds a layer of mystique.

Desiree Fessler’s animal paintings evoke a latter day Beatrix Potter gone a bit wonky. In Otterly Refreshing, she portrays a perfectly innocent otter, except for one detail. The creature is about to eat a candy that has eyes.

Larkin’s finely detailed black and white portraits of bees in crochet frames, straddle the border between creepy and cute. In, Worker No. 37047734, a dignified bee is depicted wearing a dress.

Tending more towards the creepy, Chase Tafoya’s paintings of skulls and skeletons are festooned with colorful adornments. In Goodbye Kitty, the artist skillfully renders the skull of a formerly cute cat, adding a decorative pink bow.

A series of round and oval shaped oil on wood paintings by Jonathan Bergeron elaborate on the skull theme. Mostly misshapen, or “skull anomalies”, as he calls them, the skulls have odd features that echo strangeness in their former lives, like a skull with devil horns and one with a flower clamped between its teeth. Clever witty, and yes, frightfully creepy!

A once cute cat gone creepy and a skull with butterfly eyes

“Don’t eat me!” A candy with eyes.

Gazing at creepy cuteness

Pinned-up in the clouds

WWA Gallery goers

Top Image: A grouping of Jonathan Bergeron’s series of Skull Anomalies