"I am looking for places that are good for hiding, where you feel secure and safe, where you can disappear or return home. Where you can be invisible."

February 5, 2010 7:58 AM

The strange and wonderful paintings of Moki

Also: Interview from August 2009; photography (Flickr)

posted by le morte de bea arthur (11 comments total)

Pretty interesting artist. The paintings on wood are especially cool.
posted by Dick Laurent is Dead at 8:08 AM on February 5, 2010

Love these paintings. Thanks.
posted by wadefranklin at 9:10 AM on February 5, 2010

These are fantastic. They remind me of dreams.
posted by Democritus at 9:13 AM on February 5, 2010

I like the focus on textures in all of the paintings. They also include surreal human/animal interactions, which is something I love. I find that the black figures don't work for me in many of the paintings, however. Where it is done subtly, like the one where the figure is reflected in the pool of water, it adds a nice touch of mystery, but in the majority I find the contrast too jarring to reconcile it as spooky. It becomes something like an uncanny valley problem - when it's too unreal, I can dismiss it easily, but a more subtle suggestion makes it creepy/beautiful.
posted by HE Amb. T. S. L. DuVal at 9:31 AM on February 5, 2010

This is right up my alley - the creepy/weird black creatures especially. Thanks for sharing!
posted by Tequila Mockingbird at 9:35 AM on February 5, 2010

In the interview (linked) she mentions Miyazaki, from whose influence the black figures originate. I'd agree that they don't work quite as well in the more photorealistic images.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 9:43 AM on February 5, 2010

Nice. It reminds me of this painting which I found recently.
posted by Vulpyne at 9:43 AM on February 5, 2010

Fascinating. Please keep the similar-artists-and-artworks links coming.
posted by Scarf Face at 10:13 AM on February 5, 2010

Nice stuff. If I'm not mistaken, Moki is also Neneh Cherry's mother, and Neneh wrote and recorded a song inspired by her, "Red Paint."
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 3:52 PM on February 5, 2010

Moki Cherry is a different artist, a Swedish painter who, as you say, is Neneh Cherry's mother. The only example of her work that I could find in a quick Googling was this one. The Moki mentioned in this post is a German artist born in (as close as I can work out) about 1982.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 1:05 AM on February 6, 2010

Count me in for liking the black figures, even in the more realistic works. I must say, the ones where he flexes nature in weirdly intuitive ways (this one's my favorite) really blew me away.
posted by tmcw at 8:16 AM on February 6, 2010