My art deals in the invisible world of emotion, specifically the invisible emotions of overlooked people. In an effort to expose viewers to a world that we can feel but cannot readily see I often use my talents to illustrate the most emotionally expressive part of the human body, the face. Right now I am painting strong or challenging emotions that affect members of our worldwide society at the ...lowest, most ignored, and most unprotected level. The style that I am developing will be as photo-realistic as it gets. I want to paint this way in order to echo the living breathing nature of these people and their difficulties. I hope that by exposing the brutal realities of these people and places with images rendered to photographic realism I can lift the protective veil from the eyes of the privileged viewer and expose them to realities that hide under their comfortably dressed feet. I hope that the viewer's eyes will be opened, and that the viewer's heart will be open to creating change. I create lowbrow, often dark art for those who I feel, are my people. "Behold the invisible! You shall see unknown wonders!" Mike Stidham creates dark surrealist images that express the emotional turmoil that exist within dark skinned people. His word often conveys the confrontational nature that is the norm within black neighborhoods, the same confrontation that evokes fear outside of black neighborhoods. Mike Stidham, age 32, was born and raised in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and moved to Chicago to pursue an art career. |