Artist’s Bio
My name is Victor McClurg and I am a twenty-three
year old soon to be senior at San Diego State University. Although I am
majoring in English, art has always been an essential part of my life. Several
members of my family have skill in some medium of art, like my father and my Tia.
Suffice it to say I have grown up with artistic influences. From a young age I
began dabbling with pastels, and drawing my favorite animals and animated
characters. In my youth art was a representation of my childish innocence and
imagination. However as I got older life got harder and darker. As a result art
as well as writing then became a means to express my frustration with my and my
family’s experiences. As a family we have been homeless, we have had to
struggle financially even with government aid, my mother had to battle with anxiety
and depression, and being gay made my life just a bit more obstacle driven. Yet
when I began college, life thankfully started to get better. In response art
was adapted to fit my changing world. Instead of art being used to express
solely innocence or darkness, it was now simply a reflection of whatever
inspired me. A hand, a tree, memories, and dreams all became possible sources
of inspiration. I make art when I am compelled to do so. I am not forced or
coerced into creating. I use shoe strings, zippers, buttons, cardboard and
flowers to help create an image that peaks out of the shadows in my mind and
asks to be brought to light. I love art. It is a part of me that will never go
away. I expect that as I continue to grow and change art will adapt with me as
it always has. It is not always easy to live in this world but I know that as a
long as I have my ability to paint, to draw, to write than I can survive and
thrive within it.
Artist’s Statement
For many years now the horror genre has staked
itself as my favorite genre. I love how confrontational mediums dealing with
horror can be. Horror films, books, art, etc., all work towards scaring their
audiences by forcing them to confront their greatest fears whilst also
exploring notable social anxieties. While the success of the genre can vary I nonetheless
deeply admire its attempt to often be more than just entertainment. It is out
of this admiration for the genre and its complexities that has inspired me to
create a series of minimalist paintings based on George A. Romero’s famed Dead
Series.
There are six films in Romero’s Dead Series all of which have been released in the span of forty-seven years. Each film bears with it social commentary that is reflective of the time period in which it was released. However even in 2015 much of Romero’s comments on society are still relevant which is why he and his films are so revered.
In preparation for creating my series of paintings, I watched the series in its entirety and took many notes. I wanted to form my own opinion about the films and what I understood them to be saying. Afterword I did some research on the films. I looked at critic reviews, audience reviews, essays, and interviews with Romero. What I found was that my thoughts and majority of people’s thoughts on the films aligned with one another. I then felt quite confident going forward with the creation of my series.
For the making of the series I used six 8x10 canvas, a pencil, acrylic paint, gouache paint, and paintbrushes. I began by directly sketching onto the canvas one or two images I felt best conveyed a Dead Series films commentary. Afterward I outlined all of the sketches on the six canvases in black paint. From there I used a mixture of both the acrylic and gouache paints to fully bring the images into existence. The backgrounds have all been kept white so that the sole focus remains on the one or two images on each canvas. I wanted these paintings to be minimal because I truly believe that even the tiniest pieces of imagery can be successful at conveying important social issues.
Overall I am ecstatic over how my series came out, which I have given the name, A World of Dead. It was a great pleasure to be able to mix my love of horror and art for this event. I had never created a six piece series before and now that I have, I look forward to continuing pushing myself as an artist and seeing just how much I am able to accomplish.
Night of Racism
This painting is inspired by Night of the Living
Dead. This 1968 zombie film is presented in black and white and features a
black man named Ben as its main protagonist. What I got mostly out of this film
was the issue of race. Ben is the last survivor of his group until he is shot
in the head by a white man in the films end. For my piece I painted Ben’s
silhouette in black and punctured a hole through his head to represent a
gunshot wound, and there is a trail of white paint functioning as blood falling
from it. To me this image perfectly sums up the film. A black man is finally a
strong film lead and ultimately gets shot by a white man. This illustrates the
amount of racial tension between blacks and whites in America during the
sixties.
Dawn of Consumerism
This painting is inspired by Dawn of the Dead. This
1978 film is about a small group of individuals who take shelter from the
zombie apocalypse in a shopping mall. During one scene there is a zombie in a
wishing fountain and he is holding a variety of coins in his hands. This moment
is ironic because there is all the money in the world available but it is now
useless. My painting for this film is based on this scene. I created a severed
zombie hand in a blue gray color scheme that resembles the zombies in the film.
In the palm of the hand I painted a collection of various gold and silver
coins. This film is a commentary on consumerism and I think that this image
best illustrates this focus.
Day of Conflict
This painting is based on Day of the Dead. This 1985
film depicts two factions of people trying to survive in a world overrun by
zombies but cannot get past their beliefs to function as a unit. There is the
military on one side and scientists/doctors on the other. For my painting I
created a machete to represent the military and a scalpel to represent the
scientists/doctors. One side believes that nature should not be tampered with
as it is the reason why they are in the position they are in now. The other
side that some tinkering is needed in order to live. I have included streaks of
red paint functioning as blood on both tools, in order to depict that both
sides have blood on their hands and are in a way wrong.
Land of Classism
This painting is based on Land of the Dead. This 2000
film features a human society that has now found a way to live in a world torn
apart by zombies. This society has the rich living in Fiddler’s Green and the
poor living in make shift homes on the streets around it. This film is all
about classism to me. There are the haves and the have not’s. For my painting I
created a representation of the building, Fiddler’s Green and I have the bottom
of it dripping in red paint function as blood. Fiddler’s Green was made
possible by the blood of the hard working poor citizens.
Diary of Truth
This painting is based on Diary of the Dead. This
2007 film is about a group of college students filming a horror movie who are
thrust into the real life horror of a zombie apocalypse. This found footage
style film is all about the exposing of truth and by films end asks if humanity
is worth saving. There is a scene in the end in which a zombie woman is hung on
a tree by her hair and as she is torn apart by men killing for fun a blood tear
falls down her face. My painting is based on this scene. I have painted a
portable video camera not unlike one seen in the film and on its screen I have
painted a close up representation of the zombie crying. The camera
representative of the pursuit of truth and the crying zombie exposes humanity’s
darkness.
Survival of Nationalism
This painting is based on Survival of the Dead. This
2009 film is about a small group of soldiers who take shelter from the zombie
apocalypse on an island that holds two warring families. One family believes in
killing all zombies and the other wants to save them for a possible cure. This
film is largely about nationalism. Both families love their home and fight for
what it means to them. For this painting I made two flags to represent each
family. I have used a mixture of green, white, and orange to color the flags,
which represents both families’ Irish heritage. The flags also feature the
image of a zombie. One zombie was made with no jaw in order to illustrate the
O’Flynn’s belief that zombies are monsters. The other zombie was made to be
more human-like to show the Muldoon’s belief that their zombie loved ones can be
saved. Each family has pride for their home but it is their unrelenting feud
that ultimately destroys them.
