The Art of Eilen Itzel Mena

Eilen Itzel Mena is a Los Angeles based artist with a focus on abstract expressionism, surrealism, spirituality and the African diaspora. The cartoonish style looks elementary at a glance, but her paintings and drawings are gateways into a world populated by the provocative juxtaposition of a childlike imagination with adult thoughts and emotions.

"Imagery in my work reflects personal dreams, memories, and spiritual experiences that have acted as clues to my self-discovery," she explains. "I include imagery depicting my ancestors in order to showcase the role they play in my understanding of purpose and legacy."

Eilen grew up in the Dominican Republic and received her B.A. Fine Arts degree at the University of Southern California in 2017. She has participated in many prestigious national and international exhibitions, and her work has been featured in various websites and publications such as the New York Times, Artnet and Hyperallergic, amongst others.

You can follow Eilen on Twitter and Instagram.

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Preserved tattoos of the dead

The idea of preserving tattoos after death came into existence long before NAPSA . London's Wellcome Collection has over 300 specimens of preserved human flesh bearing tattoos , collected in the late 19th century. There are many more examples of smaller collections in Paris, Poland, Portugal, Berlin, and Austria. But what fascinates me the most is this lesser-known museum at Tokyo University, the Medical Pathology Museum, which houses pieces of skin collected since 1926 by Dr. Masaichi Fukushi. "Fukushi would perform autopsies on donated cadavers and dissect off just the skin. He created a method of treatment to preserve the skin and kept them stretched in a glass frame, essentially like a leather. Later the ownership of the tattooed skin collection was passed on to Fukushi's son Katsunari. Katsunari added a further 20 tattooed skins himself and it's believed that the Medical Pathology Museum has 105 in its collection, many with full body suits." ...

Happy Birthday, Faith Hill!

It's a week late, but I wanted to wish a Happy Birthday to Faith Hill. My wife has been a fan of her music for years, and honestly, who can blame her? On the zillion-to-one chance that Mrs. McGraw ever sees this blog, I'd like to remind her that the world abounds in people who know her songs by heart, and can and will sing them at the slightest provocation.

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To say that I love Sanagi 's work is an understatement. Looking at her art feels sort of therapeutic, and I find her drawings refreshingly intricate. They're trippy, psychedelic, and resemble something that you might see under a microscope. Not much is Googleable about Sanagi, but that's fine. There aren't many artists these days that still pull off the whole mysterious vibe, so I commend her for that. By the way... they're all hand-drawn with pen and ink.

finding cain

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