20 Fishes
Acrylic on wallet-sized mini canvases

As a weekend project, I decided to draw as many cocktail-drinking fish as I could on tiny novelty canvases. I ended up making twenty (the canvases come in packs of five) and then I turned the set into an 11x17” print. The print is for sale and if you wish to purchase one, you can do so here.

“DEAD MEAT”
18x24” Four-Color Serigraph

Lately, I’ve been exploring the links between ancient mythology and popular culture. This is the first in a series that I am creating that draws parallels between the stories of Theseus and Rocky Balboa. “DEAD MEAT” is a four-color screen print produced by Burlesque of North America. It turned out better than I could have imagined with a nice metallic gold ink for the shorts and glove details. The prints are 18x24” on thick Cougar White paper. This edition is limited to fifty prints, signed and numbered. They can be purchased at the Store section of joshuaellingson.com.

“The Big White Apartment” Photo/Performance Series

In December 2011, I did an artist residency in Vienna, Austria at MuseumsQuartier. For an entire month, I lived in a gigantic empty apartment in the middle of the city center. The contrast between the rich cultural landscape of central Vienna and this bleak, overly spacious apartment inspired me to document the residency. Eventually, I started making temporary art on the walls with chocolate and tape.

Kaijus

“Kaiju” is the common term for Japanese movie monsters. I can’t get enough of these characters because they are so inventive and interesting. Luckily, I have friends that curate kaiju-themed art events like “Kaiju Karma” in Chicago and “Kaiju Comrades” in Tokyo, Japan. 

Laughing Squid

Laughing Squid has been a long-time supporter or my art, and it was a special treat when they approached me to do their poster for their ten year anniversary party. Later, we turned the poster art into a full-page back cover advertisement for Hi-Fructose Magazine.

I also did the artwork for the 15th Anniversary poster. If you look really hard, you can see that I’ve hidden the number “15” in there somewhere.

Promotional Artwork for musician, Suzanne “Kitten on the Keys” Ramsey

I’ve been working with Suzanne Ramsey for years to make postcards, posters, cds, and other promotional artwork for her “Kitten on the Keys” musical persona. Her music ranges from sugary sweet to diabolical and mischievous, which really makes it fun to create artwork for. You can find more about Suzanne’s music online at http://www.suzanneramsey.net/.

PURGATRON Cocktail Robot

The PURGATRON was developed in collaboration with art collective Monochrom for Roboexotica 2011 in Vienna, Austria. The project was also part of my month-long residency at MuseumsQuartier. Roboexotica is an annual gathering of builders that create robots related to cocktail culture. Most of the robots at the event are designed to mix custom drinks for the attendees. The idea behind the PURGATRON is that you can banish your boring drink from purgatory by sweetening it (sending it to heaven) or adding spice (sending it to hell).

ROBOPRIEST Two-Person Robot Costume

The whole idea of ROBOPRIEST started as a joke on Twitter between me and Selene Luna, an actress friend of mine in Los Angeles. The joke then turned into reality when Selene asked me to build ROBOPRIEST for her one woman show,”Sweating the Small Stuff” in San Francisco. The costume consisted mostly of cardboard and foam rubber with a skeleton of plastic hula hoops. The “eyes” are speakers equipped with voice-activated electro-luminescent wire. The audio for ROBOTPRIEST’s voice and various sound-effects were created by sound designer, Jim Coursey.

“I am ROBOPRIEST”
“Master created me to…”
“DESTROY!”
“MALFUNCTION!”
Just Married