Danse Macabre

The Danse Macabre or dance of death is a late medieval allegorical artistic trope which speaks to the universality of death. It has been rendered in many forms of media from woodcut to fresco to  early animated films. When I took my turn at depicting it I wanted to lean into the frivolity which is often part of these works to a lesser or greater extent. With this In mind I planned compositions which would convey the specific lyrical rhythms of certain  folk dances. i also didn’t want to render the skeletons and creatures  realistically but in a pseudo engraving style calling to mind Albrecht Durer’s woodblocks and Bernie Wrightson’s Frankenstein ink illustrations. This was to play into the history of the image and call to mind  spooky old vintage occult illustrations. This fits in to my body of more naturalistically rendered work because not in spite of its difference of style. The connection being trying to evoke a sense of time and place this time the stylings complemented the subject matter.