Sunday, October 21, 2012

Matchbook Illustrations By Jason D'Aquino

Artwork can be everywhere and anywhere. It all just depends on the item in which a scrawl, sketch, paint mark or crafted solution, was placed with the intention of creating a new object with a redefined sense of purpose. How does that sound for clinical and collegiate? Better yet, it could possibly be a way to describe art, in our modern context in which many things that are being created, rely on an element from the past as their springboard?

Some purveyors of "art" with the worst craftsmanship get away with being called "artists" and then there are folks such as Jason D'Aquino. His reliance on found objects takes his illustration style into a different level altogether. By using graphite pencils and old paper he is creating a sense of awe through scale and amazing detail. The depth within these illustrations is beyond good and the way the pencil lines flow within the context of the matchbooks heighten the story line to an almost hard boiled pitch. Mickey Spillane could have had a field day with these matchbooks as a storyline. Damn fine work indeed.

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Pin up bondage, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino
Pre 1930's Vintage motorcycles, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino
Hot Date, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino
Marilyn Monroe, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino
Pistol diagram of a Colt 1911, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino
Internal watch mechanisms, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino
Famous Hollywood movie monsters, matchbook illustrations by Jason D'Aquino

Wrestling skeletons, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino

True Cases of Women In Crime, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino

Vengeance Is Mine, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino

Illicit Desires matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino
"Jason D'Aquino is a miniaturist. He creates his artwork on an incredibly small scale, many works not exceeding one inch by one inch in dimension.

D'Aquino chooses to work on found surfaces such as strike-on-front matchbooks, 18th century animal-skin vellum, and antique ledger pages. His search for these found "canvases" has led him to strange corners of the world and to some unique treasures. He recently unearthed a hand-quilled, illustrated whaling manuscript from St. Petersburg Russia, which made its way to Christies Auction House in New York City.

Jason's influences include H.P. Lovecraft, Henry Darger and Hans Bellmer. His drawings, often political in nature, have graced the pages of the New York Times, Juxtapoz, I.T.A., The Stranger, and Gulliver Magazine. A hardbound volume of his work is fourth coming, soon to be released by Ignition Publishing."