Introducing : Johnny Hellion
I met Johnny through a mutual friend and artist, Ugly
Shyla, online. We often have conversations about the current state of the art
world and the frustrations thereof, which led to some very fascinating
conversations including one where Johnny explained that he donated some of his
uncle ashes to the Museum of Death in Los Angeles, California. His uncle being
a cohort of Charles Manson, his notoriety lives on in a glass urn that you too
can gander at when you visit a most famous and popular Los Angeles attraction in California.
In a previous blog I introduced my scariest
paranormal experience ever having to do with one of my closest friends
was the nephew of Charles Starkweather, and that he took his life when we were
just young adults. I often wondered what my friend Chris would be like today if
he could accept and perhaps embrace the dark nature and continue to funnel it
through art as he was an accomplished musician. I was lucky to work with him,
and he composed music for my only solo work in my dance company performances.
Johnny is living proof that one can bring light
to the darkness so we can consider what is there and work with it. Is it just
the dark side of our nature that we push away and not accept that causes it to
funnel out in avenues such as addictions, bad habits, and negativity? What if
we faced it explored it and exorcised it through an art medium?
It was his 3-D sculpture of Captain Howdy
coming out of an Ouija board that literally scared me. I shared the picture
with friends, as I knew they would also appreciate the nod to the demon star of
the movie “The Exorcist”. A movie that totally terrified me, not so much for
the demonic possession that starts with a “harmless” Ouija board, but for the
archaic tests for Epilepsy that I turned my toes of my own personal fears of
just being diagnosed. His art scares me on many levels and I being that type
who likes to face things head on, his art speaks to me in that way that art
does when it heals through obsession, repeating something so that it no longer
has a hold on you and desensitizes you from the fearful image. I find it healing, like my seizures, when at first glance can be something terrifying but in another view can be seen as a release of energy. Perhaps when trapped, can cause a shakeup of earthquake proportions. When let out little by little and shared in these smaller dosages we face our own darkness on level ground.
In his own words, Johnny describes his work
thusly:
“My name is Johnny Hellion. I paint
in different mediums, mixed media and also make art pieces such as wall masks
from plaster. I’m inspired by horror, serial killers, death and the macabre.
Some of what I do come from known horror icons or characters but I also have a lot
of original pieces that just come from the imagination. At times I feel in
trance when I work on my artwork. It’s like a meditation at times, most of the
time I don’t even know what I’m doing till I’m done and have to sit back and
figure out what it is or the meaning. I think people enjoy it and it’s what
matters. It’s all an expression of myself and my influences or inspirations.
Anyone can reach me at johnnyhell666@yahoo.com or
check out my artwork from the links at http://about.me/johnnyhell666
“
A watercolour by Johnny Hell , all rights reserved by Artist, used with permission.
Examples of mask work
disneyana
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