Fantast in Focus: Hawk Alfredson

FANTAST IN FOCUS: HAWK ALFREDSON

Hawk Alfredson’s paintings are liminal; neither here nor there but stuck somewhere in that murky area between subconscious and conscious life. These critically acclaimed works, such as Alfredson’s Icon of an Unknown Religion and Dream Ambassador XXX, have a smudginess about them, which–when contrasted with their ghostly auras– makes the viewer feel as if he were encountering unearthly presences.

This is not surprising considering the fact that Alfredson told us that he receives ‘interesting visions from hypnagogic & sometimes hypnopompic hallucinations’—those strange visionary periods between sleeping and waking. Alfredson also noted that other influences on his artistry include Russian film director Andrei Tartovsky, quantum mechanics, and mysticism.

Many of the human figures in Alfredson’s artwork display the ‘archaic smile’ typical of the kouroi sculptures of pre-Classical Greece. The smile is mischievious, as if the figures have something humorous or sinister to hide. One of our favourites is Alfredson’s The Force Through which the Siren sings her song. In the oil painting, a pink, tentacled chimera pushes her way out of a dark room to a teal-coloured expanse.

Another curious portrait is the One Eyed Angel of Your Rising Moon. Here the moon-eyed woman wears a tiara made of broken glass and appears to be in some kind of mediumistic trance. She may be the human deity personalised or a symbol for the mystical third eye. Either way, she is important and she knows it—that’s why she looks out of the frame to more transcendent, supernal things.

If you’d like to see more of Hawk Alfredson’s magical art, which has appeared in feature films like Oceans 13, I am Legend, and Mystery Men, click on the following links to his website, Facebook page, and Hotel Chelsea featurette.