Why does mark ryden use abraham lincoln

I resist, actually, putting in Abraham Lincoln, but I find myself time and time again just not being able to resist it. If you want to have a conversation about Abraham Lincoln aside from why I put him in my paintings, I could talk what I think about Abraham Lincoln. He became like a saint to the country more than any other figure had.

It just sticks with you. When does it stop being an animal, and when is it just this product? I love meat. I have to know it came from a good place. Bad, questionable meat gives me the creeps. Another leitmotif of your paintings are young girls. Why do you feel your world is populated by these waifish little girls, and how did this evolve?

If you were a character in Alice in Wonderland, who would you be and why? I might have a bit of the Hatter in me as well. What would you cite as other major sources of inspiration?

I look at many things for inspiration! I collect and hoard lots of things and lots of junk. My studio and house is overflowing with stuff. I also have an extensive collection of books on art.

I love the old masters more that contemporary art, so most of my books are on artist like Ingers, David, Bronzino, and Carpacio with just a few contemporaries like Neo Rauch and Loretta Lux. Another recurring element in your work is raw meat. Is that your takeon classic image of the skull, the ultimate reminder of the one certainty we face in life? Meat is the physical substance that keeps our non-physical souls in this reality. Many people think there is a political purpose for my use of the imagery of meat, but it is primarily spiritual in nature.

Ethically, I am not against the consumption of meat, I do feel we should treat the animals we eat with care and respect and thank them for providing us with a meal. I think it is horrible the way we treat our animals that are destined to become food.

We practically torture them before a brutal slaughtering. It does not have to be that way. To what extent should your work be seen as an allegory? If people interpret a particular painting as an allegory of something, I am pleased that my painting has inspired the thought, but for me it is not necessary for the viewer to have that particular interpretation.

One of the earliest examples is the painting The Birth of Venus This bizarre scene depicts Lincoln lying on the ground giving birth to baby Venus from his cheek. The birth is facilitated by another American icon, Colonel Sanders. In an interview the artist confessed that he originally wanted to paint Colonel Sanders giving birth to Abraham Lincoln, but he felt this combination was too mundane, and the scene needed a unique twist. Ryden is a central figure of the Lowbrow art movement, which is also known by the name Pop Surrealism.