If the Brothers Grimm grew up watching anime, their grotesque imagery might have turned out characters like Dutch illustrator Raymond Lemstra‘s. His dark apparitions look like idols to be worshipped, or monsters used to lurking in shadows, with red eyes peeking at frightened children. Following in the footsteps of early the 20th century primitivists, he arrived at this aesthetic by studying ancient cultures’ drawings and sculptures. “What I find interesting about these is the distortion as a result of selective emphasis; parts of interest are emphasized, unimportant parts reduced or left out. For characters this means they come out big headed, where focus is on the face and the body is trimmed to its essential properties,” he writes on his website. Along with these creepy visions, which look like ancient idols with a dash of the demons from anime like No Longer Human or Death Note, his Instagram hosts pictures of faces he sees in everyday objects, a condition known as pareidolia. Seeing the eyes and mouth in this craggy mountain, a phenomenon Lemstra refers to as a “crumb,” sheds light on the mind that sees these gorgeous illustrations.
Lemstra has recently collaborated with the likes of Kaos Temple artist Okuda, and been commissioned by The New York Times, so watch this space. Check out his work in the Instagrams below:
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See more of Raymond Lemstra’s work on Instagram. Find your next favorite artist on The Creators Project’s Instagram feed.
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