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READ COMICS ONLINE! “DISSECTICIDE” is the strange tale of a young painter who suddenly finds himself dealing with artists block. Despite serious deadlines, the pressures of success and a productive past the character continually battles with trivial distractions effectively painting himself into a desperate situation. With only a few days to go before his next big solo gallery exhibition the artist decides to lock himself away in the studio. In order to keep focused he disconnects the internet, removes all his devices ( phones & video games) and even dedicates his stomach to a mild bit of fasting. However, no matter how hard he tries to escape from material diversions it seems to be impossible for him to escape from his own mind. As he ponders the blank canvas his true self, his motives and his attitudes creep up from the unconscious to challenge him in a way no artwork ever could.

“DISSECTICIDE” is part of a trilogy of body horror graphic novels that I wrote over the winter of 2012-13. I wanted to do three parodies of the arts looking at film, music and in this case fine artworks in order to examine both the positive and negative influences they have on our lives. All of these stories will be featured on the read comics online pages of this site. At the time I was writing this book I was having a lot of trouble dealing with the superficiality of the art world. As an art student I had been much more optimistic about art as a social political vehicle as many people at that age are strong willed activists who are still willing to spill their own blood for a good protest. However as time passed I became increasingly disillusioned by the increasing number of glamour seeking fine artists. It seemed to me that the work which was being produced successfully ( both financially and in recognition) was far more celebratory of commercial pop culture and of virtually no critical value or interest. In many respects the work was little more than intricate escapism and glistening denial.

At any rate my concerns regarding the demise of art as an intellectual practice basically sent me into a state of distracted artist block like the one featured in this story. For a few months I basically didn't draw anything unless there was a commission already in place. When I started putting this book together it was my intention to examine my psychological state of despair but oddly enough I had no idea were the fable would lead me. The adventure was extremely cathartic and set me to work with a vigour I'd recently forgotten. With each new page my love of drawing, and comic books in particular, was renewed. By the time I'd completed the book I felt as though I got a number of bad ideas out of me and onto the paper in a way that is far more uplifting , fun and positive than I imagined when I began. After publishing the book I felt free from my art world squabbles and was ready to move on to more important topics in my next surreal tale. 

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