Featured artist: Mike Egan
Tiny Death 2022, acrylic on Ampersand Unprimed Basswood
A former funeral director and embalmer turned artist, Ohio based Mike Egan creates artwork dark in nature, yet highly saturated in color. His graphic, minimal pieces are complex in their use of symbols.
Tiny Death 2022, acrylic on Ampersand Unprimed Basswood
Q: Can you tell us a bit about what ignited your love of religious imagery?
I grew up Catholic, so as a bored kid sitting in church, I remember sitting there staring at stained-glass windows and religious statues. Then again, as a funeral director, I’d go to all sorts of churches for services and would take in the different paintings in churches. It’s all very powerful and kind of spooky at the same time.
Tiny Death 2022, acrylic on Ampersand Unprimed Basswood
Q: Your first job after college was at a local airport. Two hours into your first day (which was September 11, 2001) and still in your training course, your class ended up watching 9/11 unfold on the news. How did this affect the trajectory of your art career?
Yes, this is correct! This experience first made me want to get a job where I didn’t have to worry about getting laid off. This thought is what pushed me into the funeral business. Later I think it showed me that I should be doing what I love with my life. My life could end at any time, and why waste it doing something that wasn’t making me happy.
Tiny Death 2022, acrylic on Ampersand Unprimed Basswood
Q: The juxtaposition of your color palette and the subject matter is intriguing. How did you come to use bright, solid colors to depict the seemingly darker subjects?
This all came from just being repetitive with paint and finding what worked best for me. I love the idea of pulling viewers in with bright colors before they take in the dark subject matter. I never want my work to be off-putting to the viewer, so the bright colors make the overall paintings more welcoming and playful.
Tiny Death 2022, acrylic on Ampersand Unprimed Basswood
Q: You also worked as a funeral director. Tell us how this influenced the style of your art.
Being surrounded by death and dying all the time definitely stuck with me as an artist. I think it’s a subject matter that everyone, no matter who you are, can relate to in one way or another. During that time in funeral homes, I was taking in the images from the embalming rooms, the rituals of the funeral services, cemeteries, and religious services, all of which are prominent in my work today.
Tiny Death 2022, acrylic on Ampersand Unprimed Basswood
Q: Tigers are shown quite a bit in your work. Do they have a special meaning for you?
I like to think that we all have some sort of spirit animal inside of us. The tiger is something that I feel that I have inside of me. Art and my paintings have allowed my inner tiger to be released and roar. We all have something inside that’s waiting to be released that’s empowering.
Tiny Death 2022, acrylic on Ampersand Unprimed Basswood
Q: For the past couple of years, you have created a wood panel series, Tiny Deaths. Can you tell us how that started?
I always liked the idea of giving first-time collectors an opportunity to buy smaller original pieces. So I started the Tiny Deaths series. Tiny deaths are events in our lives that change who we are in some way. It could be a divorce, loss of a friend or family member, illness, etc. I like to think that these small paintings are little tombstones to remember those events in our lives. It also allows me to work with a local charity and donate 25% of all sales to people who need help.
Q: You designed the Pearl Jam poster for the Louisville stop of the Bourbon & Beyond tour this year. How did this project come about?
Their merch guys contacted me about doing the poster for the show. Pearl Jam does an artist-designed poster for every show they do, which is crazy. This was an added show to their tour schedule, and they needed another artist, so they reached out—a super fun project to be a part of.
Tiny Death 2022, acrylic on Ampersand Unprimed Basswood
Q: What do you love most about Ampersand Unprimed Basswood for your work?
I love how light they are and how easy they are to handle. The surfaces are also very smooth, and my paint sits on the surface very nicely.
Artist Bio:
Mike Egan was born outside of Pittsburgh, PA, in 1977 (a reason why you'll find those numbers in his artwork). As a kid, he was shy but eventually found art that helped him find his voice. Egan would trace cartoons, skateboard graphics, and album covers. Drawing Guns N' Roses's Appetite for Destruction many times in sixth grade or sitting in church every Sunday doodling on whatever paper he could find.
After taking art classes throughout high school, Egan decided to pursue a degree in fine arts at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, two hours north of Pittsburgh. He focused on printmaking, where he learned about artists like José Guadalupe Posada and German Expressionists like Kathe Kollwitz. He discovered woodcut printing, which offered bold black line work and a graphic quality that he now uses in his paintings. To see more of Mike's work, visit his website, Instagram, and Facebook.
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