Bloodsucker 

Jason Limon painted ‘Bloodsucker’ sometime in the 21st century. With its party hat, lace trim, and fairy wings, the figure is initially adorable, but on closer inspection we notice the rows of sharp teeth and the bloody trails. Limon's paintings often evoke the Victorian era. He creates complex characters, drawing inspiration from vintage toys, scientific diagrams, and folklore. Limon’s work frequently invites us to examine our relationships with the monstrous, grotesque, and the unfamiliar. Here, the artist seems to ask: What do we find charming, and what do we find repulsive? How do these categories blur? What happens when these attributes appear simultaneously? Like a surrealist dream, Limon's 'Bloodsucker' holds an uncomfortable mirror up to our desires. Are we drawn to the creature because we see a bit of ourselves in it? Or does the creature prey on something we wish to disavow?