Room of Imaginary Creatures – Accompanying the poem Exit by Mike Ladd 2018

Owen Gent made this intriguing image, Room of Imaginary Creatures, to accompany Mike Ladd’s poem Exit. It’s a digital illustration, the kind of thing you might find in a cool graphic novel, full of atmosphere and feeling. I really get a sense of process from this. There are no slick surfaces here, just layers of texture and color that give it a kind of dreamy depth. Look how the charcoal-like plume of smoke almost seems to twist and writhe, a tangible thing pushing upwards. And then there's that solitary chair, a stark white against the dark, fiery base of the smoke. The whole thing has this raw, almost unsettling energy. It makes me think of Paula Rego, another artist who isn't afraid to explore the darker sides of the imagination. Art's not about answers, it's about opening up questions.