This new book from Fantagraphics of Femke Hiemstra’s work is gorgeous. The cloth hardbound book has a nice die-cut cover and the inside is jam packed with Femke’s works including tons of paintings and drawings alongside loose sketches. It also includes photos of her studio and her influences which is always a nice extra bonus. I was only familiar with the Dutch artist because I bought her comic (check out Ralph’s comment on that past post. haha) a couple years ago at MoCCA. I have never seen these dark and moody surreal paintings which make up the majority of her work. Like Mark Ryden’s paintings, everything seems in soft focus and extra big-eyed cute in that super creepy way. I like that she’s used interesting surfaces to paint on: insides of cigar tins, on an old clock and on fabric pennants. She’s even made some 3-d porcelain figures. The way the sketches are juxtaposed with the finished work in the book makes me feel like I’m getting an insider’s view. If your a fan of “pop surrealism”, this is a book for you.

© Julia Rothman 2007