Totem II (raven steals the light) by Josh Keyes

Totem II (raven steals the light)
By Josh Keyes
Published Issue 131, November 2024

Totem (raven steals the light) is a 24″x18″ acrylic painting on panel (2010)

Portland-based ecosurrealist Josh Keyes’ work has been described as “a satirical look at the impact urban sprawl has on the environment and surmises, with the aid of scientific slices and core samples, what could happen if we continue to infiltrate and encroach on our rural surroundings.” His painting style often includes narrative and the illusion of constructed worlds. Keyes’ style is reminiscent of the diagrammatic vocabulary found in scientific textbook illustrations that often express through a detached and clinical viewpoint an empirical representation of the natural world. Assembled into this virtual stage set are references to contemporary events along with images and themes from his personal mythology.

Though his work is characterized by an attention to detail and to physiological accuracy, Keyes does not place his animal subjects in their natural settings; rather, they are often in peril, displaced from their natural ecosystems into dioramic fantastical situations. These landscapes are frequently isolated and contain an incompatible mix of the natural and manmade. Keyes acknowledges that themes of migration and displacement frequently feature into his work as a form of his preoccupation with global climate change and the human impact on nature.

His work is a hybrid of eco-surrealism and dystopia that express a concern and anxiety for our time and the Earth’s future.

See more of his work on Instagram.

In case you missed it, check out Josh’s October install, Rainbows End, the companion art to Werewolf Radar: No Woman No Criot by Nate Balding or head to our Explore section to see more of his work.