December Spotlight - Mortimer Dempsey

The work of this month’s Spotlight artist is largely comprised of dark subject matter and splintered forms which dwell in an environment all their own. These are not merely static images, or moments arrested in time, the distorted atmospheres of his work allow for the forms to breath and move. The viewer is left with the impression that this is beauty born from darkness. A shattered mirror of reality, which in it’s splintering reveals the deeper temporalities of, not only his muses, but also the medium in which he is working. We proudly present our final artist for the year of 2017, our December Spotlight: Mortimer Dempsey.

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​Mortimer Dempsey
is the artistic nom de guerre of Scott Aaron Stine. Under this thinly-disguised pseudonym, he has been producing art since the late-1980s inspired primarily by old-school surrealism, with Francis Bacon and Marcel Duchamp wielding the greatest influence over his work, both aesthetically and thematically. That said, he cites the whole of modern art as relevant inspirations, particularly cubism, abstract expressionism, impressionism and art nouveau. Some of his favorite artists also include Salvador Dali, Alphonse Mucha, Leo & Diane Dillon, Maxfield Parrish, Max Ernst, Hans Bellmer, H.R. Giger, Alberto Giacometti, Robert Rauschenberg, Gunther Brus, M.C. Escher, and Jeffrey Jones. Some non-art related—but equally-profound—influences on his work include Einsturzende Neubauten, Dario Argento, Skinny Puppy, H.P. Lovecraft, Annie Sprinkle, Harlan Ellison, Abbie Hoffman, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
 
Out of sheer necessity, Mr. Dempsey embraced the world of digital art circa 2010, in spite of his technological illiteracy. Drawing on decades of exploration into more traditional mediums, he sought to create visions that he could not achieve through purely non-digital means. This also gave him a greater opportunity to employ the “cut-up technique” as pioneered by Tzara and later perfected by Burroughs and Gysin, transposing the experimental literary method into a purely visual idiom. Much of his work employs this process, randomly combining photography of his own and others with sordid “stock” images usually culled from crime scene photos, hardcore pornography, graphic surgery footage, and the like. Aside from his reliance on art as catharsis, the artist's goal has always been to create something aesthetically pleasing—even beautiful—out of such disparate, unpleasant sources; any successes are entirely up to the viewer.
 
Mr. Stine has had a lifelong obsession with the macabre and the grotesque. He is an unrepentant fan of the horror genre, and as a professional writer has written extensively on every aspect of it throughout the years. He can lay claim to being an award-winning, published short story writer as well (under the nom de plume of Reginald Bloom), although he hasn't penned any fiction (horror or otherwise) in over a decade. He also had a short stint as a “punk” artist and an independent comic book creator during the late 1980s/early 1990s. His work for both (usually under the indecorous nome d'arte of “Scum”) included a one-shot comic book and countless album covers and t-shirt designs for local hardcore and metal bands. He is also a part-time musician, his work having appeared on several local compilations in years past. He currently has an associates degree in both Graphic Design and English Tutoring.
 
Mr. Stine also thinks he is a “really funny guy,” although most people would be quick to argue with this obviously biased opinion. When writing personal bios and the like, he prefers to refer to himself in the third person because he ”likes how pretentious it sounds.” He is a lifelong native of the Pacific Northwest, having spent most of his forty-eight years living in Lake Stevens and Everett, Washington. He self-identifies as a godless, left-leaning, sexually-fluid misanthrope. His ever-growing distaste of humanity is only tempered by his intense love of cats and cheap wine. If he could spend a day with any of his idols, it would be Edgar Allan Poe (historical) or Barnabas Collins (fictional). His likes include disposable pop culture from the 1950s/60s/70s, Chinese cuisine and collecting old paperback books. His dislikes include conservative ideologies, leaving the house, and people who cannot discern between “there,” “their” and “they're.” Any more of this twaddle, and it will start sounding like an “about me” entry from a tawdry online dating site...

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Museum quality reproductions of my work (on canvas and the like) can be obtained through Saatchi Online at:
 
www.saatchiart.com/mortimerdempsey

More economically priced (but still quality) reproductions of some of these pieces can be purchased directly from me through my Facebook profile at:
 
www.facebook.com/scott.a.stine