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The Hanging Game and The Birdwing Butterfly

MARCH 14, 2013
The Hanging Game/11"x16"/oil on panel
I literally felt my throat close while reading this story. Thanks to Irene Gallo and Tor for trusting me with this very powerful and disturbing folktale, The Hanging Game by Helen Marshall. It was exhilarating illustrating a story that was so wonderfully haunting and vivid. I'll definitely be checking out more from this author who created such wonderful atmosphere and characters. The kids in this story play a bit of a game, similar to the fainting game that I stupidly played when I was a kid. However, these kids take it to a whole other level in order to see their future and the ominous bear god/spirit HangJaw! 
Sometimes a game, even a sacred game, can have far-reaching consequences. In bear country young Skye learns just how far she is willing to go to play the game properly in order carry on the traditions that came before her and will most likely continue long after she is gone.
sketches for The Hanging Game
 
 
I'm also in a group show "Kindred" that opens tonight March 14th 6pm - 9pm at Bold Hype Gallery 547 W 27th St. NYC. The show was curated by Nathan Spoor and is full of some fantastic artists. My painting was based on a PBS nature episode called Life on Fire_Ash Runners and the impossible flight of the Queen Alexandra's Birdwing Butterfly. This butterfly is one of the world's rarest butterflies and survives in the shadow of the active volcanoes of Papua New Guinea. Yes, I'm a huge PBS/natural history nerd! 
The Flight of the Birdwing Butterfly/12"x12"/oil on panel
© 2024 Chris Buzelli