Check Out Jeremy Pauley’s Unreal Human Blood Artwork
Scott Hallam
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We get loads of email in the official Dread Central inbox every day. Movie updates, interview requests, info on horror-themed events, and sometimes a heads up on unique artists. When we caught wind of Jeremy Pauley and his human blood art, we had to find out more.
In his professional life Pauley is a body modification artist. He has one of the most unique personal looks that you’ll ever see, and to make him even more interesting, his side project is painting amazing works of art in human blood. Pauley recently talked with Dread Central about the finer points of human blood art. Dig this!
To begin, Pauley discussed where his interest in painting with human blood came from. “My interest in blood painting started after seeing blood paintings by another body modification artist, Samppa Von Cyborg,” Pauley said. “His use of negative space and the gore factor really intrigued me. From there, a close friend, tattoo artist Ryan Almighty-VanGore Gillikin, started doing blood painting as well. His style was a drastically different, hyper-realistic watercolor style, with still a splash of the macabre. I’ve commissioned several painting by him, including a large portrait of my daughter done solely in my blood. From there my interest grew, and one day I sat down and tried to paint with blood a close friend was willing to donate. I feel my style is a ‘down the middle’ mix of the two biggest inspirations I’ve had in this medium.”
We followed up with the obvious burning question: Just where does one get enough human blood to make a painting? Pauley explained, “All the blood I paint with is from willing donors.” There’s a relief! He continued, “Friends, my wife, fans of my work, etc. I draw a vial or two and then freeze it until I can paint. With numerous endeavors I have my hands in, currently painting is what I do with the little free time I get. If I had as much time as I have medium available, I’d never leave my art room!”
For his incredible look, Pauley is appropriately known as “The Modern Relic.” He explains where the name came from. “That moniker was given to me several years ago by an old apprentice I had at the time,” Pauley said. “Due to my duality body art, she said that the best way she could describe me was that I was a modern relic. Which I take to mean I’m a little bit of yesterday and little bit of tomorrow. The way I’m modifying my body is exactly that. I’m not trying to change from one thing to another. There is no theme to what I’m doing to myself. I’m trying to be the epitome of our savage roots and our inevitable technical future. Somewhere in there is a balance of the two. And that is what ‘Modern Relic’ means to me.”
Creating paintings of characters like Leatherface, Freddy Krueger, and Twisty the Clown from “American Horror Story,” Pauley is obviously a huge fan of horror. He talked about his love for the genre and where it came from. “My love for horror goes back as far as I can remember,” Pauley said. “The ‘scary’ movies never terrified me as a child like they were meant to. From an early age I enjoyed everything from 1922’s Nosferatu, all the Universal Studio monster movies, Hammer films, Freddy, Jason, the works! I still do! I’ve become a large collector of memorabilia and screen-used props as well as anything the average person would find scary, spooky, or disturbing. My four-year-old daughter shares my interests and will often request to watch things like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and the like. She has a real casket that was sanded and repainted pink and purple that she uses as a toy box. So you can tell it’s in my blood, plain and simple. It’s just what I’ve always been drawn to, but for what reason I’ll never know.”
Amazingly, blood is the first medium Pauley has ever painted in. “I’m a body modification artist, and my lovely wife, Emily Asylum, is a tattoo artist and is responsible for all my work,” Pauley said. “I’m also a professional alternative model and aspiring actor. As far as other artistic mediums, painting, drawing, etc., I don’t do anything else. Frankly, before I painted in blood for the first time, I had never painted a thing in my life. I just gave it a shot and enjoyed it to the point I kept trying to excel. I think I have only done about six pieces thus far, the current piece being of Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw 3D for the actor that portrayed him, Dan Yeager.”
For those of you interested in meeting with Pauley, your local tattoo convention is a great place to look. “I do attend many tattoo conventions throughout the year, especially on the East Coast, so that is a sure fire way to bump into me,” Pauley said. “I will be doing many more in the upcoming year or two as I’ve just opened three high body arts studios and will be having them attend the convention circuit. As far as horror conventions, would you believe I’ve never been to one?! But 2015 will change this because I plan on showcasing my art to like-minded audiences and hope to meet a lot of new people!”
For more info or to contact Jeremy, you can visit the official Odyssey Body Arts website and “like” both Jeremy Pauley on Facebook and Modern Relic Modifications on Facebook.
Categorized:News
