The work is a reflection of influences from Tex Avery to Ralph Eugene Meatyard. Experimenting has always been at the core of all of it. No ideas or techniques are “out of bounds”. As a child watching cartoons, I wanted to be an animator, as a teen after years of old sci-fi movies and a copy of the ILM book, I wanted to be a special-effects artist. I turned to photography as a way to test out these ideas quickly. I have always been interested in the idea of process-oriented art. The work became a mix of mediums, photography, sculpture, painting, prop and set design. It’s always been about the use of metaphor, handy crafts and the use of the trick-of-the-eye whimsy. Tod was one of the 2018 PDN Curators award winners.
Concrete Jungle
This is a continuing series of memories real and imagined from growing up in the suburbs. Children’s neighborhood folklore, Blacklight posters, the late night creature feature, this is the no-mans lands between the wild and the tamed. This is where you can see man’s imprint begin and the animals that inhabit that land. I grew up in the midwest, the neighborhood was this new suburb that straddled the country, the city, and industrial areas. I wanted to do a series that reflected this upbringing. The made up stories about the Boo Radley’s of our neighborhood along with interest in the animals that lived both in the wild and the city in this part of town.
To view more of Tod Kapke’s work please visit his website.