Jonah Yang
what I love about oil painting is its thick, greasy consistency.
Evil Never Dies
Mr. Myers and Mrs. Voorhees
both: oil painting / canvas 40F / 2016
Artist Statement:
Halloween, is a classic American horror movie, directed and scored by John Carpenter in the late 1970s. It has already had ten sequels so far since 1978. Halloween was one of the first horror films to introduce the concept of the killer dying and coming back to life again within the same film. After that, horror movies, such as Friday the 13th, Chucky (Child’s Play), started to imitate this kind of way, letting the serial killer resurrect again and again, in order to seize movie-goers returning back to the cinemas. As a matter of fact, they believe that “Evil never dies.”
The reason that I chose Michael Myers as the main character image, is because many critics credit the film as the first in a long line of slasher films. In 2006, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." It’s like he is the legend of the independent slasher film. But, why most horror figures have their mask on, including Michael? Due to the inferiority complex and the feelings of insecurity, they hide their faces behind the mask. Thus, people don’t get to see the real surface of the weakness in their heart. Gradually, they start to consider the mask, which is without expressions and straight faced, as the authentic appearance, somehow forgetting themselves.
The small shape near the bottom of the flashlight, is the Cult of Thorn. Among the ancient druids, Thorn represented a demon that spread sickness, and brought death to hundreds of thousands of people. According to a Celtic legend, one child from each tribe was chosen to be inflicted with a curse of Thorn. To have the blood sacrifices of it’s next of kin on the night of Samhain, Halloween. The sacrifice of one family meant sparing the lives of an entire tribe. For years, people have been convinced there must be some reason. Some method behind Michael’s madness. The Thorn symbol is actually constellation of stars that appears from time to time on Halloween night. Whenever it appears, he appears.
Halloween may encourage sadism and misogyny by audiences identifying with its villain. After watching the whole sequels of Halloween, and other horror movies, they are just killers who kill for the sake of killing; a thought came into my mind, I suppose that maybe these homicidal maniacs, and great butchers might want to rest or retire. Cause, I’ve just heard about that the latest Halloween sequel has begun filming, and Michael Myers, he is returning! This is my tribute to Halloween, and all the other horror series.
Jason drowns and her whole world collapses. What does “her” stand for? At the mention of Jason Voorhees, People might be tempted to think of the moniker of an athletic and powerful full-grown man or male. From my point of view, however, Jason is not the real killer who kills. In fact, it’s the controller behind him.
Initially, Friday the 13th began its life as nothing more than a title.The script was written by Victor Miller, he was delighted in inventing a serial killer who turned out to be “her”, somebody's mother, a murderer whose only motivation was her love for her child. Then, he took motherhood and turned it on its head. Mrs. Voorhees was the mother the writer always wanted—a mother who would have killed for her kids. Miller was unhappy about the filmmakers' decision to make Jason Voorhees the ultimate killer in the following sequels. Jason was dead from the very beginning. Actually, he was a victim, not a villain. Since Mrs. Voorhees, the killer in the original Friday the 13th, appears onscreen only during the final scenes of the film, there must be someone creating a score that would represent the killer in her absence.
Therefore, the reason why I painted Voorhees as a female figure instead of a male, is because, from my perspective, Mrs. Voorhees, Jason’s mom, is the original killer behind Jason Voorhees's hockey mask, which is a widely recognized image in popular culture.
When discussing Jason psychologically, Sean S. Cunningham said, "... he doesn't have any personality. He's like a great white shark. You can't really defeat him. All you can hope for is to survive." As you can see, I painted Mrs. Voorhees wearing bikini with watermelons on it. Watermelons symbolize provoking conflicts and stirring up anxiety in western culture. Also, the little bit of blood on her hockey stick seems to be kinda fake, but obviously leaving the audiences some imaginations.
Prompted and inspired by the success of John Carpenter's Halloween, the film was made, produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham. He expected Friday the 13th to be shocking, visually stunning and "make audiences jump out of their seat." Wanting to distance himself from his previous movies, Cunningham wished Friday the 13th to be more of a "roller-coaster ride." When originally released, as we can well imagine, the film received negative reviews from film critics. But, in the years that followed, the film has received much more positive retrospective reviews, and it has become a cult classic. Even becoming much better well-known than Halloween in the history of slasher films.
The film's box office success led to a long series of sequels, a crossover with the A Nightmare on Elm Street (Freddy) franchise and a 2009 series reboot. As of 1980, Friday the 13th has spawned nine sequels.
Both Mr. Myers and Mrs. Voorhees are primarily portrayed as being completely silent throughout the film series. You never understand what they are thinking behind that creepy and nasty masks. Ever since male and female are able to create and give birth to a new creature, it means the evil are going to bring out a brand new stage. Evil give purpose, purpose gives faith, faith gives courage, courage gives enthusiasm, enthusiasm gives energy, energy gives life, life lifts you over the bar, and when evil succeeds in causing enough fear, at the time people are rendered powerless, evil may swoop in your weakness. Consequently, Evil Never Dies!
