“In The Shadows and Under the Bed”: A Spooky Art Exhibit Comes to FSU

Friday, October 26th was the opening night for the, “In the Shadows and Under the Bed: The Elusive Creatures and Entities of Myth, Legend, Literature, Film and Folklore”, by Greg Orfanos and David Ferreira. This is an art exhibit that is perfect for the spooky season that is October. The event began at 7pm and had drinks and refreshments. These art pieces were truly your imagination come to life, even parts of your imagination that you didn’t know you were imagining yet you still recognize the creepy creatures portrayed all around the room.

All around the gallery there are 62 pieces of art being displayed and all of them have a wide range of the medium they were painted in. There was art painted with acrylic, watercolor, oils, ink, collage and digital print, some pieces even including multiple mediums. But to further the attention to detail in each image the frames were all fairly unique as well with 3D metal frames, Victorian-esque frames, wooden, metal, refurbished and reused, and then some that were left unframed. But it is truly the image that will leave you staring at each piece.  

Each painting has a story within it and it seems that people of all ages can relate to them. Young children dressed in Halloween costumes were impressed with the paintings just as the teens and young adults were. Whether the younger tots were truly able to grasp the meaning of the painting is debatable, they still expressed their joy, one young boy even began laughing when he realized everything was, “creepy things?”,  seemingly unbothered by the Nightmare theme.

When talking with artist, David Ferriera, TBL asked what inspired the theme for this show. He responded saying that both he and Greg love the mystic and the weird, this show really was just fun for them, they were able to put what they love onto canvas and showcase that to the world with this particular theme. David on an everyday basis works in marketing which can be, “methodical and dry”, especially with the creative mind of an artist. Thus this art is what he does for, “downtime and creative expression between projects”. He said that growing up he always watched horror and monster movies and was always interested in sci-fi and fantasy. Today, all of those topics are still passions for David that he is able to express in his art and by doing what he loves. He spoke of his process for a piece, finding frames in odd locations, collecting found objects, and putting on movies and audiobooks for inspiration. However, he noted that, “if you’re working on something serious, weed out visual stimulation”. Then maybe you’ll be creating amazing images just like him one day.

In speaking with Greg Orfanos, TBL began with asking if there was a favorite work of art in the gallery. It was soon learned that asking an artist their favorite piece is synonymous to asking a parent their favorite child. It truly is impossible to choose, artists put so much of themselves into each painting its difficult to pick which is their favorite. He said that if there was a fire and he had to quickly choose one he may just let them all burn, not wanting to separate bits of the collection. Now Greg also grew up being fascinated with horror and monsters, his beginnings in art began with his own nightmares. He was told to draw the monsters he was imagining and draw them to where he would be able to take control of those scary thoughts. Now he is able to use his art to tell stories with his art and connect people through it as well. Fear is an emotion that everyone can relate to no matter cultural background, everyone can sympathize with being scared.

Greg and David connected through their love of classic monster movies, extraterrestrial life and cryptozoology. There works together in one show flow together smoothly but you can still distinguish style differences between the two artists. Greg often uses different collage techniques in his art and David focuses not only on the mystic but of classic monsters as well. This art exhibit truly does portray all of those creepy crawly monsters you used to fear were in the shadows and under the bed. Viewing all of these works of art is almost a catharsis for the fear of your childhood, or even adulthood. You once feared these monsters and you are now able to look upon them knowing they really aren’t out to get you. It is an exhibit for all ages and all minds, everyone should visit Roper Gallery in the upcoming days to see the creations of these two talented artist and maybe reminisce on what you used to imagine too.