ELIJAH SIMON POLLARD

 

"Experiencing the imaginative work of multi-media artist Elijah Pollard is like leaping from dull monochrome reality into a glorious Technicolor fantasy.  Bold, spirited drawings and paintings of mystical saints, wide-eyed goddesses, winged guitar cosmonauts, and a sea of other extraterrestrial creatures are digitally transformed into vivid collages that – when combined with flickering video and electrifying music – promise an unforgettable voyage of the senses.

 

Pollard finds inspiration in, among many other things, Metaphysics, Buddhism, and Hindu thought.  Clearly this is an artist enraptured by cosmic life.  His otherworldly images illustrate the ideas of spiritual teacher Paramahansa Yogananda who once said “The entire universe is God's cosmic motion picture, and individuals are merely actors in the divine play who change roles through reincarnation…”  Repetition plays an integral role in Pollard’s aesthetic so his actors often make repeat appearances.  The iconic fertility figure in purple goddess for example may also be seen buried within the translucent layers of tour, crush, and bike ride.  Surrounded by vigorously rendered UFOs, rainbows, and stars, she is a mesmerizing presence in this shape-shifting cast of characters that drift together like vaporous clouds – similar to the ethereal forms of ancient Hindu cave paintings.  Like South Asian art, Pollard’s work should not be “read” in a western way as an illusion of figures in space in a continuous narrative but rather as something multidimensional, random and fluid.

 

 

The supernatural beings drifting through Pollard’s vibrant print work also materialize in his animated music videos.  “It is all creative effort and I feel one medium is as relevant as another” explains Pollard about his inventive cross-fertilization of media.  In Cy Kick a dizzying kaleidoscope of drawings and paintings merges with stuttering film footage of people around the globe engaging in everything from street dancing to snake handling.  Pollard has developed a unique visual language that speaks volumes regardless of the medium, boldly fusing psychedelic art in the realm of Peter Max or Milton Glaser with Dada madness reminiscent of Kurt Schwitters or Tristan Tzara.  Add to this cinematic deluge of ecstatic imagery the haunting vocals, grinding guitars, and pulsating rhythms of The Furr, Pollard’s four-piece band who have releases out on multiple record labels.  Described as psych-rock/noise pop/garage fuzz/art rock/indie/punk/DIY, many of the band’s raw distortions such as Coffin Syrup are evocative of Sonic Youth or Nirvana. “You always told me don’t try to make sense out of a mess” a voice drones while milky-white elixir continuously pours from a glass bottle onto a teaspoon.  This hypnotic image is followed by a male dancer in a skeleton-printed leotard prancing around a 1970s stage set like a contestant on The Gong Show as other oblivious human targets intermittently flash across the screen.  Pollard’s latest music project Liberty Waves involves writing and recording a song in less than two hours!  A recent result of this musical challenge is Siesta, a Dadaist love song featuring a remote voice reciting items one would find on a menu in a Mexican restaurant for 2:56 in the vein of Girl from Ipanema.

 

 

Throughout Pollard’s intergalactic explorations is a synthesis of Zen spirituality, humor, and child-like wonderment that defies logic or reason. If you analyze, rationalize or try to come to any conclusions regarding this innovative artist’s work you miss the point; it’s all about experience."

 

 

Linda Rosefsky

Art historian and lecturer

 

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hi

thanks for tuning in

 

the kind words above were written about works that are currently being shown in both the u.s. & europe 

 

i'll be adding more work in a wide range of media

 

please feel free to contact me if you're interested in collaborating,

exhibiting my work, booking my band, buying something,

commissioning something, talking about birds,

or just saying hello

 

thank you!

eli