Although I can't say I love everything he makes, Brenden Monroe's pieces are something I consistently use as a measuring stick for my own work. Our imagery is similar but (I assume) our motivations are distinct. I like his work specifically because it challenges me to recognize when (in my opinion) imagery similar to my own fails and when it succeeds and why... I think it's much easier to do with someone else's work first and then look for those things in your own rather than being able to be completely honest with yourself about your own work.
Pieces I like:
they feel organic and natural but of his own creation. These pieces bring me in and encourage me to think about what this is, what's going on, and why.
Pieces I don't:
have some sort of figure in them. Some of them, like "Morgan and Kat" below just seem too fantastical without any reference to anything outside of the painting. It's cute, not moving. His pieces that use the human figure fail to connect the abstracted imagery with the figure in a concrete way. I also find the figures themselves disquieting. He may be changing the figure to try to make it visually look like it belongs in this world he's created but I fail to recognize how, other than sharing the page, these two things interact.
Awakening
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