ABOUT THE ARTIST
Preston Harris is a mixed media artist, based in Gainesville, Florida who uses primary mediums pertain to watercolor and ink. Oringially from Urasoe, Okinawa Japan, he first played college basketball at Flagler College then transferred to University of Florida to pursue his BFA with an emphasis in drawing.
Harris also shares a love for the erotica, writing short fantasy fiction stories that relate to his artwork. Providing the viewer a more in tune effect with the work.
He creates stories of inner human conflict by use of extremely graphic and hyper-extensive detail in two-dimensional illustration. Harris is able to express the exploration of his mind, characterized by depiction of horror, lust and sacrilegious creatures.
Harris incorporates vivid drawings referenced from mythology and religion, creating it into a personal version of universal entities which depict expressions of perpetual inner conflict. Harris’ artwork is deeply thought-provoking. Challenging religion and embracing his feelings, creating a narrative of raw unveiled perspective, his figures become transformed into dark entities using multimedia to create deep vivid layered imagery. Creation of a dramatic wave of intensity within his line work and morbid or grotesque body composition allows the viewer to experience the pain within his inner self. Pain is created between the detailed transformation of Harris’ characters, separating human from reality and transforming them into something both physically and metaphysically different. Their faces and dramatic body placement represent his deeply complex internal life forming a single story and cohesive picture. Harris portrays human greed, faith, and desire at its climax. His artwork gives form to the soul’s yearning to understand its place in an unknown grand theme of God by questioning ideas of religion.
The artist’s creative responsiveness to human nature was derived by continuous inner conflicts that dwell within himself and his inability to control his thoughts, allowing depression to consume him his entire life. His mind constantly thinks of the imbalance between will and desire and how it can affect himself and others. Growing up within a Christian home and being exposed to graphic, horrific and erotic content at a young age influenced his artistic style. Harris draws conceptual and aesthetic inspiration from William Blake, Hieronymus Bosch, Francis Bacon and William Adolphe Bouguereau, as they also explore the idea of human nature, religion and horror.