Piece of the Week: ‘The Perils of Night’ by AK Westerman
This week’s Piece of the Week is coming to get you. We’re taking a frightening look into the world of artist AK Westerman who has developed an extensive portfolio of plants, creatures, and ominous looking animals.
"The Perils Of Night" by AK Westerman
In “The Perils of Night,” the sentient-plant-monstrosity lurches towards the viewer, leaning out of a black wall of earth or ocean or matter or whatever. “The Peril’s of the Night” could be straight out of a comic or a graphic novel; the textured and stylized plants have become characters in their own narrative. The luscious darkness encasing the plant life looks as if it’s a distant cousin of the planet hanging in the background of the piece. It’s an intense scene that hints at the weirdness in the everyday; like the truly odd world of carnivorous plants, or the unforgettable smell of animal fertilizer in a freshly rained upon garden bed.
“The Peril of the Night” is a wonderful look at the bizarre land of the everyday, or should we say night. When we live in a world with such stark and beautiful natural phenomena like ocean shore luminescence, it makes sense how AK Westeman can see, and paint the things she does. These nights of beauty and phenomena and chance glimpses at the way the world works are treasures and why it is our Piece of the Week.
