Universechild 2004-7
“ James Pustorino synthesizes science fiction, comic books, Abstract Expressionism and psychedelic art, all in the service of approximating the profound mystery of existence. A mythic narrative about a being born into space, where he struggles to understand his surroundings and purpose. It's the sort of existential crisis everyone inevitably faces, but Pustorino translates that mental anguish into physical upheaval, as this particular being is born, like a star, in outer space, amid planets and darting rockets. “
- John Motley, The Oregonian.
Universechild images are now available as posters, prints and more on Fine Art America .
Books: Universechild and Cosmic Stripsare available on Amazon
More Comic-work is at INVASION COMICS
Universechild 1 It took us much longer than we thought
24" x 36" pencils and acrylics on paper
Universechild 1 part 2 Into the Universechild 24" x 36"pencils and acrylics on paper
Universechild 2 We could have anything we wanted and everything we imagined would become real, so we no longer wanted anything
48" x 36"pencils and acrylics on paper
Universechild 3 Everything here is alive and everything is here
48" x 36"pencils and acrylics on paper
Universechild 4 We thought it would be wonderful
36 x 48" pencils and acrylics on paper
Universechild 5 Eternity of empty space
36 x 48" pencils and acrylics on paper
Universechild 6, Never shoot a gun in outer space 36 x 48" pencils and acrylics on paper
Universechild 7 No Time 36 x 48" pencils and acrylics on paper
Universechild 8 Everyone I know is somewhere else 48" x 36"pencils and acrylics on paper
Universechild 9 Sometimes you know you are dreaming and you try to change the dream into something better, something more perfect
pencils and acrylics on paper 48x36"
Universechild 10 Will the City pay for this? pencils and acrylics on paper 48x36"
Universechild 11 Planted like seeds in a star
pencils and acrylics on paper 48x36"
Universechild 12 What will we tell his mother? pencils and acrylics on paper 48x36"
Universechild II: Limbo -2011-13 narrative works on paper- Six individual drawings connected in vertical pairs.
The Limbo drawings use graphic, narrative, form to explore a place that is between here and there, where memory and myth meet.
Limbo 1- "If you close your eyes, maybe they won't see you" - mixed media on paper 48" x 66"
Limbo 2- "The light is invisible" mixed media on paper 48" x 66"
Limbo 3- "I can't get back the same way I got here" mixed media on paper 48" x 66"
Limbo 4- "Like a place I had known before" mixed media on paper 48" x 66"
Limbo 5- "Don't worry" mixed media on paper 48" x 66"
Limbo 6- "Here for Now" mixed media on paper 48" x 66"
James Pustorino,
Limbo, If you close your eyes, maybe they won't see you-
The Light is invisible until...96 x 66 inches
Limbo - "I can't get back the same way I got here"
"Like a place I had known before"
mixed media on paper 96" x 66"
Limbo: Hanging Around-
This Fire Will Only Cleanse, 96 x 66 inches
Bad Gardeners: detail
Bad Gardeners: 48" x 14' , acrylic and pencils on denril 2002
Bad Gardeners Two,
Bad Gardeners Two: 48" x 14' , acrylic and pencils on denril 2002
Don't worry, everything is always changing, acrylic and pencils on denril.jpg 2001 60" x 118"
Blockheads destroy the Screaming Earth, acrylic and pencils on denril 2001 48" x 135"
Rainboweaters in the snakepit
acrylic, latex and pencils on denril 2002 84" x 60"
The Milk Thieves, acrylic, latex and pencils on denril
2002 94" x 72"
City of Teeth and Bone acrylic and pencils on denril 2002 84" x 96"
Melting Rainbowearthmen, acrylic and pencils on denril 2002 48" x 144"
Hate me Hate you acrylic and pencils on denril 2002 48" x 125"
- Bad Builders Children acrylic and pencils on denril 2002 48" x 150"
2001-3
The Follies and the Bad Gardeners are cultural commentary works that follow my earliest printmaking works in college. I started these series immediately after September 11th, 2001 as a way of responding to the shock of the attack on New York, Pennsylvania and DC- all
in places I lived or had lived close to, and the fear and war that followed. The idea of the frieze, the wide strip came from comic strips as well as ancient imagery. The connection to the ancient or the mythic is important, in that it alludes to the fallible nature of mankind that never changes and never really learns. The myths tell us that each of us must learn the same lessons all through history and unless we learn from history and wisdom we will be doomed to repeat the same errors as the people who have gone before.
The imagery draws from works by Salvador Dali, Goya, El Greco and others, including the Dr. Suess story about the empty pants.