Elmer Presslee: Mystical Forest

Artist Elmer Presslee is known for creating marvelously strange installations that surround the viewer with maximalist, multi-colored walls of old toys and hand-made creatures — concocting an immersive, nostalgic, psychedelic environment that fully envelopes you with countless little dudes, friendly fabric monsters, mythical mutants, and more. The Saturday Morning Cartoons-meets-Gwar aesthetic that he has carefully honed is funny, spooky, cute, irreverent, and disarmingly endearing, especially when you get a closer look at the finer details.

A gruesome looking giant eyeball becomes adorable when you get close enough to see the small scraps of colorful fabric and found objects that make up the larger forms, creating a fantastical micro / macro experience.

The same can be said when you meet the artist, whose humble, affable demeanor dispels any interpretation of hostility or darker themes in his work. Elmer, who prefers to keep a low profile and a mysterious biography (Presslee is a pseudonym), is a big sweetie who's just out here making weird stuff and having a good time.

So, let's all do as Elmer does: have fun, channel your inner-child, and embrace the madness.