Alex Kisilevich’s Funny, Disorienting Portraits of the Familiar

April 5, 2012

Given the interesting choice of subjects in his recently completed Kallima series — a woman with a disco ball face, a stick figure made of sticks, a “wolf” in sheep’s clothing, etc. — you get the feeling that Toronto-based artist Alex Kisilevich would be a pretty fun person to hang out with; the kind of guy who would make you laugh by always showing up to the bar in a different disguise. His work has a well-developed sense of humor.

“Kallima explores notions of camouflage within contemporary and social contexts by investigating various theories surrounding the concept of mimesis and human subjectivity, as well as mimicry in the natural world and the ways in which it can be mirrored in human behavior,” he writes of the series. “The images, full of pathos and absurdity, allude to ideas of illusion and transparency, masking and disguise, assimilation and adaptation, as well as the ways we construct connections between ourselves and others.” Click through to check out a slideshow of his strange and fascinating photos, which we spotted thanks to It’s Nice That.