ALIENQUEEN

The artist.

"We are all products of society, trying to fulfill our lives with the materialistic and superficial ideology that social media has fed us. We have lost connection with humanity, conforming to society for acceptance. Like a pig on antibiotics, we are reminded to take our happy pills every day. "

ALIENQUEEN

Miami Horror is a psychedelic illustration that captures the emotions she experienced while living in Miami and immersing herself in its unique environment. It provided an antidote to the superficial and materialistic culture that dominates modern life.

Her fascination with society inspired her to create a very bold and dynamic piece, with a mix of vibrant colors, acidic drips, and morbid allusion that reflect the tension between the glamour and the decay. 

This piece portrays how society has become increasingly consumed by material things and the incessant need to keep up with the latest trends and social media craze. It illustrates how social media can make people obsessed with having the best superficial persona online and losing touch with genuine human feelings. The main focus of this piece is her depiction of a character that has been heavily altered by plastic surgery, with exaggerated features and an insane distorted cartoonish appearance. Surrounding this central figure are a variety of images that represent the various trappings of materialism and superficiality. 

The deeper the viewer is consumed by the imagery, the illustration becomes more chaotic and unsettling. The images of the melting pills and syringes suggest the prevalence of medication and addiction. The smiley faces represent a false sense of happiness one strives for but never truly attains. The act of knives stabbing the figure in the back is a symbol of the superficial connections people sometimes form with each other, leading to the use of the term "backstabber". However, the knives can also symbolize an obsession with cosmetic surgery and the act of "going under the knife”. The words "consume," "obey," "submit," and "fake" represent the notion of being enslaved to culture. The distorted and detached body parts illustrate the disconnection of self and the isolation that comes with obsessively seeking validation in society. 

Overall, the piece is a powerful commentary on the state of modern society, where our obsession with appearance, status, and consumerism has left us disconnected from our true selves and the world around us. It challenges the viewer to consider how we have been consumed by our desires and encourages us to reflect on the deeper, more meaningful aspects of life before we all inevitably die.

ALIENQUEEN is a contemporary artist specializing in digital illustration. Influenced by psychedelics, dreams, sex and death, her art evokes comfort and anxiety simultaneously, handling its subject matter through a layer of acidic haze, normalizing the terrifying and transforming the sweet and mundane into the unsettling. The subjects of her work project a sense of immediacy upon the viewer, but also seem entirely suspended in time, lost in worlds of their own making. A Cambodian refugee, living in the United States, her family's experiences have influenced her work as well, lending specific perspectives on love, mortality, and connection.