…Though many of the contorted figures of writhing animals or multi-headed beasts may appear dark and disturbing, he insists his work is not morbid…
Having been heavily influenced by varying cultural rituals, it is no surprise that Fosik lives a fairly nomadic life, moving from place to place throughout his career and drawing inspiration from a myriad of locations, having hubs in Portland, OR, Philadelphia, and Denver. As his works have grown, he has transitioned further away from his original two-dimensional illustrations, working almost exclusively in his animalistic fabrications. Though, even as the medium evolves, Fosik’s works remain bright, fierce and extremely colorful. Whether it’s a two-headed bear covered in autumnal-colored fur ripping out chains where its intestines should be or a golden goat with a tongue reminiscent of Gene Simmons, Fosik’s use of rainbow and metallic textiles extenuates the fantasy.
Throughout his growing career, Fosik has shown in galleries across the U.S. and around the globe, from Philadelphia, Austin and San Francisco, to France and Mexico abroad. He is represented by the Library Street Collective in his home town of Detroit and by the Jonathan Levine Gallery in New York City. He was even commissioned to create the album cover of the band Mastodon’s fifth studio album The Hunter, with recordings of Fosik’s construction of the piece represented in the band’s music video “Black Tongue.”
His latest solo exhibition was featured in mid-2017 at the Library Street Collective, titled From Ripe to Rot. The show featured the duality of Fosik’s unnatural beasts as they fall prey to various plights, such as puncture by man-made arrows, engorgement by snakes, or just good old-fashioned Battles Royale. There’s a strong sense of Ouroboros imagery—the snake eating its own tail—spread throughout many of Fosik’s wall-mounted pieces in the show, such as in “Rise Up, Flip in Two, Pull to Pieces,” which features two serpents intertwined around the body of a headless feline positioned beneath a human skull. This snake imagery is continued into one of the centerpieces of the show, the “Penduli, Pendulum,” a freestanding multi-horned deer, severed at the waist with six familiar black serpents spewing from its mouth.
