About the Artist

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Michael “Faubenix” Vidal is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores the concept of a magnified reality behind the lens of whimsical amusement parks, ancient mythology, and the enigmatic island of his ancestors.

 

Taking inspiration from his childhood antics and fascination with existentialism, Faubenix often incorporates dreamlike imagery and unexpected juxtapositions into his playful concepts. His work often challenges the viewer's understanding of reality with ethereal reflections of humanity perched inside diorama-like compositions.

 

At the heart of Faubenix's artistic philosophy lies the belief that everything can be sourced back to the use of Surrealism. He believes that surreal-thinking is an inherent aspect of human consciousness that helps to unlock the complexities of life that linear-thinking cannot do. Surrealism's essential qualities like imagination, dreams, and seemingly irrational symbolism, form the foundation for immersive environments like theme parks to exist. Faubenix’s art explores this interplay between Surrealism and theme parks, and the exaggerated spectacles that these settings have that reveal deep emotional truths about life and people. This often leads the artist to use contorted fragments from these fabricated worlds, blended with abstract allegories from his own reality, to ironically challenge the preconceptions that we have of the world outside of theme parks.

 

With this marriage of different elements often comes a union of unlikely friendships and scenarios in his work that seem to derive from secluded landscapes of his mind. This duality can often be seen throughout history, from symbolic cave drawings, sketches of hybrid creatures, books on spiritual phenomenons, and so on, providing a rich source of inspiration to Faubenix and reinforces the importance of Surrealism in storytelling.

 

In order to elevate this duality even further, there are often hidden narratives within his pieces that are concealed behind vivid colors and unexpected textures to distract from the more ominous nature of his art. This approach challenges viewers to delve into uncharted corners of their imagination as they seek to understand the sense of familiarity in his unusual work. Through the inclusion of his own human experience, regardless of its relevance to the project, Faubenix imbues these pieces with nostalgia, from potion-making as a child to reading books on ghosts, adding depth and meaning that heightens his art to its very limits of relatability.

 

This strategy doesn't just apply to his several mediums of work - it is also extended to his own pseudonym in order to add symbolic narratives into every aspect of his artistic identity. By fabricating a name based on the fiery Phoenix and the inconvenient arrival of ideas, he in turn is elevating his own existence and seamlessly blurring the line between fantasy and reality.