John Kenn Mortensen: Dream Homes
I can’t remember what I was searching for—or what the algorithm had me chasing—one sleepless night, when I stumbled into the exquisitely creepy world of John Kenn Mortensen’s Sticky Monsters. I was immediately smitten by the oversized, shaggy, more-cuddly-than-scary beasts. As one online commenter has noted, “They’re evil, but also calming. And there’s something very kind about them.”
Based in Denmark, Mortensen is a writer and director of children’s TV shows and the father of twins. The humans in his drawings tend to be children, but they rarely appear scared of the monsters around them. More often, they seem to be getting on as owner and pet, or as friends on a meandering adventure together.
Mortensen’s menagerie began taking shape about 15 years ago as doodles on ubiquitous yellow sticky notes. “I had a boring corporate desk job,” he says. “I would complete a task and then wait and wait for feedback from management. Doodling was a great way to pass the time. My drawing style takes forever, but it’s also a place for me to be meditative and to de-stress.”
Like all good doodlers, Mortensen never starts with a plan. He just lets his subconscious show his hand the way. His pens were ballpoint at first; today he prefers Staedtler Pigment Liners and Copic Multiliners. But sticky notes remain his drawing surface of choice—their hazy yellow hue reinforcing the dreaminess of the scenes contained within.
The larger drawings in the exhibition reveal Mortensen’s monsters and their accompanying humans in, on, and around a variety of dwellings—castles, churches, mansions, and birdhouses. They are Mortensen’s “Dream Homes,” seen here in person for the first time and soon to be collected in a book of the same name, to be published next year.
— Danny Lichtenfeld, Director
I want to take you on a journey. It is a journey into my head, or what goes on in there when I dream. It is an invitation, but please be gentle and tread with care so you do not wake me up. Feel free to look around—and dream within the dream. You can wake up when you leave, or you can keep on dreaming. That is up to you.
Dream Homes is a journey in two parts: Sleep and Deep Sleep.
The first part takes place in a kind of dreamscape made of materials as commonplace and ordinary as office supplies—where yellow Post-it Notes act as tiny windows, offering glimpses into strange worlds and creatures.
The second part is where you will see the places I have brought with me from the waking world into my own dreamscape. Here you will meet creatures both good and evil, but don’t worry, they can’t hurt you—as long as you tread gently.
Dream Homes is a deep darkness with a bright shining light at the end. When I wake up from the long dream that is real life, I hope to see the light that casts all the weird shadows.
— John Kenn Mortensen
ABOUT THE ARTIST
John Kenn Mortensen is an illustrator, author, and film director. In 2011, he debuted a book of illustrations, Sticky Monsters, which has become an international bestseller. His other works include The Nightmare Factory, The Wrestler, A Christmas Bestiary, and two illustrated adaptations of classic Brothers Grimm tales. He lives in Copenhagen with his wife and twins.
RELATED EVENTS
March 22, Saturday, 5 p.m. — Opening of Six New Exhibits
April 24, Thursday, 7 p.m. — Art Talk: John Kenn Mortensen
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