Steambreather

16 inches round, acrylic  on canvas
 
Grotesque meets grace in "Steambreather", a hallucinatory, circular painting by Deadhand that feels like a myth torn from the subconscious. Rendered in purples, bruised pinks, and feverish lines, the central figure—part bird, part beast, part dismembered deity—erupts in multiple directions. A crow-like beak stretches across the right side, while humanoid faces dangle from arms and orifices like trophies or memories. Fingers extend like claws or antennae, antennae like flame.
Surrounding the figure, ghost teeth float like divine molars in the void, while concentric scratch lines and manic scribbles buzz like static around the edges. There's an urgent tension between the anatomical and the fantastical—like a sketch from a séance, or a portrait of a dream you've tried to forget.
The round format gives the piece a planetary weight—an orbiting fragment of some other, weirder world. The cobalt edge frames the chaos with a cool, surgical calm. "Steambreather" is ritualistic, raw, and unfiltered—a psychotropic vision for collectors drawn to horror surrealism, grotesque figuration, and posthuman expressionism.