Dominic De Venuta (aka Dominic Toast) is a photographer, painter, and illustrator from LaFayette, California. Currently slaving away on his thesis for The Pacific NW College of Art, Dominic hopes to bring to light questions about death and its connection to art - especially outsider art. While he has been grappling with those feelings, he's translated them into detailed, visceral, and absurd scenes of characters pseudo-hilariously dealing with the physical being of death and its inescapable dominion. Dominic's illustrations draw you in with such vibrant color and personality, dishing out funny or strange remarks and technically immaculate line-quality. He is somehow able to inject pieces of his demeanor into each work, leaving a visual diary of clever finished or unfinished thoughts. This is probably partly due to the fact that he is constantly drawing, keeping multiple sketchbooks at any given moment and always working from observation or pure imagination. Besides being a drawing-machine and working on his thesis, Dominic is an illustration gun for hire that also shows his work around town - he has a show at Vestibule coming up in June! He will also be debuting his fantastic thesis in May, so look out!

click to go Dominic's website.