VillainSHIRES by Dan Z

Dan Z’s "Villainshires" are a digital series of "priority slaps" — works inspired by a graffiti subculture which uses the U.S. Postal Service priority mail sticker as miniature canvas. "It’s a therapeutic thing," Dan says. "I’m sitting down to draw for at least an hour a day. I start with a subject that I am comfortable with, such as a face. Every day, I recombine the elements and push my comfort zone slowly."

It starts with a Priority Mail sticker, about 3 inches by 4 inches, with a set color palette. Only 20 color markers and a black Sharpie are used with only limited opportunity for shading.

"It’s an exercise in limitations," says Dan Z.

At the heart of the approach are very simple components that are combined and recombined together — "a creative vocabulary". The works started with a number of boxy faces that use noses, mouths, ears, and hair as components. And eyes. "There's something about eyes, it is yet another element that gives the works a cartoonish look." 

Over time, the works evolved and started to exhibit more than the normal number of eyes. "Part of it is angels," Dan Z says. "In the Bible, we have this Hollywood version of what angels look like, such as Nicolas Cage in a black trench coat. But in the Bible angels are described as bodies which are made of eyes. They also have two sets of wings. Angels are this horrific thing. When they appeared to humans, they had to say, 'Do not be afraid'."