My painting practice is my love letter to queerness, femininity, and my younger self.
I create fantastical paintings that explore my identity as a gay man and reclaim the sexuality and feminine aesthetics I could never fully embrace growing up. I spent my childhood in a rural midwestern town, and the solitude of nature provided a sanctuary without judgment. Those feelings of uninhibited joy, protection, and wanderlust are at the core of my work, with flora and fauna from my home being a constant influence. My studio practice captures my childhood dreams while addressing the need for safe spaces throughout our contemporary culture for queer and femme individuals.
The paintings act as gateways to idyllic sanctuaries, allowing me to reconnect with my younger self and deconstruct my adolescence and past traumas. My practice ranges from figural works to landscape depictions containing narratives that pull from the real and the make-believe. By painting magical realism with a hyper-feminine edge, I blend my personal histories with the fantasies I dreamt of during my repressed youth, shamelessly manifesting my own mythologies to spark strength and hope.
I pull inspiration from Lowbrow Pop Surrealist painters, early 2000s culture, and the beauty of nature. My work also explores the dichotomies of gender and power, as well as freedom and imprisonment, referencing my changing relationships with people, my birthplace, and my identity. Stereotypically feminine colors are a constant throughout my paintings, as well as the nostalgia and camp of childhood aesthetics. My practice is playful and erotic, eliciting sexuality through various textures. From painting bruises on a knee, the plastic skin of a goddess, or bubbly seafoam, I embellish my artworks with candy-colored sensuality. Whether it is the euphoria of playing with forbidden Barbies or the displacement of my family in the church, my practice explores the wonder, heartbreak, and healing that comes with growing up in a space that feels too small for your spirit.
David Unthank is an artist and muralist currently based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. He received a BFA from the University of Cincinnati's School of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning with a concentration in drawing and painting.
David is "if Lisa Frank ran a brothel”, most known for the hyper-feminine, Pop-Surrealist portraits he creates.
Traveling frequently and collaborating with other creatives is his favorite way to work! His biggest inspirations are contemporary painters like Mark Ryden, Will Cotton, Troye Brooks, Daniel Merriam, and Yoko D’Holbachie, and he loves blending traditional painting techniques with pop culture and fantasy themes. He has murals across the country, primarily in Los Angeles and Cincinnati. David is regularly featured with Beautiful Bizarre Magazine and has collaborated with The Hope of the Valley, YouTube HQ, Condado Tacos, and Nova Acrylics.
Currently, he is continuing his collaborations as a part of team ZHC and completed his debut solo show "A Kind of Eden". The collection was showcased in three different galleries and the works explore his childhood in the Midwest and the repressed sexuality and femininity he has reclaimed.