Respite and Nepenthe

This is from a series of illustrations from the hydroponic equipment catalog for Oakland Farm and Feed. The feeling that the client wanted was that of a seed catalog printed in the 1920's, with flapper girls and scenes of Oakland. -Peter Babakitis

http://www.kuksu-film.com/ Kuksu is now available on DVD. It is in the late 1920's somewhere in Northern California. Dr. Edward Spears, a psychiatrist, has the responsibility of raising his two nieces, Caroline and Gina after the death of their parents. As they are reaching adulthood, he has less and less control of them, and they spend hours in their private rituals in which they try to evoke Indian "spirits." When Caroline is seen on the roof of her school dormitory in one of her ritual dances, Edward decides to put them in the custody of the mysterious Mrs. E., to avoid further scandal. The girls are frightened, and before the are sent off, they decide to run away at night into the hills, to live with some kind of beings that Caroline is convinced exist somewhere in the wilderness... -Peter Babakitis

A relief from drawing, an old copy machine gives a refreshingly non digital method for juxtaposing imagery; pieces of paper are washed with color and edges are allowed a hands-on treatment instead of the usual digitally corrected seamlessness... -Peter Babakitis

I think about the nights driving around the Mission in San Francisco and I wonder how those girls ever lived their way back down to earth. Exhaustion was the headiest drug of all; fueling a somnambulistic state of fever-dream, altering reality once and for all... -Peter Babakitis

Fascism begins from within... http://www.babakitisarts.com/mad-proctologists.html -Peter Babakitis

Don Ed Hardy I get to do a Flash intro to the Christian Audigier line of intimates based on Ed Hardy's tattoo designs...nice photography! http://www.babakitisarts.com/EHmain.html -Peter Babakitis

Late night West Hollywood wanderings uncover Ashia Myers of Memoirs of a Geisha, amazing dancer from San Francisco. She's appearing in Stiltworld's stunning new show Helix at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre in Hollywood. Also in evidence was Swiss-Vietnamese Dance phenomenon Viet Dang en route to Lisbon. My sis Christina the real estate lawyer in from Chitown surveying mega properties on Beverly Blvd, Pain Quotidien yields numerous brunch sightings- She was flying from the Omega-3 boost in their kick-ass oatmeal. I thought I'd ask her to find Chitown bidders for the Santa Monica Pier ferris wheel rumored to be going on auction. Christian Heumer of the Getty back from 28-city European tour- Rumors of him starting a closet brewery in an undisclosed west-side location... The convergence of art and beer. My new script will be an animated feature set in the Middle East, and nearing pitchable proportions. Everywhere I look is evidence of the Middle East. It must be synchronicit...