About

Whittney A. Streeter

absentmind extraordinaire

I have been working as an artist for years, making posters and props for bands and theater companies, album artwork, web design, comics, book illustrations, as well as working on, showing, and selling my own work.

I grew up in a very old, very full house. There were sepia toned photos of scowling dead relatives on the walls, yellowing lace curtains over the windows, puzzle boxes, trinkets from foreign travels, armoires and antique steamer trunks; everything was old and worn from use. Antiques and heirlooms were usable and used everyday, but also frighteningly irreplaceable.

In my work, I toy with this grandmother's attic feeling. It is familiar, welcoming, and inviting, yet unsettling. Reminiscent of old family photos in their recycled frames with faded watercolor, bright ink, and sepia-stained coffee coloring, many of the images are named after relatives or childhood experiences and characters. Drawing on menacing old places, those photos of scowling dead relatives, sewing boxes, stories from childhood, the haunted feeling of being alone or lonely, and some mad-scientist quackery, I try to create images that are somewhat familiar, yet intriguingly disturbing in their treatment of the subject matter, creating that sense one would get exploring the forbidden places in elderly relatives' homes.