Mike Shine (CA) “Havhest”, 2016 Sunset Pavilion, Asbury Park, NJ

Blending influences of lost carnivals, Nordic mythology and hazy nostalgia, Mike Shine’s eerie yet often light-hearted art has been included in exhibitions with SFMOMA, Laguna Art Museum and The Museum of Craft and Folk Art. His mixed media pieces are typically composed of house paint on found objects like driftwood, buoys, carnival bottles and ephemera. The artist’s sinister characters are made ironically inviting to the viewer with mechanized interactive components that recall classic carnival attractions. The art “opera” is based on the carnival ringleader, Flotsam, who Shine considers to be his personal version of Mephistopheles. The artist cites dark, enigmatic figures such as Stanley Kubrick, Friedrich Nietzsche and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as his inspiration. The artist’s work has been featured in Juxtapoz Magazine, Hi-Fructose Magazine, SF Chronicle, Readymade, ArtLtd. and Spread Art/Culture Magazine.

Mike Shine has been living and painting in a coastal town just north of San Francisco for 10 years. He has created installations for SFMOMA, The Museum of Craft and Folk Art, and the The Laguna Art Museum. His work has been exhibited internationally.