Cuddle Bug Series

Screen print on monotype print on Stonehenge paper
22"x36"
Ethan Justice
​2020
Cuddle Bug discusses toxic intimacy- intimacy between yourself and intimacy shared with others. In this work, the viewer is faced with a figure in a very vulnerable situation of which they wish they weren’t in, especially wishing they didn’t have to share. ‘Cuddle Bug’ is a commonly used, cutesy pet name often shared between two partners in a romantic aspect. This work challenges the label by presenting it in a negative connotation, though still longing for someone to share themselves with.
Cuddle Bug Visualizer
2020
​screen printed zine performance video
stills from visualizer

Settle for Crumbs

Lino-cut print, monotype print on Stonehenge paper
22"x36"
Ethan Justice
​2020
Settle for Crumbs detail shot
Settle for Crumbs additional editions

Learning to Hate you as a Self-Defense Mechanism

Lino-cut print on Stonehenge paper
18"x24"
Ethan Justice
​2020
Titled after my favorite poem by artist Flatsound, ​this print was inspired by one of my most memorably terrifying episodes of sleep paralysis. It continues the concept of combining things that hurt with things that heal through the positions of the two figures + lack of a face being visible. In this episode of paralysis, I remember the intense pain from someone or somethings elbow jabbing my ribcage in front of three other nightmarish figures that faded in and out throughout my bedroom. I remember trying to look it in the face but it didn’t have one. If you’ve never experienced sleep paralysis, the hallucinations one sees or experiences can leave them with immense anxiety depending on the severity of the dream, which of course has a negative impact in real day-to-day situations. I related this to negative or toxic people to help me feel as if I have a better understanding of why it altered my mindset so much. It felt so real- suffocating in what’s supposed to be a safe place to rest, drowning in cold sweats, and the overall desire to scream and break through this vortex I trapped myself in.
Additional editions
The Uninvited Visitor
2020

​18 in x 24 in

relief printmaking with screen prints