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Comic artist's work to be entombed in Poe's NY cottage.
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| Photo courtesy Tony Maher tonymaher.net |
PALM SPRINGS, Calif -- A horror comic book artist from the California desert will travel across the country to see his art plastered in the home of one of America’s most legendary writers.
Wes Huffor, an artist who has drawn horror comics for a handful of publishers (including himself), will travel June 23 to the New York cottage of Edgar Allen Poe.
There, an untitled piece of art will be entombed in the walls of the cottage as part of an effort by the Historic House Trust of New York City.
Huffor’s drawing took first place in a contest held by the non-profit organization. Titled “How Does Edgar Allen Poe Inspire You?,” the contest called for pieces of drawn and written art to be placed in the walls, creating a kind of artistic time-capsule.
Wes’ untitled piece features a Poe-inspired raven and candles drenched in melancholy atmosphere. The piece was commissioned by a fan at a convention in Anaheim, CA earlier this year.
“I really felt that using the image of the bird, with the candles, the empty liquor bottle, skulls and sense of being trapped within your own dark room was the right way to create the feeling of being trapped within your own darkness,” Huffor said.
After finding out about the Historic House Trust’s contest, he submitted a cell phone photo of the drawing and took first place.
“I submitted it not even owning the thing, and won,” Huffor said. “The owners Ali Olomi and Vy Tran were very kind to donate it to HHT, and I'm going to New York to entomb it inside the walls of Edgar Allen Poe's cottage.”
As an artist who calls himself “obsessed” with depicting characters in the depths of despair, Wes was honored to have a piece of his art chosen to help restore the former home of one of America’s most respected creators of horror fiction.
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Photo courtesy Helene Delillo Photographyhttp://www.helenedelillo.com/ |
“I don't think I'd have persued art from the direction I have without having first read Edgar Allan Poe's, The Raven, as a child, then Tell-Tale heart, then Ligeia and so on,” he said.
"His words planted the seeds of obsession, compulsion, suspense and terror in my young brain.”
The cottage – in Poe Park at E. Kingsbridge Road and Grand Concourse in the Bronx - was built in 1812. It has only five rooms: a kitchen, parlor, and bedchamber on the main floor, and two tiny rooms in the attic.
Poe moved to the home in 1844 with his wife and mother-in-law. He wrote some of his most famous works in the Cottage, including “Annabel Lee,” “Eureka” and “The Bells.”
Learn more about the Historic House Trust of New York City at www.HistoricHouseTrust.org.
Press release by Jesse Gill jesseb.gill2@gmail.com