We’ve listened to the Denver-based coldwave solo project Natural Violence from Michael Stein, who’s also a member of the dream rock project American Culture — and both of these bands make music that captivate my imagination. But it wasn’t until today that I found Michel Stein’s paintings. They’re like Monet having a peyote hallucination. Looking at them, I’m blinded by color and watching the world warp and melt before my eyes. These paintings are insanely psychedelic, like freeze-frames of the moment when the LSD goes wrong and triggers the wrong synapses and you fall into a state of psychosis. My mind is struggling to find familiar forms, but in the best way — not frustrated, but aware of the endless possibilities that exist in lines, shapes, and shades. Everything is anthropomorphic, the walls breathe like flesh and plants sway and crawl like creatures. Get lost in the weird and wonderful world of Stein’s paintings below…
