Vincent Castiglia : Painting with a human blood

There’s a painter who paints using a human blood!yet it's wonderful.

Vincent Castiglia is an American painter born in Brooklyn, New York. He paints exclusively with human blood on paper.He’s internationally acclaimed for figurative paintings with metaphysical and nightmarish subject matters.

He does a lot of work with themes involving symbiosis of birth and death and the pitfalls of mortality. He’s the first American to receive and invitation to have a solo exhibition in the H.R. Giger Museum in Gruyeres, Switzerland. Castiglia’s work is an examination of the human experience. His work is said to illustrate a humanity that is creative, but at the same time, self-destructive.


Castiglia's paintings are monochromatic tableaux examining life, death, and the human condition. Dominant work themes include the symbiosis of birth and death, the transience of man, and the pitfalls of mortality. The images themselves, as he sees them, form as crystallizations of Castiglia’s experiences, freed from the psyche. Through his work the viewer is forced into a re-acquaintance with life and urgency that might not otherwise take place.While many surrealists cite fantasy or dreams as their inspiration, Castiglia’s Visionary art is connected to a life story which is highly allegorical.
Castiglia is the first American artist to receive a solo exhibition invitation from Oscar Award-winning artist, H.R. Giger, to exhibit at the H.R. Giger Museum, in Gruyeres, Switzerland. Remedy for the Living, the 1st solo exhibition of paintings by Vincent Castiglia opened at the H.R. Giger Museum Gallery on November 1, 2008, and closed in April 2009.
Castiglia’s works on paper have been exhibited internationally and hang in many distinguished collections. In 2009, "Gravity", one of his most celebrated works of 2006, was acquired by rock musician, Gregg Allman.

"In a sense, they’re not paintings, they are hemorrhages"

"The Sleep"by Vincent Castiglia

In 2009, Vincent painted album art for Triptykon's 2010 debut release, "Eparistera Daimones". The group is founded by former Hellhammer / Celtic Frost singer and guitarist Tom Gabriel Fischer. The album's art is an amalgamation of works by HR Giger (cover art), Vincent Castiglia (interior art), and Triptykon on “Eparistera Daimones”, which conceptually is understood to form a creative triptych in itself.

“HR Giger: ” I am very proud to work with Triptykon. My art hasn’t appeared on an album cover for quite some time, and I feel honored to have been approached by Tom about such a collaboration for Triptykon’s very first release.”

“Vincent Castiglia: “It’s been a tremendous honor to work with both Triptykon and HR Giger on the forthcoming release of, “Eparistera Daimones”. It was a project of enormous depth for me, conceptually as well as visually. I think the resonance between Triptykon’s music, Giger’s art, and my work is extremely powerful, and it coalesces in quite an amazing, and singular way.”

“Tom Gabriel Fischer: “We feel deeply privileged to be able to adorn our very first album with the work of two artists we respect enormously. To us, their astonishing contributions convey significant symbolism both with respect to our personal frame of mind as well as for this particular album and its history.”

"Gravity" by Vincent Castiglia

Castiglia’s use of only blood and water on paper as well the technique by which it is applied to his canvases achieves more tonal range and textural possibilities than the rusty sepia one associates with blood stains. He has discovered ways to control this unique pigment to realize the requirements of his inspiration. His skillful handling of this iron rich pigment is a significant component, as is his personal vision and disciplined rendering of his subject matter. The viewer is not only allowed to see into the figure, but also through it, into a deeper psychological world.

“ I sought the most direct and personal connection with my work, one that could not lie or be reproduced. Although the paintings are often thematic, they are also quite visceral, and I believe it is because of this that the response has been so strong. The creative process is very honest and cathartic for me, and is an intermingling of feelings and experiences, aspirations and visions, all spontaneously congealing on the canvas.”

The first colors used by man were red, iron oxide (hematite, a form of red ochre) and black. The word hematite, the source of many iron oxide pigments, is derived from the Greek word, "hema", meaning blood, and because of its symbolic and spiritual significance, early man coveted this color.

For centuries, bloodletting has been used to treat physical and psychological illness, in the belief that wellness would be restored with the balance of the humors. In the privacy of his studio, Castiglia practices a modern-day phlebotomy of sorts which parallels the motives of the ancients, siphoning the life force which contains his own psychic energy, while giving it an outlet and form. In doing so, he dissolves the barrier between artist and art in a most literal and immediate sense.

Blood is technically considered to be a tissue. It is made up of approximately 55% blood plasma, a yellowish clear fluid, which is 90% water by volume.Castiglia’s figures, their musculature and skin, are painted with what could be thought of as “liquid flesh”. Its tendency to quicken the subjects is likely inapproachable by any other medium---as it is actual tissue with which it is being rendered. In this way the painting's realism (visual arts) is not merely an optical illusion due to its level of detail, but rather is an actual transference of flesh and blood to each work.

“ As soon as we begin to exist as organic matter, our material state begins seeking a return to the first state from which it came, on several levels, through life processes. Our particles seem borrowed, as if only for a moment in the breadth of eternity. Our bodies appear, soak up and contain the vital fluid of existence, to give it shape and form, only then to relinquish this substance as to “ring out” the life force from a worn out “flesh-suit” back into the void. As I see it, blood is a sacred creative agent, and through its use in my work I feel that I am connecting on the most direct level with the essence of life.

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