Monster of the Mountains 1993

Curator: Looking at "Monster of the Mountains" from 1993, created by Ken Kelly, I’m immediately struck by its...well, immediate impact. Editor: Yes, it's unsubtle, isn't it? My first thought is raw energy and terror, but also a strange vulnerability emanating from that colossal creature’s almost sad, downturned mouth. Curator: Ken Kelly was a master of the heroic fantasy genre. He really knew how to paint larger than life characters, and here you see the influences from illustrators like Frank Frazetta in this muscular protagonist. Editor: He seems plucked straight out of Norse myth, facing something born of nightmare. But the narrative—a heroic warrior, a damsel, a looming monster— feels timeless, doesn’t it? It hits on a primal level. Is this piece purely fantasy, or something more? I think Kelly reflects cultural anxieties about savagery and civilization here, doesn’t he? It feels like an allegory. Curator: Allegory for sure! It's also interesting to view through the lens of fantasy illustration, which gained such cultural weight during that period. There's something potent in its embrace of the fantastic—a deliberate rejection of mundane realism. The damsel in distress could almost represent the perceived innocence under threat by uncontrolled masculine nature. What’s also so intriguing is the application of paint; see the impasto style adding dimension and intensity to the textures—fur, muscle, snow. Editor: Absolutely, there is that dance between the visceral and the symbolic. Ultimately, it’s a compelling piece. And perhaps its lasting appeal is precisely because it holds that tension—both creature feature and cultural mirror. Curator: Absolutely, thank you! It's definitely stayed with me and made me ponder how images like this can seep into the collective imagination.