I'm a huge fan of kitsch and other general absurdity. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that one of my favorite sites is Etsy.com, providing both in ample supply. This week's fun find: celebrity worship (literally). Artist Vicki Berndt incorporates her favorite rock gods and pop-culture icons into traditional religious imagery. The underlying irony stems from the knowledge that her subjects' lives could hardly be described as pious.
Berndt Offerings Artist: Vicki Berndt (Los Angeles, CA) Products: Candles, Calendars, Paintings, Rosaries, Jewelry, Badges Price: $1.50 - $2,000.00 Quote: "This is costume jewelry. Only our faith is real."
The 49-year-old artist used to sneak backstage at concerts and interview musicians for fanzines she and her friends printed. A singer in a punk band called The Maggots, Berndt got her start in photography by taking PR shots for bands. She later went on to work for magazines and publish a book, The New Tattoo (1994). Today her time is spent entirely on her craft, which includes immortalizing pop-culture legends, living and dead, with big-eyed paintings and Catholic iconography.
Patron Saint of the Weird, Ostracized, and Misunderstood Meditation: "Holy Mother, full of Grace...Please give Michael a brand new face."
Patron Saint of the Mustache Meditation: "May the Holy light of The Surreal Father guide my path, that I may walk free from the oppressive yoke of Abstract Expressionism. Amen"