Born in Virginia, now living in New York, Trey Abdella is an artist with a background in illustration, animation, and classical figurative oil painting. Influenced by the worlds of stagecraft and cinema, his work is inspired by aspects of horror, haunted houses, old theme parks, and the eerie nature of the exurban landscape. Through hyperrealist painting and molded resin fused with found objects and 3D holograms, his images deploy a signature form of illusionistic depth, bridging the areas of painting, sculpture, assemblage, video, and mechanical contraption. With his interest in craft and folklore, KMAC is an ideal space for his first museum solo show in the United States.

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The surreal, uncanny quality of Abdella's work springs from the peculiar existence often associated with growing up in southern suburban America, where trouble and chronic malaise always seems to lurk beneath a sparkling surface of cheerful contentment. Exploring the artifice of the American Dream, his distinctive approach to image making merges the saccharine visions of Norman Rockwell with the slapstick humor of classic cartoons, and the mysterious and arcane films of David Lynch. In Bug Bites, this duality of comfort and calamity is conveyed in the same way an amusement park can bring both joy and misery, depending on how easily a person becomes frightened or ill from jump scares and carnival rides. The space between an intense pleasurable thrill and a rational fear of harm is where Abdella's work gets its strange allure; the way someone may love the outdoors, walks in the park and swimming in the ocean, but also dread mosquitoes, snakes, jellyfish, and sharks. Ultimately, Abdella creates mutant artworks that contain references to the worlds of art, craft, and everyday life, along with all the thrills and spills, and highs and lows of the human condition.

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Photographs coming soon.