I was pretty excited about this project being about type because that's one of my favorites. While i do appreciate painting that use type, i prefer more graphic work; pieces where the type is the main element and makes a statement, rather than when it is layered in an abstract painting. I actually often find the type distracting.
This is why i was surprised how much i liked Jeff Soto's paintings and his use of type. His work combines creatures who are childlike and creepy at the same time with nature and industrial backgrounds or elements. Most of his work is a statement about the environment and man's effect on it. Type is not included in all of his works but, when he does use it, it can be either clear letters or some adaption of asian looking characters. I think the reason i was drawn to his use of type over the other is that it's not just flat type or repeated to make a pattern. Some of the asian characters are personified as the monster or creature in the painting. Even the ones that aren't made to come alive are 3D and given weight and made part of the landscape or foreground.
