Phloem EP
Format: Image for Album Art
Image of Album Cover for Phloem EP
Album Cover Art commissioned by Pittsburgh Artist Ricki Weidenhof for their Phloem EP, released in April 2021.
The concept of this cover was meant to touch on the idea of inner layers, textural complexity, self-confrontation, and discovery through dreams and personal experience. The two figures back to back in chairs was incorporated as the central point of image to convey texture and complexity amidst the barren and disjointed emtpy room. The vapor-like layering and texturing of the figures is meant to display multiple identities confronting and combining into a sculptural entity.
“Where isms scrabbled claustrophobically through the darkness, Phloem grandly unfurls itself like a lush, subterranean plant. A discordant sense of unease remains, but the nightmare has transformed into a lucid dream, not especially light, but not necessarily frightening, either. “Reign for Rest” begins with an extended intro that sounds like Beach Boys meets Boards of Canada, undulating string plucks and detuned synths mingling with warped vocals to create a disorienting atmosphere. The song drifts by like a spooky lullaby for several minutes, Weidenhof singing surreal phrases (“The ceiling’s gone/I curl into you,” “I set the table for apocalypse”) in a tone usually reserved for the tenderest of moments. Then, with just over a minute left, the song explodes into a bobbing backbeat, a chopped vocal sample providing an unlikely hook to close things out. It’s inexplicable, weird, and riveting stuff.“
- Writeup by Bored in Pittsburgh blog
Listen to Phloem EP on Bandcamp here.
Roles:
3D Modeling, Animation, Design, Texturing, Creative Concepting
Tools used:
Blender, Zbrush, Sketching, Procreate, Photoshop