Deadspiderhands

Ally Burke is a self-taught artist currently residing in a small Virginia town where she works in a cave-like basement with a bunch of spiders and earwigs. She likes creepy childlore, monsters, junk stores, dream pop, and ‘90s television. Her dad let her watch a lot of body horror when she was a kid.

Have you always been creative and artistic?

I’ve pretty much always been creative in that I liked to make up stories and write when I was a kid, but as far as art goes I definitely wasn’t ‘born with it’. I didn’t really start trying to draw until I was a teenager, and I fell in love with painting in my early twenties.

How would you describe the style of your work?

I’m bad at describing what I do. Spooky kitsch, maybe. Someone else once described it as ‘candycoated insanity’ so I like to steal that.

What’s in your pencil case and what’s your favorite tool?

A couple of pencils, a whole lot of different pens, and markers. Nothing out of the ordinary! My favorite tools are always pens. Any pen. Gimme a pen, I’ll draw with it.

Who is your favorite superhero?

Hellboy.

If you could have one super power what would it be?

Hmm...the ability to make breakfast food appear with my mind.

Where do you look for inspiration?

Nowhere in particular, so everywhere. I just try to find magic. Fighting boredom is my main mission in life so I remain as curious as possible all the time, and that way I’m usually always discovering magical things to keep my imagination going.

Who are your favorite artists or comic book authors?

Tove Jannson, Leiji Matsumoto, Yoshitomo Nara, Charles Addams, Lolitaagogo, loll3, Hanna Mancini, Arthur Asa, Junji Ito, Ross Cambbell, Mike Mignola.