The final project on my university course. It was supposed to be the crowning jewel of all the work we've done in the past three years, so for my subject I chose something close to home and my heart which was Slavic monsters and demons.
Each illustration is a different creature from slavic folklore. I mostly based their appearances on descriptions I found in the book "Bestairiusz Słowiański" (eng. Slavic Bestiary) by Paweł Zych and Witold Vargas. Initially the illustrations were to serve as labels for alcohol beverages, but they also work as a set of designs for t-shirts, phone cases, and others.
The Wild Hunter (pol. Dziki Myśliwy) was a soul kept on earth after death to answer for its sins. The Hunter traveled the woods at night with a pack of phantom dogs and if they stumbled upon an unfortunate wanderer they ran him over and sometimes even killed.
Devil Hejdasz (pol. Diabeł Hejdasz) was a simple and naive devil, by his kinsmen he was considered a useless fool. He never harmed anyone or led to a sinful path, which wasn't a surprise as he did not hide his devilish appearance. He decorated his horns with wild flowers and wandered the fields wiggling his tail and whistling happy songs.
The Hag (pol. Jędza, Baba Jaga), better known as Baba Yaga, was a demon in the form of a tall skinny old woman, she had black eyes, horribly wrinkly skin, no teeth, and one horse leg. She travelled the forests in her house on a chicken legs looking for prey, mainly children. She would lure them in with sweets, feed them until they were fat, boil them, and eat them.
Contrary to popular belief Baba Yaga did not have much in common with a whitch, as unlike a witch a Hag was a demon not a human.
The Quiet One (pol. Cicha) was a demon of plague who mainly preyed on children. She travelled the world in the form of a little girl with pitch black hair, big pretty eyes, a wrath of red poppies on her head, and a metal rod. Wherever she went birds stopped singing, plants withered, and the air filled with a stench of death. She often approached a group of playing children and whoever she touched with her metal stick instantly fell dead on the ground.
The Plague Virgin (pol. Morowa Dziewica) was the personification of plague and disease. She wandered the world as a very thin, awfully pale woman dressed in white. Wherever she went she waved her blood stained cloth bringing disease and death to whole villages and towns.
She was an especially terrifying demon as seeing her, or even just a red cloth carried by the wind, brought a massive panic to nearby villages. People went mad, some ran away to the forests, others began to steal and set fire to houses, some killed their elders or newborn children out of fear for their suffering.
My exhibition corner at the UCLan Degree Show 2015.
