Fine Art ♦ Illustration ♦ Printmaking ♦ Bookbinding ♦ & Other Roguish Deeds
THE BALLAD OF THE WITCH DOCTOR
SAVE // EXIT // CONTINUE
GLIMPSES THROUGH THE EREBUS
THE UNSEEN ORDER
Who is this "dadgumdevil" ?
D. G. Devil, or "dadgumdevil," is the name of a multimedia artist, illustrator and printmaker. He derives his name from the minced oath version of the curse he heard the most often while growing up in Mississippi --"God-damn!"-- and the term printer's devil, which refers to a mischievous demon who haunts print shops, performing such nefarious deeds as misplacing type, misspelling words, stealing ink, misregistering prints, etc.The D. G. Devil works in a wide variety of both digital and traditional 2D media, including drawing, printmaking, illustration, book arts, typography, collage, and comics. Always revolving around the art of storytelling, his current bodies of work explore the imaginative properties of graphic ephemera from the pre-digital printed world, using these materials to reconstruct his own Queer, working-class identity through a lens of existential fear and absurdist humor.When he’s not making art, the Devil enjoys playing videogames, reading history books, trying and failing to catch fish, and drinking copious amounts of tea.You can find out more about what the Devil is up to by either following him on Instagram or subscribing to his Substack.
The Unseen Order
2021
In this body of work, I sought to explore ideas about mythic narratives, and the parallels between non-Euclidean space and nonlinear storytelling.
Glimpses Through The Erebus
2023
In the summer of 2023, I collaborated with artists and fellow University of Mississippi Alumni Amy Webb, Jonathan Kent Adams, and Zachary Fields to organize We’ve Always Been Here, a multimedia group exhibition drawing upon the shared experiences between us of LGBTQ+ artists based in Mississippi. Though the work on display showcased variety of subject matter depicted in a broad range of paintings, prints, and drawings; a dialogue concerning haunted places, hidden identities, and quiet joy emerged in the space shared by these bodies of work.My contribution to the exhibition, Glimpses of the Erebus, was created in reflection of the existential ponderings I often have about being Queer in a location that frequently expresses hostility towards genderqueer and nonconforming identities.
SAVE // EXIT // CONTINUE
2024
In my latest body of work, I've been dissecting and then splicing together found imagery from different historical contexts through a combination of digital and traditional printmaking and collage techniques.Drawing upon the both the maximalist sensibilities early 20th century graphic design, as well as the pixelated visuals of early video games, I find that working back and forth between these pre- and post-digital aesthetic realms begins to transcend the nostalgic trappings
of their respective mediums.For me, the stories that unfold from this new visual lexicon alchemize into new, surreal narratives referencing working class identity, historic allegory, and absurdist humor in the face of a rapidly changing contemporary culture.
The Ballad of The Witch Doctor
2020 - Ongoing
The Ballad of the Witch Doctor is a self-published webcomic reinterpreting the tale of Faust in a fantasy world ravaged by a magical plague. It explores themes of healthcare politics, Queer identity and relationships, religious propaganda, and human hubris; and visually references graphic motifs from 14th and 19th century European art, illustration and design.Though it is primarily presented digitally for ease of accessibility, the comic utilizes a wide variety of mixed media elements, including photocollage, relief printmaking, pen & ink drawings, digital painting, and scans of found objects. It is typically updated once a year in multi-page installments, usually taking the form of a chronologically placed, self-contained short story. While there is also a print version in the works, the webcomic is free to read, and can be viewed on any desktop, phone or tablet.