Vampire Wedding
October 18 to December 15, 2024
“Lay all your blood on me” by Mika Babineau (Acrylic on stretch canvas).
I am a Toronto based artist specializing in portraits, now turning my own Halloween wedding into a series of paintings. These pieces showcase some of the awesome vampire guests as well as myself and my husband. As queer individuals, we wanted our wedding to be far from traditional, breaking every rule and celebrating in our own way.
These acrylic paintings have been rendered in an impressionistic style, bursting with colour, while also invoking the excellent Gothic elegance this wedding extruded. This series focuses on the drama and nobility of a vampire, yet with the merriment of festivity; the best of both worlds. Vampires, despite being creatures of darkness, deserve just as much as anyone to be happy while surrounded by those they care about.
These portraits present their subjects as members of a royal court of the night, with my husband and I as the reigning Lord and Lady. I have been influenced by vampires and goth culture from a young age, and now have the opportunity to showcase my love for those things in this series.
People often assume goths are gloomy or dreary, so I’m looking to highlight Gothic Queer joy and break that stereotype here. In truth, goths are some of the kindest people I know, always compassionate to those around them while living life to the fullest.
About the Artist
Mika Babineau was born in Moncton, New Brunswick but the big city of Toronto called for her to pack her bags once she was grown. Interested in art at a very young age, she couldn’t image doing anything but to create art for the rest of her life. She participated in a co-op program at a local art college in her senior year of high school then eventually was accepted into Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario. While drawing was always her preferred medium when she was young, at College Mika discovered her passion for painting, especially with oil and acrylic paints.
Mika creates portraits and landscapes bursting with colour and life. She specializes in expressive colours and an impressionistic style which highly contrasts some of the darker themes in her works. As a queer artist who is passionate about punk and goth culture as well as anime and video games, all these combine together to create an explosion of colour with an alternative edge. Both her portraits and her landscapes are teeming with vibrant personalities and brimming with life.