July 27, 2017
Painted in acrylic on a gessoed wooden skateboard.

As a proud recent college graduate, this board was a hearty tribute to Metroid series and how it has contributed to my life as a whole. Playing the games on Game Cube connected me to my little brother and uncle, the latter of which was called in for assistance when the dark creatures of the second game were too scary.

I later found out, via music remixes, that my father had a strong connection to the older original game, Super Metroid on the SNES, which he played while waiting in the hospital for an ill baby-me to get better. I combined my love of the game and sci-fi settings with Art Nouveau framing and influences like the artist Alphonse Mucha. As for lore/context, I imagined long after Samus Aran passes away, another young orphan child gets caught up in trouble, but is saved by Chozo tech left behind by Samus for another spunky, noble girl to pick up the mantle as the bounty hunter to take her place.

I loved rendering the metal of her suit and cannon, and how each framed section contributes to the overall organic-yet-structured look of the board. The transparencies of the Metroid and tank on the bottom were very fun to paint as well.

Painted for Mad Air Decks.