Philip Hinge’s work reveals unexpected and strange moments in the setting of his everyday life. Mundane apartment interiors, widows, curtains, couches are the backdrop for his hallucinatory dramas; the spaces are depicted with the simplicity of stage sets. His protagonists are often pets (frequently cats), who shape shift and melt with a twisted exuberance. The characters seem to be aware of our viewing them, their bizarre actions performed momentarily for our enjoyment. Things happen at different speeds, often with a heightened feeling of movement and time.
Hinge exploits the imaginary realm of painting, finding excitement and charge in the otherwise banal. His work merges a comic book aesthetic sensibility with 19th century French interiors and 20th century Surrealism. He cleverly entangles a particular beauty with grotesque and B-movie weirdness.
