Artist Thomas Christopher Haag Brings Otherworldliness to Oakland Walls
Author:Dara KerrA statuesque two-headed horse, a winged man with a horse’s head and a three-eyed rabbit are all creatures depicted in artist Thomas Christopher Haag’s newest mural in Oakland. Using fine-line detailing and colorful symmetrical squares to fill and surround the animals, he gives this block-long artwork an unusual feel.
Hagg works on his Oakland mural
Haag is an avid traveler and consumer of mythology and often looks to other cultures for painting influences. “The themes are neo-mythology,” he says. “ I’ve stolen from quite a few cultures, such as Hindu iconography, American Indian iconography and Egyptian iconography.” Haag has painted the sides of buildings in Mexico, Spain, Italy, Thailand, India, Myanmar and throughout the states. Now, he is making Oakland his home.
Besides murals, Haag also makes wall paintings on hand-built birch wood panels. For these pieces, he continues to borrow from ancient fables and play with various shapes and colors. “The panels are more mixed media than the murals,” he says. “They get much more intricate than what I do outside.”
Courtesy of Thomas Christopher Haag
Courtesy of Thomas Christopher Haag
Haag’s most recent mural is at 4382 Piedmont Avenue in Oakland and his paintings are currently on display at the Sticks and Stones Gallery in Oakland and will be in Oakland’s Uptown Body and Fender Gallery in January. Mural commission inquiries and paintings can be found on Haag’s website.
