MIKE EGAN

Mike Egan’s eye for the strangeness of death shrouds his art. Invoking humor, surrealism, and grief, he addresses death from a variety of angles. Drawing on the influence of German expressionist Kathe Kollwitz as well as the Mexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posa, Egan paints in a flat manner with a heavy focus on portraiture.

Egan attended the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science and eventually landed a role as a funeral director in Reading. During periods of solitude, Mike focused on his art, which had a dark quality to it even before he became a mortician. As a kid, Egan was inspired by vintage Halloween decorations, cartoons, album covers and skateboard graphics. That kind of morbid imagery continues to guide his hand.