Mike Egan

Words by Daniel Cochrane

Inside his suburban bedroom outside of Pittsburg, PA, a middle school-aged Mike Egan began his art journey by drawing in sketchbooks. These early sketches primarily replicated pop culture that he'd found appealing. Notable influences were horror motifs, Halloween, skateboarding graphics (exceptionally fertile ground for skulls in the late-80's), music, and MAD magazine. The introverted Mike used his art to push boundaries and produce a bit of shock value to his relatively stereotypical all-American family household. Despite this young start, it would not be until college that Mike fully embraced art as a study focusing on printmaking.

Unfortunately, after college, Mike found printmaking to be economically unsustainable from a production standpoint and slowly began to shift his artistic direction. During this period, many factors came into play, most notably the need to find a steady income and the previously mentioned desire to continue creative pursuits, albeit in a more economically viable medium. It was a period of life where everything seems chaotic at the moment. Still, when viewed with the luxury of the passing of time, it seems, if not well planned, at least well navigated. Within a few short years, Mike began exploring paint as an art medium while also starting a career as an embalmer. The initial allure of mortuary school came in the form of a short one-year schooling period and reliable work. However, Mike does readily admit, especially in hindsight, that perhaps there was the ever-present allure of death and the macabre also subconsciously in play.

Like many artists, Mike is naturally his own worst critic. Transferring from printmaking to painting proved to be a process fraught with self-doubt exacerbated by a long learning curve producing what Mike labels "bad art." However, in a stroke of luck, his career selection afforded him many hours to hone his skills. The life of a mortician is filled with downtime, lots and lots of downtimes, spent awaiting the call that someone had passed away. Death, as you know, works on no one's schedule but its own, and as Mike sat in his apartment, he painted. Eventually, he found both his creative voice and the process that worked best for him. Mike recalls, "the one thing I remember during the early years was that I was rigid in what I expected my paintings to be. I just had this preconceived notion that the paintings had to look a certain way, dictated by other people's styles rather than my own style. Looking back to those times when I thought I made 'bad art,'; I mostly felt that way because I knew nothing I was making was really my own voice for a while. Obviously, keep in mind, I went to school for printmaking and took one painting class, so I was also teaching myself how to paint as well, so my skills weren't all that strong either. The biggest lessons I learned were to work through the process of 1) what art do I WANT to be making (vs. worrying about what I should be making) and 2) acknowledging I had to learn new skills and practice those skills like crazy to get better. I painted every day, and I feel like, if anything, that's why I had a breakthrough eventually."

Once Mike found his style and process, he was unleashed creatively and began to produce art that was his in the truest sense of the word. There are many common themes throughout Mike's body of work. The most common of which is the use of skeletons/bones (what he refers to as his version of self-portraiture), devils, religious iconography, and animals (specifically cats of late). There are also recurring numeric themes, primarily 7's and 13's, which are not only his favorite numbers ('77 is his birth year) but also two numbers heavily pronounced in western religious doctrine. Process wise Mike is spontaneous, which seems to come from being comfortable in one's artistic skin. His method is primarily organic, creating works as he sits in front of a panel with little to no pre-work.

Now "established," Mike's work has given him the chance to collaborate with multiple brands and even diversified into other product lines outside of painting. Notable of these are a collab with Resin Toy manufacturer DKE Toys with two characters based on his images, Bones the Skeleton and Lucky the Devil. A third character, Boo the Cat, is in the planning stages. Other projects include working with Dave Catching from The Eagles of Death Metal and his Rancho Del La Luna Mezcal brand and the recent launch of a clothing brand, 1977 Apparel. As a personal aside, Mike mentioned in our correspondence that he also did some deck designs for local skate shops. To be absolutely honest, if you're an artist and your local shop asks you to create some skate deck art, there is no better sign that your shit is rad. The skaters know.

Throughout it all, the collaborations and diversifications have been about one thing for Mike, making art for any type of collector. He explains, "A lot of the collabs/apparel/other mediums came to life as I'm really trying to focus on accessibility. As an artist, I want to make sure I'm creating things that all people can participate in. These other projects/mediums allow me to offer things that meet potential collectors wherever they may be in their art collection journey. some people only want a tee, and others want a big painting." This is where the line of artist and business begins to blur. Although it can sometimes be a double-edged sword, if you want to live off your work as an artist, it is necessary. In my personal opinion, it's not about selling out. It is about creating a product that makes others buy-in. Mike has been able to navigate those waters exceptionally well. He offers three bits of advice for anyone artist beginning their journey. "In today's day and age, you have zero roadblocks in getting your work out into the world. Create social media accounts, build a website, and just share your work with anyone willing to look at it. Just remember, though, you want to find ways for people to CONNECT with your art, so don't use these platforms as a way to try and sell. People want to know you and the context behind your art. That's what sells it, not the website/social media itself. For artists that are just starting out, I always recommend not to lose sight of connecting at the local level. You'd be surprised how much your home town with rally behind you and help get the word out. Plus, it helps you get to know local gallery owners and other artists and build a community. Practice and keep pushing yourself. Find ways to learn new skills, use new colors, or implement new mediums so you can grow as an artist. And as important as your art is, don't worry, it's also a business, so set aside time to learn these skills as well."

Explore and support Mike's works on Instagram as @mikeeganart and @1977clothing as well as his desktop site mikeeganart.com