"I had the pleasure of meeting Giger years ago when he visited my home for a studio visit. Having a creator who influenced me so profoundly, examine and admire my work, primarily my stop-motion films and models, was an awe-inspiring and magical moment I will never forget. He had such a huge impact as an artist and creator of monsters; he single-handedly changed the face of science fiction and horror with his xenomorph Alien from the movie of the same name. His genius was seeing beauty and horror simultaneously in shapes that exist around us in nature: the carapacial segmentation of crustaceans, the interlocking vertebrae of a spine, the intrinsically compelling shapes of sexual organs… These shapes have existed all around us for centuries, but it — Rich Montanari was his eye that saw them intertwined and transformed of Mutant Vinyl Hardcore into a mesmerizing, seductive horror. From my first glance at a Giger painting as a child, I longed to create characters and worlds like his. I've imitated the man for decades — particularly in my Chi-chian universe — and, I imagine, I will "From a very early age, Giger's work made quite the impact continue to do so for many years to come." on me, beginning with Alien and the mystifying Space Jockey "I've been a horror and dark fantasy fan as far back as I can remember. H. R. Giger changed the face of both these genres before I was born, sculpting my nightmares before I even knew his name. Without Giger, many of us wouldn't be. Thank the powers that be for creating such a brilliant specimen of artistic human life. You'll be missed, master Giger. The dark side of the moon awaits your return home."
creature, the famous ELP (Emerson, Lake & Palmer) album cover, and the Future-Kill VHS cover that mesmerized me every time I visited my local video store. Later, when I was about 11 or 12, I discovered who the genius behind all these fantastic images was. At the bookstore, I can recall reaching up to the top shelf to marvel at all the hardbound collections of Giger's work that were not meant for young eyes. To this day, I still feel as though I'm reaching for Giger."
— Voltaire
— Vincent X. Torres of Half-Human "I’ve been drawing since I can remember, but growing up I was always told that art was more of a hobby than a profession. As a child, having been exposed to the Alien franchise, I was immediately hooked on the look and feel of the world created for it. Like a junky chasing the ultimate high, I couldn’t get enough. After learning H. R. Giger was the artist responsible for creating the designs for the original movie, my eyeballs needed to soak up everything he created. Luckily I had a mother who allowed me to buy all his art books and even play the games he worked on, Dark Seed I and II. I couldn’t wrap my head around how an artist could be so prolific, expansive, and influential to the world beyond a gallery. Although I’ve never met him, H. R. Giger was the first and most influential artist to spark my interest in pursuing art as a real career path. I owe him so much, he’ll be incredibly missed."
"I was in middle school when my friend brought in this giant oversized book that had a hauntingly twisted amalgam of mechanical and organic imagery on the cover. As I flipped though the book and tried to absorb what my eyes were seeing, all I knew is that I had never gazed upon anything more beautiful and macabre in my life. Giger's work in Necronomicon struck a chord in me that has yet to subside, a barometer in which I use to personally gauge the impact I hope to achieve with my own work. A true visionary of surrealism that led people away from the light so that they could embrace their inner dark, Giger will forever live on and on and on, one never-ending tendril of mechanical vertebrae for always..."
— J★RYU
"Before 1987, when I first saw Aliens on VHS, I'd watched things mostly geared towards children, with perhaps the Terror Dogs from Ghostbusters being the scariest. I was mesmerized by Aliens and the original film due to the beautiful and haunting design work of Giger. From the Xenomorph to the Space Jockey, Alien reflected the true and original vision of the artist without diluting or altering it into something else. That is rare and I can't imagine the films without his paramount contribution. It can be difficult to quantify the level of influence one's work has on your own, but I can thank Mr. Giger for my penchant for spines, ribs, prehensile tails that grasp like face hugging fingers, and the things that should not be."
— Nathan Hamill
"Giger’s Necronomicon was the very first non-comic ‘art book’ that I ever owned. I was nowhere near old enough fully grasp the extent of his grotesque visions and certainly too young to appreciate the sexual nightmares contained therein. I’ve revisited his world countless times since — David Chung then and remain in awe at his unique vision and the depths of his visual vocabulary." "When I was in 8th grade, my friend — Andrew Bell Mike and I used to geek out on Giger’s paintings. Mike had a big hardcover book and we’d stare at it "As you can imagine, I had a goth/ for hours, at all the phallic columns industrial phase, so Giger played an and mysterious crevices. And then I’d important role in my upbringing. I think wander home in the dark and have I can honestly say the reason why I nightmares." never pursued 'dark arts' is because of
— Paul Budnitz
Giger. Why bother trying to do develop an aesthetic when someone else has already perfected it?"
— Luke Chueh "In the toy world, we are in the business of designing characters, and can you think of a character so uniquely bizarre and endlessly fascinating as the Xenomorph? H. R. Giger has influenced us all, and he has left a legacy we will be learning from for many years to come. Rest in peace."
— Hugh Rose Clutter 19 | 9