Dan Ouellette

Born into an era of activism, Altamont and mind-expanding drugs, Oullette’s youth was a mixture of old world values and new world sexual intellect. And while the visual indulgence of Catholic church lasted only a brief period, it left him notably scarred. He began drawing as a child. He found he could  easily entertain classmates with his drawings of grotesque prostitutes rendered nude but for their high-top sneakers. Album cover art was closely scrutinized. Escher, Dali and Moebius books were always close at hand. Absurdist/surrealist Super-8 filmmaking paralleled his constant illustration efforts. A wealth of cultural diversity in combination with extensive hallucinogenic drug use and confused sexual deviation began to transform his disparate artistic experiments into a protracted an demanding lifestyle of self-expression. He grew to adore the cinema of Fellini and marvelled at Lynch’s ‘Eraserhead’ and Cronenberg’s ‘Videodrome’. So rather than persue a formal ‘education’ in the fine arts he chose to learn the tools of filmmaking.

He has designed over fifteen independent feature films in the past decade as well as numerous commercials and music videos. His drawings have been featured in numerous books and magazines alongside Giger, Beksinski, Joe Sorren, Ernst Fuchs and Alex Grey.

He currently divides his time between his art, his filmmaking and his work as a production designer.