Kristin Tercek Finds the Creepy Side Of Cute Critters And Cuisine [Art]

Kristin Tercek started Cuddly Rigor Mortis as a series of plush characters and then decided to expand her character repertoire through the medium of paint. The change from plush to paint let her go from weirdly adorably mummies, werewolves and zombies to disturbing still lifes filled with smiling carnivorous plant roots, miserably limes sans wedge and homicidal onions. And a few familiar characters and cute critters get an unnerving makeover with a little help from Tercek's creepy doll eyes.

Tercek's plush toys were cute, but painting gives her far more room to explore her macabre ideas. Even while riffing on similar themes and giving her characters those mismatched eyes, her paintings manage to surprise in ways that are sad (the earthbound dogwood), sweet (Little Kumquat and his Grandpa Ugli Fruit) and clever (the stuffed olive with the plastic sword through its eye, titled "Pimento Mori"). She has prints available at the Cuddly Rigor Mortis shop, and you can see more from her portfolio on her website.