Mixed media images

Will Koffman, 18, began drawing insects, monsters, dinosaurs and other characters when he was only about 8 years old, but the initial doodles have now turned into what could be a burgeoning career as a professional artist.

Koffman, who now lives in Baltimore while attending the Maryland Institute College of Art, recently hung his first art show, at Avanti Café in Costa Mesa. He began his art career by publishing his own comic books, then decided he wanted to have another forum for his larger works.

“I began to realize that to become an artist and to spend my life pursuing this career of making images, I would be participating and adding to the visual culture that ultimately define this piece of human society,” Koffman said.

His artwork, like his ideas, is edgy. Koffman hopes it will provoke thought about different life experiences.

Avanti Café co-owner Tanya Fuqua said after seeing Koffman’s art, it was a no-brainer that they’d host his showing. The café has been hosting local artists since the eatery opened, and said Koffman’s art has provoked conversation and is selling well.

“People are quite intrigued by it, people notice it the minute they walk in the door…. They’re intrigued by the different techniques that he uses and by the fact that he’s so young as well,” Fuqua said. “People are just blown away by that.”

Koffman draws inspiration from the world around him, by world situations and his perceptions on the human culture.

“I see the world as we experience it today, as this cesspool of paranoia-inducing monsters with cameras at traffic lights and child-molesting priests and Internet communities and smart bombs that can target you from space. It’s a very scary world,” Koffman said. “There’s kind of this constant anxiety from being watched all the time … even things like the Patriot Act [contribute].

“I think people are wandering the world with this kind of paranoia and I think there’s an anxiety that never leaves us in the world today and that anxiety has a lot to do with what drove me to produce the artwork I did.”

His art is quite detailed, with dizzying lines and his interpretation of evolution, which he said also sets the road to extinction. It’s his own study of human evolution, as he sees art as a window into the culture of a particular time.

“Throughout history the most important thing artists have done is document the world around them,” he said.

His style defies the structure of using only one medium, and the works hung on Avanti’s walls are evidence of it. He used oil, acrylic, ink and other media.

The works range from $50 to $1,200. For more information about Koffman or his art, visit his website ww.killmecomix.com or e-mail him at [email protected].