Spooky season is upon us and it is a perfect time to celebrate monsters with a show dedicated to creatures of myths and folklore around the world! Monsters Without Borders is a collaboration between a group of animation professionals based in Los Angeles but who come from a diverse set of backgrounds from Europe to the Americas and more. We invite you to come and let us share imaginative takes of some of our favourite cryptids!
Title: “Kelpie sightings"
Artist: Shannon Hallstein
Medium: Digital
Kelpies are known from Scottish folklore as dangerous shape-shifting waterspirits that resemble horses in appearance. Some believe that Kelpies are lonely creatures, seeking human companionship, however others believe these creatures will take their victims into the water and devour them.
Price: $200
Title: Papa Bois
Artist: Lee Ann Dufour
Medium: Digital, Giclée Print on Archival Paper
Papa Bois is a popular character in Trinidad and Tobago's folklore. If you encounter this guardian of the forest, it is believed that you must say a polite greeting like "Bonjour vieux papa" and refrain from staring at his hooves.
Price: $200
Title: Sumpurnis
Artist: Dan Sprogis
Medium: Digital, Giclée Print on Archival Watercolor Paper
Out of Latvia, the Sumpurnis is as an evil being in the shape of a humanoid bear-like creature with the head of a dog or bird. Unlike the more well-known werewolf of western folklore, Sumpurnis cannot change shape as he has been cursed by a wizard using magical belt that binds him in this form. He hungers for human flesh and his myth lives on as a symbol of the savage nature of the wilderness and the fear that it can evoke in the hearts and souls of men, women and children alike.
Price: $380
Title: Cerberus's Day Off
Artist: Monica Davila
Medium: Digital
The monstrous, three-headed "Hound of Hades" works hard to guard the gates of the Underworld, but keeping the souls of the dead from leaving is quite the monumental task. Even the most dedicated dogs need a day off and Cerberus is no exception! There's nothing in Greek Mythology that says this pup gets vacation days but it's fun to imagine that he does take the time to recharge every once in awhile like the good boy he is.
Price: $100
Title: The Elbow Witch
Artist: Justin Ridge
Medium: Digital
Originating in Ojibwe folklore, the Elbow Witch is a malicious monster who preys on unsuspecting humans, using her sharp dagger-like bones that portrude at the elbow. In this cautionary tale, the protagonist has to outsmart the witch using her own blindness, a lot of smoke, and a bit of well-timed luck.
Price: $200
Title: Universal Classic Girls
Artist: Bertrand Todesco
Medium: Digital
Between 1913-1956, a series of horror films produced by Universal Pictures popularized monsters based on legends and myths from around the world. Here is a modern take - or gender swap - of The Mummy, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Countess Dracula and The Gorgon.
Price: $200
Title: Harpie
Artist: Maryan Sefati
Medium: Digital
Inspired by eastern European and middle eastern art
Price: $200
Title: La Cegua
Artist: Luis Gadea
Medium: Ink and Pencil
La Cegua is a specter from Mesoamerican mythology that is represented as a beautiful woman who transforms into a horse-headed monster. La Cegua appears to womanizing men who are on the street late at night.
The legend of the Cegua is told in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
Price: $400
Title: “Gold in the Undergrowth”
Artist: Pablo Rivera
Medium: Watercolor on 9x12 paper
Cultures the world over have stories of small beings that live just out of sight at the edges of our world. With all their rich traditions of mythology and folklore, the people of Latin America naturally have such entities in their tales as well. Traveling with animal companions, these beings called Duendes rarely encounter humans, but when they do, can choose to use their magic to offer fortune or grief depending entirely on their own strange sense of morality. They're just as likely to leave you tiny gold artifacts in your fields if they like an offering as they are to kill your whole crop for a laugh.
Price: $400
Title: On Edge
Artist: Alex Henderson
Medium: Digital
Am Fear Liath Mòr, also known as the "Big Grey Man" is a creature in Scottish folklore which is said to haunt the summit and passes of Ben Macdui and other high peaks. It is represented as a fog that covers the highlands and confuses anyone who passes through. Climbers and hikers falling to their death, becoming confused, hearing footsteps and seeing tall dark figures in the fog.
Price: $150
Title: “Yalis, Temple Guardians"
Artist: Sarika Matthew
Medium: Digital, Gold Paint Embellished
From Hindu mythology, the Yali (also called Vyala) was viewed as the most powerful and fearsome creature. It was the protector of humans and their likeness can be seen carved on the exterior of temples across central and southern states of India.
Price: $100