8-Bit & Beyond: Mushroom Recession

Here's a sneak peak at my piece for the 8-Bit & Beyond show, titled "Mushroom Recession". For this show, I wanted to create an image that reflected the current state of the economy, so I looked at games that had some sort of monetary system as a component of the interface. I also wanted to highlight the character's desperation, but do so in a way that was somewhat light hearted and humorous. Whenever I use an existing game as the basis for a piece I like to push it to the next level and ask absurd questions like "Where do those bottomless pits actually go to?" Mario was a perfect fit for this concept, and is also more widely known than some of the other game characters I could have chosen. Even though my work is inspired by games and my love of classic game imagery, I prefer it to be accessible to everyone, even if there are elements that only gamers would appreciate.

Prints can be purchased from my blog: http://judebuffum.wordpress.com/shop/