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Deep within the mountainous landscapes of Tuscany, artist Anna Chiara Stagi grew up surrounded by the legends and folklore of the Apuan Alps. These early encounters with traditional fairy tales, mysterious spirits, and the darker undertones of folklore continue to shape her haunting visual language today. Through delicate yet unsettling imagery, Stagi explores themes of metamorphosis, nature, and the liminal space between humanity and the wild. In this interview, she reflects on the influence of folklore, the emotional power of nature, and how art has helped her navigate personal struggles and transformation.

Alfred Kubin remains one of the most unsettling figures in (early) modern art — not because he sought shock, but because he mastered traditional techniques to visualize what others refused to see. Working primarily in ink, wash, and printmaking, Kubin translated dreams, dread, and psychological fragmentation into carefully constructed images that challenged the aesthetic comfort of his time. His work exists at the intersection of craft and nightmare, making him a foundational figure in the history of dark art.

Tonight, Dark Art & Craft will be featuring the first of a three-part interview with the dark visual artist, musician and, photographer Stephen Kasner(). This in-depth interview with Thomas Haywood and Dott von Schneider takes a look into the inspiration and foundations of Kasner's dark creative work.

Step into the unsettling, dreamlike worlds of Aleksandra Waliszewska, a contemporary Polish painter whose work explores the shadowy depths of the human psyche. Her haunting, surreal compositions blend grotesque figures, ethereal landscapes, and symbolic motifs to evoke feelings of unease, introspection, and raw emotion. 

Albert Pinkham Ryder (1847–1917) was a visionary American painter—a solitary figure of tonalist romanticism whose small, almost mystical canvases reveal worlds of quiet dread, mythic symbolism, and haunting chiaroscuro (Wikipedia, Wikipedia). Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts—a thriving whaling port—Ryder carried into adulthood a deep-seated fascination with the sea, moonlight, and the untold stories whispered by waves and wind (Smithsonian American Art Museum, Wikipedia).