Nightmare Networks: The Dark Art of Paul Rumsey

Posted by J Meyers on May 17, 2025

The Danse Macabre Series, 'Entertaining the Soldiers' 2016
by Paul Rumsey, Image via academiaaesthetics.com

Born in Essex, England, Paul Rumsey is a dark artist whose haunting and intricate drawings place him firmly in the rich lineage of the Grotesque. Working almost exclusively in charcoal on paper, Rumsey favors tone over line, crafting densely atmospheric worlds that blur the boundaries between the real and the imagined.

Island Head, 1997 Image via chappelgalleries.co.uk

Rumsey refers to his approach as metaphoric realism—a visual language built on metaphor and ambiguity, where dreamlike visions evoke both comedy and unease. His work draws upon the grand tradition of grotesque and fantastic imagery, echoing the spirits of Bruegel, Arcimboldo, Goya, Redon, and Alfred Kubin. Like these forebears, Rumsey’s figures are distorted, symbolic, and often nightmarish, yet rendered with precision and depth.

'Museum Head' 2018 (With Legba, Molech, El Tio, Czech devil puppet and Satan). Image via Facebook

Deeply inspired by the historical role of printmaking in the grotesque—from early woodcuts and engravings to surrealist etchings—Rumsey positions his work within a long lineage of artists who have used the graphic medium to explore the unconscious, the monstrous, and the uncanny. His own practice serves as a personal rebellion against the modernist conventions taught during his formal education. In his writing, particularly his introductory essays, he reflects on finding his unique voice in opposition to those influences, and explores the enduring relevance of the grotesque in contemporary culture—from high art to the aesthetics of the fantastical in popular media.

'Pig' 2018, Image via Facebook

Rumsey’s drawings offer a dark mirror to the human psyche, using the grotesque not as mere spectacle, but as a deeply expressive and metaphorical tool to examine the absurdities and anxieties of existence.