Incredible: Meet The Artist Who Paints With His Own Blood

Have you ever hear artists claim to put their
blood, sweat and tears into their work? Well they
do by virtue of the time and energy they put into
their work, but Vincent Castiglia means it: he
paints with his own blood.
The New York painter has a new exhibit,
“Resurrection,” in Manhattan’s Soho
neighborhood that opened on Thursday and is
due to run through October. It features a
number of Castiglia ’s paintings from the last 10
years, all of which were created with his blood.
30 year old Castiglia said in an interview last week
that his first experiments with blood were
prompted by a “need to connect with my work
on the most intimate level.”
He explained the content of blood as the reason
why it’s ideal. According to him, human blood
contains iron oxide; a pigment found in many
traditional paints, and which occurs naturally in
iron ore and common rust.
Although some people regard his paintings as
creepy, he said the public’s reaction in the past
has been overwhelmingly positive.
“My response would be to really take a look at
the content of the work, which overshadows
what it’s made from, I think,” he said. “In order
for something to be a gimmick, it really would
have to lack substance.”
One of his larger, more detailed paintings can
take more than three months to complete. His
paintings range in price from $950 to $26,000.
Painting with your own blood, uh? Is this just
art?