Now you’ve got your cooties shot.  But maybe that cooties shot will do you more harm than good.  It might help prevent you from contracting the dreaded cootie, but the side effects will have you begging for cootieville. In his work, Akron artist Casey Vogt explores this country’s relationship with drugs and big pharma.

The background of each piece is composed of elaborate mandala-like patterns, massive layers of dots of house paint.  These layers create a trippy atmosphere recalling the disorientation of a drug induced state.  Cowboys in various situations find themselves among the meditative chaos.  Maybe the cowboys are ghosts– the vestiges of times before corporations took on the role of healer.  Or perhaps they are the new generation of American thinker, the one that rebels against the accepted norms and strikes out on their own, carving their own way and pioneering through unknown territory.

To see more of Casey Vogt‘s work, please visit his website.

All images are via the artist’s website.  Artist found via Diehl Gallery.