Semioculus

01/04/2025

[SEMIOCULUS XX]
Well, here we are. It took us nearly eight years, but we've finally hit the twenty-issue milestone! I'll be completely honest with you, dear readers - when I first started Semioculus back in 2017, I genuinely didn't expect us to put out more than a handful of these zines. Three issues, maybe? But then, all of a sudden, we were already five issues in, then ten, fifteen, and now, finally, we're in the twenties. It's been a journey with its fair share of ups and downs, no thanks to my perpetually pessimistic worldview, but ultimately, I'm glad I've been able to keep things going all these years.

I'm EXTREMELY grateful to all the artists who have been part of this little project. I might not always be the best communicator, but your words of support, your interactions, and, of course, your beautiful artwork are what has kept me going so far.

As this is somewhat of a special issue, we decided it ought to be a themed one. The theme this time is EYES - how could it not be? We're SemiOCULUS, after all! Expect lots and lots of spooky, surreal, and trippy eye-themed art in this one.

The cover art for this issue was created by Elizabeth Shupe ()! If you haven't read it yet, we highly recommend you read the interview we did with Elizabeth as well! You can find the interview on our site as well.

Find the new issue HERE: https://semioculus.com/zine/semioculus-xx

[FEATURED ARTISTS]
Anastasia Krivitskaya
Bence Biró
Claudia Lindhout
Egle-Evergreen Radziute
Elena Duff
Elizabeth Shupe
Ernő Juhasz
Erotic Hollow
Farida Seyam
Flora Georgiou
Gabriel Espinoza-Arias
Gerasimos Platanas
Irene Cavalchini
Iván Correa
Kate Blagodatskikh
LARK
Jodie Day
manyiiiart
Marc Butler
Marie Saalfrank
Marie de Saint-Germain
Marta Tuminska
Maureen Letton
Narges Valibeigi
Nick Dunkenstein
Nigrum Cornu
Rayastre
Ruben Aldenhoven
Selahattin Akman
Sofia Ciente
Teagan DeVoe
Uroboro
Ursula Aavasalu
Vorace KahnaBaal
Z Fondanarosa
Zahraa Aljoundi

07/12/2024

[FEATURED ARTIST INTERVIEW: JOONAS AHTIKALLIO]
We're back with one more featured artist interview, right before the end of the year!

This time around, I got to talk to photographer and ambient musician Joonas Ahtikallio about plants playing synthesizers, making art prints with roadkill, plant-based film developers, and more!

Read the interview here: https://semioculus.com/interview/joonas-ahtikallio

29/05/2024

[FEATURED ARTIST INTERVIEW: CLIVE KNIGHTS]
Our second featured artist interview of this year is finally here! This time around we got to talk to a fellow cut-and-paste enthusiast, Clive Knights!

Join us as we discuss the difficult art of letting go of the reins, the points where collage and architecture meet, a gallery in an unique location, and of course... a lot more!

Find the interview right here: https://semioculus.com/interview/clive-knights/

Find more of Clive's art on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knightsclive/

28/04/2024

[SEMIOCULUS XIX].. And here we are! Presenting what's already our nineteenth issue so far. Putting this one together was tough! We received a new record number of submissions and also ended up with what I believe just might be the largest number of artists featured in one of our issues yet. You know what that means - lots to discover!

We've got a little something for everyone here: cyanotype, photography, collage, poetry, painting, illustration and more... We hope you'll enjoy our selection this time around as well!

Our majestic cover art this time was created by !

Find the new issue (as well as links to all the featured artists' socials) here:
https://semioculus.com/zine/semioculus-xix

25/04/2024

[SEMIOCULUS XIX]
Our nineteenth issue is ALMOST ready! This one has what might just be the greatest number of featured artists out of all our issues so far, so there will be lots for you to love - whether you're more into collages, paintings, photography or what have you.. There's a little bit for just about everyone in there!

Just to whet your appetites, here's a lil' sneak peak of what awaits inside...

There's much, much more for you to discover, so stay tuned for SEMIOCULUS XIX, coming... tomorrow, if all goes according to plan.

11/03/2024

Submissions for SEMIOCULUS XIX are now officially CLOSED!

We'd like to thank everyone who submitted some of their work for our consideration! We actually managed to surpass our previous record number of submissions, which is, of course, extremely exciting! We are delighted to see people are still constantly finding out about us and our little spooky zine.

Now the hard part starts - sorting through all the submitted material and selecting those who will be included... As per usual, we expect to be getting back to everyone selected for inclusion in about two weeks after the deadline. If we end up taking longer, we'll of course let you know about it here, on our Instagram page, and via our website as soon as possible!

Stay tuned for a new dose of Semioculus strangeness coming up this spring!

19/02/2024

[FEATURED ARTIST INTERVIEW: Rada Niţă Josan]

It's been quite a while since the last one, but we're back with a brand new interview! We've been aching to kick the interviews back off again for a while now, but the last couple of months have been rough for a variety of reasons. However, we're working on more interviews already, so hopefully we'll get to share them later this year!

As for this one, this time around I got to talk to Romanian artist Rada Niţă Josan for a while about her work, her country's folklore, demons... and more! We hope you enjoy it!

You can find the new interview right here: https://semioculus.com/interview/rada-nita/

14/02/2024

This one's primarily for our Estonian followers!

Our editor Dylan wrote a short article about Viktoria Berezina's collage exhibition ''Ma olen looduses, loodus on minus'', which will still be up on display in Tartu's HAKI Galerii until February 23rd.

You can find the article here:

Näitus"Ma olen looduses, loodus on minus"Autor Viktoria BerezinaAvatud Tartus Haki galeriis kuni 23. veebruarini

17/01/2024

Submissions for SEMIOCULUS XIX are now open!
Deadline: 10.03.2024

No overarching theme! Any and all dark/surreal work is welcome. As usual, the only work we won't accept is AI art & fan art.

Find the full submission guidelines here: www.semioculus.com/submissionguidelines

27/12/2023

IMPRINT, an exhibition on dark-themed collages and print art, is currently being hosted at TYPA Gallery. The exhibition, which opened on November 30th and will continue until December 30th, is the initiative of Dylan Michilsen and Agve Urm, the editors of Semioculus, a zine dedicated to the “worlds of dark and surreal art”.

Andrew Mark Creighton interviewed Dylan Michilsen On Zines, Art, Semioculus, And ‘IMPRINT’ At TYPA Gallery.

Find the interview in our blog!
https://www.hortussemioticus.ut.ee/journal/new/interview-dylan-michilsen-on-zines-art-semioculus-and-imprint-at-typa-gallery/

Semioculuse esimene rahvusvaheline grupinäitus “IMPRINT” keskendub (mitte ainult paberist valmistatud!) kollaažidele ja trükikunstile. Kollaaž võib olla palju: dialoog keha ja alateadvuse vahel, loomingulise meditatsiooni vorm, mineviku ja oleviku ümertõlgendamise viis; aga eelkõige siiski miski, mida on lihtsalt lõbus teha. Ideaalse paarilisena sobitub kõrvale ka trükikunst, mille tehnikarohkus ja selle abil saavutatav loominguline vabadus ei jää sugugi kollaažile alla. Näitus on avatud 30. novembrist 30. detsembrini.

Meie blogis aga intervjueerib Andrew Mark Creighton Semioculuse liiget Dylan Michilseni.

Intervjuu on leitav siit:
https://www.hortussemioticus.ut.ee/journal/new/interview-dylan-michilsen-on-zines-art-semioculus-and-imprint-at-typa-gallery/

📸: Cover art for Semioculus xvii by Melissa Chalhoub

22/12/2023

[SEMIOCULUS XVIII]
In case you haven't had time to check out our latest issue yet, we're bringing you a small sneak preview of some of the great work awaiting you within!

Photo 1: Christian Gridelli / Diane Painson
Photo 2: Tania Gallien / Gosha Beshlyan
Photo 3: Anastasiya Krivitskaya / Giuseppe Lama

Find the digital version of the issue here: https://semioculus.com/zine/semioculus-xviii/