Guest blogging at Instapundit, science fiction author Sarah Hoyt provides a link to a series of haunting paintings by Polish artist Jakub Rozalski done as illustrations for the board game Scythe. I find them fascinating.
Hoyt sees similarities to the Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back planet Hoth winter war sequence. I also see echoes of The Wild, Wild West starring Will Smith, Kevin Kline, and Kenneth Brannagh. And the armored polar bears of The Golden Compass. Also hints of the armored trains of Dr. Zhivago and the obvious imagery of Nazi helmets. Many less direct influences are apparent, including the Brothers Grimm. Love the saddle-bred musk oxen too.
It is a fascinating body of work, surreal, awful and beautiful all at once. As with all good science fiction, these paintings transport you to a plausible-but-eerie alternate reality.
