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?

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