www.markryden.com @markryden

www.marionpeck.com @marionpeck

We are so thrilled to welcome Mark Ryden and Marion Peck as two of the guest judges! Often called the King and Queen of the Pop Surrealism movement, both artists are known for their evocative and dream-like paintings.

Blending themes of pop culture with techniques reminiscent of the old masters, Mark Ryden has created a singular style that blurs the traditional boundaries between high and low art.

His paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide, including a career-spanning retrospective "Cámara de las Maravillas" at The Centro de Arte Contemporáneo of Málaga, as well as an earlier retrospective "Wondertoonel" at the Frye Museum of Art in Seattle and Pasadena Museum of California Art. Ryden was recently commissioned to create the set and costume design for a new production of Whipped Cream, put on by the American Ballet Theatre.

Marion Peck’s work also straddles the line between fine art and kitsch, dexterously melding both to create unique narratives that explore subconscious and archetypal imagery. She has recently exhibited in Paris and Rome, and her most recent exhibition was “Between Worlds” in Shanghai, China.

www.jovankavuckovic.com @jovankavuckovic

Jovanka Vuckovic is an award-winning filmmaker and writer. Her first short film The Captured Bird was executive produced by Guillermo del Toro and played over 60 festivals across the globe, earning four Best Short Film awards. In the past two decades, she has worked as a visual effects artist, earning a Gemini Award, a magazine editor (Rue Morgue Magazine), published two non-fiction genre film history books for St. Martin’s Press, and was twice named one of the most important women in the history of the horror alongside Kathryn Bigelow (Near Dark) and Debra Hill (Halloween). In 2014 she joined the Directors Guild of America after co-creating, executive producing and directing part of XX, the first-ever all-female horror anthology from Magnolia Pictures, which had its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017 before topping the iTunes charts for several weeks and becoming Magnolia’s top-grossing picture of all time. In 2019 she directed the post-apocalyptic teen sci-fi/action film, Riot Girls, before quickly making the leap to major episodic television with Marvel’s upcoming horror-themed television series Helstrom for Hulu (2020). She is set to helm the art house thriller All My Heroes Are Dead from her own script next. Vuckovic is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents, TIFF Talent Lab, and a proud member of The DGA and the DGA, as well as the Film Fatales collective of women feature film directors. In October 2018, Variety named Vuckovic one of the top 15 female horror directors with “a deep knowledge of the genre unrivaled by most in the industry.”

@nick13 @tigerarmy

Nick 13 is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and main songwriter of psychobilly band Tiger Army as well as a solo artist in the Americana/country genre.

Nick 13 is a big Halloween aficionado - evidenced by Tiger Army’s “Octoberflame” weekend music festival (curated by Nick) held mostly every October in southern California since 2008 (with the occasional break) which has become synonymous with Halloween celebrations there just as much as haunted houses and trick to treating. Nick 13’s love for Halloween and its trappings are also evidenced by his retro Halloween collections visible on his IG as well as the graphics used by Tiger Army (Spooky tip: check out some sweet limited edition Halloween Tiger Army merch now available for a short time here)

@isabellavonghoul

Isabella von Ghoul is a filmmaker, writer, podcaster, lecturer, host, performer and YouTuber out of the PNW. Her topics include the intersection of race, sexuality, and gender in the fandom community. Currently, she is writing and directing a film, a podcast on the paranormal, a youtube page, a blog with her writing about intersectionality and gender studies in nerd communities, and taking her panels and talks to more conventions all over the country. She loves the rain, watching re-runs of the X-files, eating french pastries, and hunting down the Mothman in her spare time.