Muertify vintage holy statues turned into day of the dead art
Hi there! I’m an artist from the Netherlands and my artist name is Strunt which is short for professor Struntköpf.
My art consists of customized and painted vintage holy statues in the Mexican day of the dead or “dia de los Muertos” style.
My obsession with skulls has been with me all of my life, i think it started watching the 80’s cartoon he-man featuring skeletor and castle greyskull.
So when I discovered the Mexican sugar skulls I tried to find out as much as I could about them and I got quite obsessed.
I painted a couple of munny’s (a diy designer toy) in Muertos style and “Muertify” was born.
I love the way the style marriages a skull (which is considered by most people as something scary and negative) with beautiful colorful flowers and decorations.
Actually dia De loss Muertos is a celebration for the deceased and the sugar skulls are used to decorate shrines and graves. They are an offering for the spirits.
When friends asked me to Muertify a set of holy Mary and Jesus plaques I found the perfect subjects for Muertify.
Normally most people won’t even consider putting a holy statue like a crucifix on their wall but muertified the statues get a completely new audience.
In my art I love the way I can combine all styles I really love when muertifying a statue, skulls, all kinds off bright colors, tattoo and rockabilly, flowers and animals, goth and darkness. Anything I can think of really, almost anything goes which allows me to create custom job’s for anyone who requests one.
I don’t just stop at painting, I customize statues even further, adding more halos (just because I can) I sculpt on extra details like roses and rose vines and I often add plastic ants. Ants are next to skulls another obsession for me and a nice trademark to put on the statues.
One muertification takes about 30 to 50 hours sculpting, customizing and painting to achieve the level of detail I want. Not including searching flea markets and the internet for new and interesting holy statues but I’ve got an aunt and friends helping me with that.
You can see every muertify I did in the last six years on the Muertify instagram and Facebook pages, www.instagram.com/muertify and www.Facebook.com/Muertify (please like and follow for some moral support)
And if you’d like your own Muertify statue please visit my shop on etsy www.etsy.com/shop/Muertify
A Muertify website is in the works and can be seen soon on www.Muertify.com soon
If you have any questions or a custom request please don’t hesitate to mail me strunt [!at] muertify.com or jaapbarten [!at] gmail.com or leave me a instagram or Facebook message!
Enjoy Muertify!
