Though British artist Lloyd Canning got media attention for claiming to be an alien abductee — he told the Daily Mirror that he’d had six close encounters, and was receiving “visions”from extraterrestrials that inspired his paintings — he later took to his Facebook page to confess the truth:
for anyone who have seen my story in the papers, the truth is I have never been abducted but I have had some great sightings. don,t you just love the media, exposure is what I wanted, exposure is what I got lol lol lol lol lol lol lol I love you all
Not a huge surprise, that big reveal. On his website, he does away with the alien claims to make a more heartfelt confession:
Art for me is simply a way to keep myself sane. I feel I have so much to express, I get a build up of energy and I just have to go crazy in my art studio until I collapse.
Ideas literally come to me like a train hitting me head on. I then turn into a painting machine and can’t relax until it’s finished. When a piece is completed I’m completely exhausted both mentally and physically, it drains all emotions out of me and I often even dream I’m actually in my paintings.
Well, OK. It’s a little disappointing he didn’t keep up the abduction story a little longer (the Daily Mail story ran Dec 27; the Facebook post was Dec 29), but a good prank, especially one involving aliens that dupes major media outlets (the Huffington Post, among others, also reported on him), is worthy of some kudos.
At any rate, if there’s a retro prog-rock band looking for an album artist, step right this way.
Via Daily Mirror.
All images via Lloyd Canning Art World.
