Artwork Description
Lil Nekobasu Archival Pigment Limited Edition Print on Fine Art Paper by Pop Artist Casey Weldon Artwork.
2017 Numbered Limited Edition of 150 Artwork Size 14x14
Lil Nekobasu by Casey Weldon – Whimsical Mutation in Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork
Casey Weldon's 2017 limited edition print Lil Nekobasu stands as a surreal and captivating piece in the world of Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork. Released as a numbered edition of 150, this 14 by 14 inch archival pigment print is produced on fine art paper with high-fidelity color accuracy and exceptional detail. The image captures a hybrid creature that playfully merges feline charm with the visual structure of a segmented bus, a clever nod to pop culture and a direct homage to the character Catbus from Japanese animation. Yet Weldon’s version is distinctly his own, rendered with a unique softness and eerie precision that has become a trademark of his imaginative, emotionally suggestive style. The background places the creature on what appears to be a human lap, surrounded by natural textures like grass, blurring the boundaries between comfort, fantasy, and strangeness.
Casey Weldon: American Pop Surrealist Reimagining the Familiar
Born in the United States, Casey Weldon is known for his dreamlike compositions and frequent use of cats, glowing eyes, and nostalgic references as thematic devices. His work resides in a space where pop culture, sentimentality, and oddity converge. With Lil Nekobasu, Weldon leans into his fascination with childhood wonder and visual puns, offering a creature that is equal parts cute, cryptic, and unsettling. The deliberate detail in the fur texture, the glint in the cat’s golden eyes, and the seamless integration of mechanical segments across its back transform this into a visual paradox—playful but uncanny, tender yet odd. The print is emblematic of how Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork can elevate the bizarre and personal to the level of fine art without losing its connection to humor and nostalgia.
Visual Technique and Materiality in a Digital-Physical Fusion
The use of archival pigment printing in Lil Nekobasu allows for intense color vibrancy and depth, which is essential to conveying the almost hyperreal textures of Weldon’s painted forms. This medium is prized among contemporary artists for its longevity and ability to replicate the subtlety of original brushwork and gradients. The fine art paper base enhances the print’s visual impact, creating a tactile sense of depth that resonates with the physicality of traditional media while maintaining the efficiency and clarity of digital processes. The 14 x 14 inch format offers a perfect square composition that reinforces the intimacy and symmetry of the subject, placing the viewer close to this strange creature in a moment of relaxed fantasy.
Cultural Echoes and the Subversive Sweetness of Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork
By referencing Totoro’s Catbus while creating a fully original being, Weldon engages in a cultural remix that is foundational to Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork. The hybrid nature of Lil Nekobasu speaks to a generation raised on animated fantasies but grounded in the absurdities of adulthood. Weldon’s reinterpretation avoids imitation by amplifying personal symbolism and emphasizing mood over narrative. The print challenges the viewer to feel affection for something they cannot quite categorize. Its unsettling serenity is a commentary on how strange and charming the familiar can become through slight distortion. In the context of Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork, Lil Nekobasu encapsulates the genre’s ability to make viewers laugh, feel, and question all at once. This piece stands as a collectible not just for fans of cats or cartoons, but for those drawn to the emotional ambiguity that defines much of the best contemporary pop-infused art.
