Courtesy of Lena Pepovska Stevan Zivadinovic, 24, graduated in May from UTSA with a bachelor's degree in art.

WHO: Stevan Zivadinovic, 24

MEDIUM: Painting, drawing, prints, some film

BEST KNOWN FOR: Work that is “slightly off-putting and visually complex,” he said. “It should have stuff to pick apart if (viewers) care to do so but if they don't, it's a pretty picture.” His recent series of paintings of Orson Welles also contain some of his own features because “I kind of recognized his tendency toward self-destruction as analogous to my own, so I started thinking of these as self-portraits,” he said. “I guess relating myself to Orson Welles is a very arrogant thing to do. ..... I hope the audience will be taken aback by the hubris.” He also uses wry humor and satire, especially to comment on American politics. “When I do approach politics, I approach it like I'm approaching fables, like dramas. The players in these political situations are archetypal. The evil queen, the sly fox, the raven,” he said. A more serious, introspective work is “Transcendental Shame over a Burning Dumpster,” an illustrated essay exploring his mixed feelings about his native Belgrade in the former Yugoslavia.

FACTOIDS: Zivadinovic graduated in May from UTSA with a bachelor's degree in art and pays the bills with freelance Web design work.

CHECK HIM OUT: “Stevan Zivadinovic: Orson Welles vs. The Burning Dumpster” is at Sala Diaz, 517 Stieren St., through June 17. Call (210) 852-4492. Many images of his work are up at flickr.com/photos/mc_kingsley. His Web comic with Daniel Morgan about a goblin lawyer, Herzog the Vile, is available at herzogthevile.com. Search for “Zivadinovic” at youtube.com to watch “The Final New Deal Solution,” a short film he calls a “Jonathan Swift-like take on illegal immigration” created with old footage.

Jessica Belasco | 210SA contributor