With a bit of luck, our generation will never have to see our cities in ruin, but that certainly doesn’t hinder our minds from wandering from time to time. This, of course, is not done out of wishful thinking, but curiosity.

From The Day After Tomorrow and The Walking Dead to I Am Legend, we’ve seen everywhere from New York to Las Vegas in disarray, but never Calgary or Edmonton – until now, courtesy of the multi-disciplinary artist, Mike Roshuk.

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Mike Roshuk
Photo via Mike Roshuk

Despite his work being incredible, we can’t help but feel uneasy looking at his dystopian renderings – but that was the goal.

Roshuk, started his career 20 years ago and has worked in every medium including animation, graphic design, photography and even drew up his own comic book but a year ago, something changed.

“Seeing the baron streets – no one was around,” he said when asked about how COVID inspired his art. “It was almost like we were living in a dystopian society.”

Mike Roshuk
Photo via Mike Roshuk

Of course, this wasn’t the only place he found inspiration since he began superimposing foliage and abandoned cars onto the streets of YEG.

Seeing sets built and torn down for Alberta-shot The Last Of Us, also contributed to how he went about his more recent pieces.

“It’s pretty cool to see your hometown as a sort of hellscape,” he told Curiocity – and we agree… we just hope we never have to see it from behind a barricade or hazmat suit. 

 

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A post shared by Mike Roshuk (@mroshuk)

If you’d like to check out more art by Mike Roshuk, you can visit his website here where he’s currently selling prints of ‘The Alberta Legislature’ and ‘Future on Fire.’

You can also follow him on Instagram here – but definitely show him some love! After all, if not for him, how else would we know that West Ed’s waterpark would be such a prime place to park a helicopter?