After his hugely successful Friends & Heroes and Five releases of portraits, Johnny Depp has continued to delve deeper into the self, and his subconscious, in his latest series of limited edition works, The Bunnyman Genesis.

Infused with a celestial undertone, this fantastical series of mixed media screen prints overlaid with gold detail is rooted in childhood memories. Some years ago, Depp saw a sketch of a figure by his son, who’d been unsettled by a nightmare in which he’d appeared. The figure reminded the artist that, decades before, he’d also experienced recurring dreams involving this character. “That dream kept coming to me. I had it a lot and that’s sort of what The Bunnyman became, that figure in the dream”.

Father and son were connected by this shared night-time vision, and Depp saw it as more comforting than haunting.

“There he was a benevolent creature, like he was there to warn me in my dream.”

Like all great urban legends or dark fairytales, the myth of The Bunnyman evolved over time and through countless retellings, to take on supernatural elements, existing at a doorway between reality and imagination. Depp perceives him as a powerful guardian and symbol of strength. “The Bunnyman is something that I feel very close to”.