" 'Normal' things wind up being not so normal, once you scratch the surface...."
Chad Michael Ward

Chad Michael Ward's appreciation for the abnormal and different began when he was still a child.

While most kids buried themselves in Saturday morning cartoons, Chad was always waiting to catch a glimpse of the next Saturday afternoon horror film.

He invested in comics and sought out artists who showcased the macabre and inhuman in an alluring and refined way. Artists like H.R. Giger, Dave McKean, and Barron Storey became his early heroes, and his first influences.

After 20+ years of reading, watching and absorbing the bizarre, the terrifying, and the odd, Chad began to set foot on his own artistic path, originally just to purge the ideas and thoughts of his own mind.

Enter digital art.

It afforded him the ability to most accurately and immediately express much of what was already rattling around his head.

Having been interested in photography as well, Chad began to shoot some amateur photos in 1997 as a way to work the images into his art.

Chad moved to Los Angeles in 2002 and was soon asked to shoot material for a local modeling agency. From there he went on to shoot many other local models. As his art emerged he found other artists and photographers that inspired him such as Ashley Wood, Cliff Nielsen, Phil Hale, Jon Foster, and of course, Joel-Peter Witkin.

"' I've never been formally educated. I just started playing with Photoshop one day, and eventually started posting my work to a website. That wound up landing me my first professional gig."
Chad Michael Ward

Once in L.A., Chad was invited by director Nathan "Karma" Cox to shoot some still photography for a couple of his music videos, the first being Static-X's "Cold" video.

From the moment he set foot onto the set that day, he knew film was his next artistic destination.

Exposure to directors such as Chris Cunningham, Floria Sigismondi, David Fincher and Mark Romanek aided in cementing his new love.

Shortly after working with Nathan Cox, Chad met Pearry Teo. Pearry was very interested in Chad's work, and besides being a good friend, became Chad's business partner.

Together, they formed Teo/Ward Productions.

They are now in preproduction for their first up-and-coming film project, "The 13th Hour" which includes Chad's short film
"FABLE"

Chad continues to pursue his photographic and digital art as well. With 3 books of photography now available--Black Rust, Autopsyrotica, and DevilEngine, and many more in the works-- Chad continues to create on several mediums, and continues to evolve both as an artist, and an icon.

"I think 'scary' or 'ugly' things attract people because they are different. Everyone knows how to appreciate something beautiful or pleasant, but when something scary, repulsive, or different comes along, we can't help but to stop and stare. We're drawn to it, because we are drawn to that which we don't understand. That is human nature, to want to examine the unknown."
Chad Michael Ward

--BIOGRAPHY BY SHELBY JONES