About the artist:

Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer. He has since written many novels and other works, and his fiction has been adapted into motion pictures, notably the Hellraiser and Candyman series. Clive Barker was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Joan Ruby (née Revill), a painter and school welfare officer, and Leonard Barker, a personnel director for an industrial relations firm. Educated at Dovedale Primary School and the former Quarry Bank High School now Calderstones Quarry Bank High School, he studied English and Philosophy at Liverpool University. As a four-year-old child, Barker witnessed the death of Léo Valentin, a French skydiver who plummeted to his death during a performance at an air show in Liverpool. Barker would later allude to Valentin in many of his stories. In 2003, Barker received The Davidson/Valentini Award at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards, presented "to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individual who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for any of those communities".[4] While Barker is critical of organized religion, he has identified himself as a Christian[5] and has stated that the Bible influences his work. Barker said in a December 2008 online interview (published March 2009) that he had polyps in his throat which were so severe that a doctor told him he was taking in ten percent of the air he was supposed to have been getting. He has had two surgeries to remove them and believes his resultant voice is an improvement over how it was prior to the surgeries. He said he did not have cancer and has given up cigars. On 27 August 2010, Barker underwent surgery yet again to remove new polyp growths from his throat. In early February 2012 Barker fell into a coma after a dentist visit led to blood poisoning. Barker remained in a coma for eleven days but eventually came out of it. Fans were notified on his Twitter page about some of the experience and that Barker was recovering after the ordeal, but left with many strange visions.