Julie West’s collection of uber-cute characters might seem like simply cuddlesome creatures fit for kids of any age. But beneath their insanely adorable surfaces lies a complexity that could have come straight from a harrowing children’s tale. Take Squeeze, the little girl “who found a bird, decided to keep it, and loved it a little too much.” Or All Mine and its winked rendering of an overly precocious Queen. Both of these incredibly fetching images hint at archetypes as ancient as they are au courant, and each adds great depth to the surface world in which we all live. Tonight at designer toy store/ indie gallery Pink Ghost, West will be showing off her art and signing her patently terrific Chubby Book. Like West’s wall work, the diary-like journals serve as both a window into another world and an inspiring place from which to launch visions of your own. If yours happen to be anything as robust and charming as those conjured up by Julie West, they’re bound to be some visions indeed. Show starts at 7 p.m. Find Pink Ghost at 888 Polk Street in Hollywood. Visit pinkghost.net/store or juliewest.com.
Sat., Oct. 24, 7 p.m., 2009