ED MONROE
Writer
Artist
Illustrator
Ed Monroe Artist & Writer
Berkeley, CA
edmonroe
Costumes
For years, Ed Monroe has fabricated unique and prize-winning costumes to wear at the Bay Area's festival of Science Fiction known as Bay Con. But, he has also made costumes for Halloween, parties, and special events. Above is Ed in his cyborg suit. Below are pictures of other costumes.
For Bay Con 2010, Ed Monroe painted two Navi from the film "Avatar."
Ed Monroe is a collector of art books. Several are about the Wyeth family (Andrew, Jamie, et al) who made their own costumes for Halloween and other holidays. This was an early inspiration.
Then, Monroe attended his first science-fiction conference, Bay Con, and saw others wearing costumes. He decided to make a costume to enter in Bay Con's annual contest.
In 1995, Monroe won 4th place for his “Cyborg” costume at Bay Con, which has fully functional artificial heart that pumps red Kool-aid through transparent tubes; it is also decked out with lights. The following year, Monroe created his Bug Suit, a giant alien-bug/crustacean which took 1st Place in the “pan-galactic” masquerade at Bay Con.
The bug suit is created from a motorcycle fairing (or windshield) mounted on a backpack frame. It has a super-soaker for its head with eye-stalks made of flexible pipe sheathed inside bicycle inner-tubes. The backpack frame has insect arms with crab claws and the ligaments are made with strips of bicycle inner tube. Other pinchers and movable eye stalks are inside the fairing. Underneath this apparatus, the wearer sports a gorilla suit with elephant feet. 
Clown costume
Ed Monroe Artist & Writer
Berkeley, CA
edmonroe
