Using his own blood, A New York artist paints "Resurrection" exhibit

Many artists claim to put their blood, sweat and tears into their work, but Vincent Castiglia means it: he paints with his own blood.

The New York painter has a new exhibit, "Resurrection," in Manhattan's Soho neighborhood that opened on Thursday and is due to run through October. It features a number of Castiglia's paintings
from the last 10 years, all of which were created with Castiglia's blood.

Castiglia, 30, said in an interview this week that his first experiments with this medium were prompted by a "need to connect with my work on the most intimate level."Human blood contains iron oxide, he explained, a pigment found in many traditional paints, and which occurs naturally in iron ore and common rust.