In his home-studio on Siesta Key, the artist Viktor Mitic is laying the finishing touches on his latest work, a 12’ by 27’ painting of the D-Day invasion. He’s drawn the figures and the forms, he’s laying in the pinks and blues and greens and when he’s finished, he will hang it, load his gun and then shoot it full of holes.

But Mitic isn’t destroying, he’s creating.

Mitic has made a name for himself through his unconventional artistic processes. Before discovering his latest bullet-riddled aesthetic, Mitic created abstract work by painting in the pouring acid rain of Toronto, where he still lives part of the year, splitting his time between the Great North and Siesta Key. The rain lent his work a chaotic look and created organic spindly splotches not easily replicated, but a bout with pneumonia dampened his enthusiasm and he moved on.

It was the year 2000, he said, when he saw a slew of videos showing villagers and soldiers shooting apart religious frescoes and works of art in temples and churches. One particular instance stuck with him, a BBC report on Afghani militants destroying a 1,000 year-old statue of Buddha, and he knew what he wanted to do.

“I wanted to recreate a similar feeling, to put that feeling on canvas if possible,” said Mitic. “The first thing you feel is shock – that this shouldn’t be done. But if you carefully examine it, it looks very aesthetically pleasing.”

With his acrylics and canvas, Mitic began with religious iconography, recreating famous portraits of Jesus, Mary and even DaVinci’s Last Supper before trotting them out to the range for a heavy dose of high-velocity lead. Outlining the work with bullet holes and punctuating focal points with his rounds, the result is undoubtedly intriguing and, at times, haunting. Subjects’ eyes are a common target.

A recent installation piece inspired by the rash of school shootings rocking the country led to the creation of Incident – a classic yellow school bus shot up inside and out and looking like something from a nightmare battlefield – which toured the country including a high-profile stop in Washington D.C.

Since he began, Mitic has perfected his aim and expanded his subject matter to include topics like Americana and pop culture, in addition to world figures and Eastern Art. Marylin Monroe, Ronald McDonald and Tiger Woods have all found themselves at the receiving end of Mitic’s treatment, as well as John Lennon and JFK. For the latter subjects, Mitic said he used the same type weapon as their respective assassins.

It’s been a learning process for Mitic, who said he’s expended over 2 million rounds so far. Sometimes his aim is off and he has to begin again. But he’s enjoyed the experimentation, as different guns, bullets and distances create different effects on the canvas (some punch clean holes and other leave shiny lead splats), each with their own aesthetic advantage.

Oddly enough, Mitic does not own a gun, instead renting at the range. He insists he is not anti-gun and does not aim to deliver a political message through his work. However, the ease with which he accesses multitudes of firearms and ammunition is it’s own meta-commentary, he said.

“100 years ago, it was almost impossible for an artist to do something like this – it would be cost-prohibitive, “said Mitic. “But at this point and time, there’s an abundance of these things.”

His purpose as an artist is something much grander, if not so distinct or concrete. Mitic is the classic artist, revealing and magnifying, not preaching. The work confronts but does not tell and leaves the viewer to figure what it is they just saw and what it means to them.

“My work is often an unconscious reaction to our time,” said Mitic. “The artist should, depending on their situation, not limit themselves to a political stance. I present the viewer with images and situations, but not politics or causes.”