In honor of Halloween, I thought an Artists To Know featuring the spookiest of artworks would be quite fun. Though I won’t be getting any trick-or-treaters due to the very non-festive large wooden sign out in front of my apartment complex reading “NO TRICK-OR-TREATERS!!!”, I do have a costume party to get to later tonight which I am quite antsy for. I’m going as a flapper this year, which I know is an “every girl ever” kind of costume, but … not every girl will have a snazzy vintage 1920s style beaded fringe dress from an antique store ;). Now, without further ado …
Ana was born in Armenia in 1983, and earned a BFA at Art Center College in California. Her work is inspired by aliens, spirits, and ghosts and she has coined the term “Futurealism” to describe her aesthetic. She believes that whatever we can imagine can also be manifested into our physical reality.
Gus Fink is a self-taught artist who has been making a living off of his work full time since 2000. His medium and subject matter varies, but each work maintains his signature creepy yet somehow endearing vibe. His “Antique Horror” collection that spans over a decade was featured in a clothing collection for select Hot Topic stores over the summer.
Michele Lynch is a multi-talented artist excelling in painting, mixed media, and sculpture. The characters she brings to life are all a little bit retro monster movie, a little bit steampunk, balanced out with a lot of sass and personality.
Japanese illustrator Mizna Wada has just mastered the cute-creepy, pastel goth world. I have always been quite a fan of the adorably eerie universe, so her art certainly struck a chord with me. Wada is another artist who brings her characters painted on canvas to life in 3D form, this time as fun plush dolls and vinyl figures. I must own one someday, when I am not on such a strict budget ;).
Leslie Ann O’Dell combines fine art, photography, and digital design to create her haunting works. SHK Magazine summed it up nicely when they said of her work, “O’Dell’s work is comprised of haunting imagery… Ranging from dark imposing landscapes to mystifying portraitures, that evoke sensations of vulnerability, demise and the fear associated with such sentiments”. Of course, being a portrait girl myself, I am most drawn to her depictions of figures. They are truly different from anything I have ever seen.
Happy Halloween everyone! Have fun being someone new for a day, and a lovely evening to all.
Have you ever wondered what monsters dress up as for Halloween? 🙂
My boyfriend and I visited ArtPrize in Grand Rapids this past Friday. Though I had a piece in it last year, I didn’t have a *big* project ready this year that I wanted to enter so I decided to attend simply as an art appreciator. With inspiration quite literally around every corner, I came back impressed and invigorated, as always. I wanted to share some of the pieces that really stopped me in my tracks. Keep in mind, I was only in Grand Rapids perusing for a day, and as any of you who have attended in the past know, this gave me but a small cross section of ArtPrize 2015. If any of you have been over to ArtPrize, feel free to share other artists/pieces you saw that I may have missed! I definitely left wanting more, but am glad I got to make it to the event this year, even if just for a day. I encourage you to visit these artists’ personal websites I’ve linked to and learn more about their work and the story behind why they create what they do. They explore a variety of poignant themes in a unique and engaging way.
Little did I know until visiting her website myself, her piece in ArtPrize last year, “A Plea, Remember Me”, was also one of my favorites. Miss Kate has a new fan!
Each bird represents one of the over 200 school girls that remain missing after they were kidnapped from their school in Nigeria by the terrorist group Boka Haram.
Jacqueline Baerwald – Melondy, Issues of Adolescence (You can read her like a book, or can you?)
Another thing about ArtPrize I always look forward to is the installation art and large scale outdoor sculpture. Red seems to be a popular color, and so by happenstance I matched all the art.
Dream home?
This yarn room reminded me of one of those nightmares where something about your surroundings is not quite right, but you can’t seem to figure it out…
I love the contrast between my giggling face and that none too pleased look in the eyes of my fierce dragon companion.
Eating delicious food is almost (or maybe equally as?) as exciting as looking at amazing art, and my boyfriend and I enjoyed dinner and Violin Monster at The Green Well, as well as vegan gelato from Love’s Ice Cream which is so amazing it haunts my dreams.
In her bio on her webpage, Susan Saladino states that her work revolves around her belief that “we as humans have a kinship with all life”. In her series of sculptural figures, the series that first hooked me onto her work, they are made using materials from nature, and are often blindfolded. To Saladino, the blindfolds symbolizes humanity’s turning away from realities they find uncomfortable and would rather not face. She believes that the blindfolds must be removed to make the required changes, and that change must occur, especially as it comes to environmental conservation and animal cruelty. I am completely enamored with tree forms, which is why this series featuring the gowns made of branches caught my eye. This blindfolded woman looking up and away from the red bird she cradles could symbolize a variety of different things to different people, but to me, knowing the artist’s symbolic intent further increases my appreciation for her detailed and ethereal work.
Willy Verginer resides in Ortisei, Italy. He has been exhibiting his characteristic sculptures since the early 1990s. His exquisite figures carved out of lime tree wood are earmarked by solid color blocking against pale ivory, often with surreal touches. His sculptures interact, but their eyes never truly meet, and they can often be found with things growing from their hands, objects balanced on or connected to their bodies, or cut off at the torso or limbs and sinking into the floor as if it were made of liquid. The series the sculpture shown above is from is titled “a fior di pelle”, meaning “to flower of skin”. It is meant to describe hypersensitivity and to express the fragility of the youth and the ability to dream. Moving, calm, and eerily realistic, I would love to see some of his work in person someday.
I discovered this artist on pinterest, at first thinking her work was some really unique alternative fashion photography, and later learning oh my gosh, those aren’t photographs of real people but SCULPTURES! Is your mind as blown as mine was? Her gorgeous fantasy sculptures are made using polymer clay, and the perfect understanding of human form is apparent if you observe the perfected muscle tone down to the slight undulating in and out of the shape of the arm and the tiny indent in the elbow in the second photo above. As if the sculpting wasn’t amazing enough, each figure is adorned in luscious, detailed costuming including unique decorative jewelry and beyond fabulous hairstyles. Each has a dewy glow, so that it radiates human warmth and you’d be shocked to touch one and find it hard clay rather than soft, velvety skin.
I found Christina Robinson on etsy and was instantly intrigued by her whimsical, stylized figures that have a fun children’s book style cartoonishness to them but with a Tim Burton kind of twist. Really, no direct comparisons can be made though, because Robinson’s style is all her own. She paints as well, using the same playful colors and prominent faces with rather neutral expressiosn that still manage to say so much. Her bold, expressive style is certainly memorable.
I don’t remember how I first discovered Christy Kane, but it was sometime in late high school. I remember ordering her short story book, a play on children’s morality tales including detailed photographs of her dolls posed to enact the sordid turn of events. Shortly thereafter, this short film came out.
Her dolls make up the true island of misfit toys. I love how they are not meant to be conventionally perfect and beautiful and everything you normally think of when you think of dolls, and I love the attention that is paid to each doll’s individual “story”. Each of them has a life, memories, experiences, likes and dislikes. That is truly giving your art life.
I discovered Kirsten Stingle on pinterest also. Her sculptures are primarily porcelain, and she uses a straight pin to detail the tiny faces, hands, and feet. Stingle is focused on storytelling, and believes our stories are what connects us to one another and explains who we are. She aims to combat isolation by presenting stories common to the human experience. This is something I value as well, and aim to do with my own work, so I really connect to her concept. I know I can relate to her figures struggling towards figuring out an arch for their life and forming their own identity; I suspect we all can.
I was left completely in awe of these artists. After a failed foray into paper mache in a summer art class (My “princess” turning out none to regal…), followed by a lumpy, bubbled copper ice skater I churned out for a project in junior high (I got a B on it! The calamity! Yes, I was one of those kids, but only in art class ;)) , I kind of shied away from sculpture. Forced to revisit it in college, I thought it would be amusing to share some of my projects of the 3-dimensional variety.
Miniature of the Library of Celcus in Ephesus. I thought it would be fun because I love books … KILL ME NOW!
We were supposed to make an abstract sculpture out of these little blob guys (balloons filled with plaster) that portrayed a tension between beauty and repulsion. I called this “Sisters”. Alternate title, “A Very Angry Drag Queen” (note the feathers and nails).
Just remember guys, nobody’s perfect ;). Keep working at your art and trying new things and you will find your niche. Don’t let fear of failure stop you from experimenting, taking new classes, learning new things … Many of our projects will not be successes but hell, at least you can have a good laugh about it later, right?
I discovered something wonderful a couple days ago, namely, the city of Saginaw Michigan had been taken over by giant bunnies. I love art like that, the kind of art that pops up and surprises you in your everyday environment. It makes you stop in your tracks, whatever you are doing, and just enjoy the moment. I ran around like a little kid visiting every single one; it was a great time.
Since Creative 360 was closed for Easter weekend, I also finally got the opportunity to finish the murals I’d been painting on the doors! These doors used to be a really gross shade of brownish-grey, and the goal was to wake them up to go with the rest of the imaginative, creativity-inspiring interior. You can’t exactly tell in these cropped shots that only show a part of the building, but this place is really really colorful – the ceiling gives a hint. I wanted to use the design on the door leading to the lower level to act as an indicator of what activities go on in the basement. I also wanted what was behind the door to be visually communicated in a clear manner so guests and customers wouldn’t be confused, but without having to write out a big ugly, block lettered, “DOWNSTAIRS, or STEPS” plastered right over the mural. Since the door to the basement is usually left propped open when classes are in session, I also needed a design for the backside. I’m happy with how they turned out, especially stepping back and seeing all 3 together. Enjoy the photos!
I hope you all have a wonderful Easter, and even if you don’t have traditional activities planned, do/see/experience something that is out of the ordinary and makes you smile, even if only for 5 minutes.
The two restroom doors, and the exit to the downstairs classrooms.
Men’s and Women’s Restroom Doors Closeup
Exit to downstairs classrooms where art, dance, and exercise classes take place
The other side of the door to downstairs, which is often left open while classes are going on
Closeup
Approximately 2 years ago. Clearly, I am no stranger to making friends with rabbit sculptures.
Allise Nicole's Artistic Explorations 