Artist JR Transforms the Louvre With a 2000-Piece Paper Optical Illusion

Paint Smudges and Smears Form Abstract Portraits by Kai Samuels-Davis

Images courtesy of Kai Samuels-Davis

California-based artist Kai Samuels-Davis layers linear paint strokes and large washes of color to form shapes that are recognizable as faces, but without all of the visual information seen in traditional portraiture. The artist relies on the process to find the image, often starting with a sketch or a simple circle to build upon for the face. Working in a space between the representational and expressive, the artist is able to focus on emotion through abstraction so that the viewer can form their own narrative through each gesture and colorful brush stroke.

“None of the final aesthetic is planned,” Samuels-Davis tells Colossal. “Each mark, brush stroke and color is a reaction to what came before it. When I’m working on a portrait the subject appears to morph between multiple individuals over the course of the painting, often times becoming slightly androgynous in the process. I tend to bounce around the surface a lot, pushing and pulling between background and subject, painting over parts, figuring out what each piece needs until there’s nothing I would change.”

Working primarily with found images, Samuels-Davis spends months or even years on his portraits, with dozens of works in progress at a given time. His work will be included in the group exhibition PAINTGUIDE at Thinkspace Gallery this November. To see more of his completed paintings of faces, flowers, and animals, follow him on Instagram.

 

Everyday People Animated into Bizarre GIFs by Romain Laurent

French director and photographer Romain Laurent (previously) turns imagery from expressly planned still and video shoots into animated GIFs where only an isolated section is in motion. Focusing primarily on human subjects and the spaces around them, the looped compositions turn everyday scenes into surreal animations that you can’t help but to watch over and over. In one, a silhouetted subject has fiery sparklers for eyes, and in another, a rain-jacketed pedestrian’s face loops in the frame of his hood.

Separate from his commercial work, Laurent tells Colossal that his once weekly project has become more selective over the past two years in terms of the concepts and ideas that he translates into GIFs. “Other than that the approach is the same—find an idea and movement that amuses or speaks to me and make it right away!” Each GIF is unique, and depending on the complexity of the concept, Laurent can spend anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours capturing the photos before manipulating them in post-production for an hour or several days. To see more of Romain Laurent’s quirky partially-moving portraits, check out his Tumblr and follow him on Instagram.

Architecture Firm NUDES Uses Corrugated Cardboard to Form the Furnishings and Walls of a Mumbai Cafe

In the new Mumbai-based cafe Cardboard Bombay, corrugated cardboard composes each chair, table, and light fixture, in addition to the sinuous walls which sweep across the space. The restaurant was designed with the biodegradable material by Nuru Karim, founder of Mumbai-based architectural firm NUDES, who chose the material because of its sustainability, versatility, and ability to absorb sound.

Before starting on the cafe the design team tested the cardboard they wished to use, researching how it would react with typical hospitality factors such as water resistance and temperature changes. Next NUDES designed the undulating chairs, light fixtures, and wall partitions to have a similar free-flowing appearance, and treated cardboard tables with wax to seal the furniture and prevent damage. You can see more images from the (via designboom)

Image via Mrigank Sharma

Image via Mrigank Sharma

Image via @the_foodiediaries

Image via Mrigank Sharma

Image via @loverand.co

Image via Mrigank Sharma

Swirling Patches of Multi-Hued Colored Pencil Compose Portraits by Linsey Levendall

Artist and illustrator Linsey Levendall constructs portraits by sketching hundreds of tiny patches of color, creating multi-hued landscapes that take the form of his subjects’ hair and skin. The prismatic works show a range of human conditions, capturing everything from deep introspection to pure bliss. Levendall shares with Colossal that his works are inspired by a wide collection of interests including Salvador Dali, animation, graphic novels, and Cubism. The artist grew up in Cape Town’s Cape Flats, however he now lives and works in rural Canada. You can see more of his portraits created in colored pencil and ink on Instagram and Behance.

Dine Inside a Pair of Locomotive-Sized Grasshoppers at a South Korean Cafe

Grasshopper’s Dream is an insect-shaped cafe that sits along the popular Auraji rail bike route near Jeongseon, South Korea. The converted and stacked green train cars are placed near by the Gujeol-ri train station, and are each outfitted with protruding metal legs and thin antennae. Two other landmarks for bicyclists are also situated near the cafe — a pair of equally massive fish and another pair of grasshoppers that are far more cartoonish in appearance. At night, the insect-themed cafe is illuminated from below, presenting a great view of the dual bugs day or night. (via Design You Trust)

 

Seeing Double: Life-Size Crocheted Figures by Liisa Hietanen Imitate Fellow Villagers

Finnish artist Liisa Hietanen crochets and knits one-to-one imitations of her friends and fellow neighbors, accurately representing the subjects from their favorite outfits down to their furry companions. The series, Villagers, is a way for the artist to more deeply engage with those she often passes but might not interact with in her town of Hämeenkyrö, Finland.

“I meet my models in natural everyday situations,” she explains in an artist statement on her website. “The process of choosing a model is intuitive. The person depicted might be someone I meet in the library, in the locker room of the gym, or walking their dog on the way home. I don’t know most of my models beforehand but as the process goes on I get to know them.”

The slow, methodical style of her yarn-based craft works to counteract the pace of life, and also reflect the patience needed to get to know and understand another individual. The accuracy of her works to their origin subject is never the focus, but rather how she is able to get to know the person as she takes the time to build their double.

After completing each new work it is displayed somewhere public so the piece can engage in a deeper dialogue with the population of the town. Previous sculptures have been displayed at the local library, a flower shop, and a restaurant, however they also travel to contemporary art exhibitions such as the group exhibition From the Shadows of Night to the Brightness of Day at Makasiini Contemporary in Turku, Finland through April 7, 2019. Hietanen is currently working to complete a pair of new life-size sculptures—a local father and his four-year-old daughter. You can see other works included in her Villiagers series on her website and Instagram.

Mind the Gap: A Surrealist Exploration of London Street Life Seen From Above and Below Ground

Mind the Gap is a new complexly layered watercolor from the mind of illustrator Marija Tiurina (previously), which melds fictional scenes from above and below ground. The work is jam packed with both realistic and highly imaginative characters that exist in a parallel universe to North London. Cool colors denote what is happening above ground while reds and pinks towards the bottom right corner signal that the work has moved into the London Underground. The work was inspired by Tiurina’s daily commute on the Central line, which is one of the deepest and hottest lines in the city, and is known for its particularly heated rush hours during the summer. Take a peek at other rich watercolor works by Tiurina on her Instagram, Facebook, and Behance.

Patchwork Motifs and Knotted Thread by Francesca Colussi Cramer Add Texture to Vintage Photographs and Postcards

Italian artist Francesca Colussi Cramer started embroidering patterns and grids onto found photographs four years ago when she discovered a small vintage shop down the street from her house in North Wales. She was enthralled with the nostalgic feel of the store’s old images and postcards, and began adding thread to provide a visual and physical contrast to the original work. Some of her additions are abstract, like images which appear like patchwork quilts, while for others she makes more representational choices by layering the real life hues of a location or person in small bursts of color.

“Adding thread on paper alters an existing surface and creates such a rich texture and contrast with the original image itself,” Cramer tells Colossal. “It’s both visual and tactile, and doing it on paper, instead of fabric, comes with challenges and differences that I find more intriguing every day. It is a sort of conversation with the past in the images, like lifting a layer of dust and letting the color through, adding another chapter.”

Cramer still sources her photographs and postcards from the original shop that sparked the project, while also scouring a monthly vintage fair near her home and searching online on Ebay or Etsy. Cramer sells her embroideries on her online shop. You can view the process behind her works by following her on Instagram. (via Lustik)

 

Follow Nectar-Hungry Birds as They Soar Through New Automated Flip Books by Juan Fontanive

Artist Juan Fontanive (previously) constructs ornithology-oriented flip books which constantly loop with the help of a few hand-built mechanics. The still images are sourced from 18th and 19th-century natural history illustrations, and when combined imitate the motion of a bird in flight. Although these works were completed this year, Fontanive has been working on the series since 2004 while he was studying at the Royal College of Art. Previous animation explorations have featured butterflies and birds drawn with graphite and colored pencil. You can see more of his automated sculptures on his website and Vimeo.

Luminescent Sculptures by Shih Chieh Huang Reference the Spectacular Attributes of Deep Sea Creatures

Taiwanese artist Shih Chieh Huang (previously) produces day-glow sculptures that illuminate, expand, and deflate—creating a whirling light show that both excites and relaxes the mind. His kinetic sculptures are powered by computer cooling fans and circuit breakers which are prominently incorporated into the works. Dozens of transparent plastic tentacles, LED lights, glowing liquids, and mechanical features give the pieces the appearance of bioluminescent underwater creatures who have adapted to survive in the far corners of the sea.

Huang told Colossal that his current solo exhibition Incubate at Ronald Feldman Gallery in New York addresses chaos, order, growth, and pattern, and uses brand new materials such as continuous wire, a peristaltic pump for neon liquids, and a urethane belt. His work will be included in the upcoming group exhibition Useless: Machines for Dreaming, Thinking, and Seeing at the Bronx Museum starting this upcoming Wednesday, March 27 and running through September 1, 2019. You can see more of Huang’s glowing sculptural works on his website and Instagram. A tour of his current exhibition at Ronald Feldman Gallery, which closes April 13, 2019, can be seen in the video below.

 

Lively Designs by Studio Proba Celebrate Movement and Color

A Poster A Day rugs

New York-based artist Alex Proba has been sweeping the Big Apple with her large scale, pastel-hued artwork in diverse forms ranging from painted murals to hand-tufted rugs. The artist, who works as Studio Proba, has a multi-faceted background, with academic training in furniture, spatial, and graphic design, and an impressive career as a design director at Mother New York and artistic director at Nike.

She launched the Studio in 2013 as a side project, and since taking her business full-time, Proba has built an impressive client list, creating original work for brands like Google, Lululemon, and DropBox. Whether painting a barrel vaulted ceiling at a health clinic or designing a rug for a children’s library, Proba’s distinctive aesthetic ties her work together. Swirls and dollops of color, in flat fields or dappled with terrazzo-like patterns, are layered and interspersed with gestural neutral-toned lines that draw the eye to every shape.

Proba has been a Squarespace user for over six years. Because her Studio toes the line between fine art and commercial design, she takes advantage of the extensive customization of Squarespace’s website templates to showcase her unique offerings. “I needed something that is like me, ever-changing and able to adjust quickly,” Proba explains. With its vast selection of templates and ecommerce capabilities, “Squarespace allows me to add work quickly, but it also gives me all the tools to run a small studio shop, which is easy to use for the buyer and for me.”

By using Squarespace, Proba is able to grow and adapt her website to reflect her evolving brand. “Before I painted my first mural I thought, ‘Wait can I do it? I don’t know what I am doing.’ And then you just go for it and figure it out. I feel like that applies to almost everything. Just trust your gut. Even if you fail, you’ve tried, and you’ve gained a lot from it. You’ve grown, you’ve learned.”

Ready to take the leap with your passion project? Head to Squarespace.com for a free trial and when you’re ready to launch, use code COLOSSAL to save 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain name.

Pat Kim x Studio Proba for Industry City

Mural for MeMe’s Diner

Puzzle rug

Mural for TIA Clinic

Elle rug

Mural for Lululemon

Collage rug

This post was sponsored by Squarespace.