Seoul-based artist Lee.K creates incredibly dynamic portraits using combinations of charcoal, pencil, and ink. The artist layers fine cross contour lines over broad swaths of charcoal to build hair, cheekbones, noses, and eyes with a strong sense of life despite the grayscale palette. You can see more from Lee on Instagram. (via Booooooom)
“Sedna,” all images provided by Rachael Talibart
As a child, photographer Rachael Talibart would sit on a deck near her family’s home on the South Coast of England and imagine the mythical creatures that would form and instantly evaporate inside the crashing waves. As she grew older she studied the sea monsters described in Homer’s Odyssey and used this education to fuel her current series, Sirens. Instead of merely capturing the haphazard way waves might form during violent storms, Talibart uses a fast shutter piece to freeze the water into sculptural shapes that appear like gods or monsters rising out of the sea.
In several images, faces can be seen at the forefront of the wave, charging above the sea in a powerful arc. The faces are hauntingly present, as if a monster is truly locked in the tumultuous sea. “For me, the ocean will always be a potent source of inspiration,” Talibart explains. “It makes small, unimportant things of us all yet, at the same time, it is exhilarating and profoundly life affirming.”
The series has shifted and evolved since its start in 2016, including the creation of a fine art book by the same title published by Triplekite. Her solo exhibition Tides + Falls will open at Sohn Fine Art Gallery in Lenox, Massachusetts on September 7 and run through November 11, 2018. You can see more examples from her Sirens portfolio on her website and Instagram. (via Wired)
“Goliath”
“Ceto”
“Aphrogeneia”
“Hippocamp”
“Loki”
“Medusa”
“Thetis”
“Mishipeshu Roars”
“Pounce”
“White Walker”
Textile artist Tamara Kostianovsky creates realistic elements from nature out of strips of fabric and discarded clothing. In her latest series, the artist forms severed tree stumps from pieces of her late father’s clothing, integrating his belongings into a landscape of layered, multi-colored logs. The works address the passing of time and allude to the body returning to the environment after death.
The project is inspired by the South American people of the Andes who believe that Mother Earth is embodied by the surrounding mountains. Kostianovsky translates this idea to placing clothing items into sculptures that represent the earth and its environemnt. She explains in an artist statement: “Fusing the shapes of severed tree stumps of different forms and sizes to a palette indicative of the insides of the body, [the series Tree Stumps] pays homage to the cultural heritage of the people of Latin America, while presenting an alternative way of thinking about our post-industrial relationship to nature.”
Kostianovsky became entranced with the body while working at a surgeon’s office during her adolescence. She continues to make work that examines muscle and bone, often in other species such as livestock or whales. You can take a look inside the artist’s studio by visiting her Instagram. (via Colossal Submissions)
Using the visual metaphor of a coral reef, artist Rogan Brown (previously) introduces his audience to the diverse bacteria, archaea, fungi found in the human body through paper-based sculptures. The detailed works are created after months of research and hunting for aesthetic parallels that might link the two surprisingly similar worlds.
His series Magical Circle Variations merge these sources of inspiration with a pastel color scheme that can also be found in a coral habitat. “What the reef and the microbiome have in common is that they both consist of biodiverse colonies of organisms that coexist more or less harmoniously,” Brown explains. “There are further parallels between coral and human beings in that we are both symbiont organisms, that is we depend on a mutually beneficial relationship with another species: coral only receive their beautiful colors from varieties of algae that live on them and human beings can only exist thanks to the unimaginably huge and diverse number of bacteria that live in and on them.”
Brown hopes that his intricate paper sculptures will allow his audience to more greatly conceptualize the bacteria-based landscape of the human body. Works like these will be exhibited with C Fine Art at the upcoming Art Market Hamptons July 5-8, 2018. You can see more of his work on his website.
Reading Water by Peter Werkman
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Debra Broz cleverly fuses found ceramic figurines to create comical new animals. From high-fiving horses to boxers with parrot wings, her work exists in the space where familiar and surreal meet. The artist shares with Colossal, “As I look for pieces that match in scale I’m brainstorming: What makes this funny? What makes this strange? How subtle or extreme does an alteration have to be to make someone notice?”
Broz also works as a ceramics restorer, and her professional training and experience gives her the tools to create these seamless amalgamations without making molds or fully recreating the component torsos, heads, and limbs. The Los Angeles-based artist describes her mixed influences of mythology and biology:
I play on the idea of the “mad scientist”, cutting things apart and forming them into something else, like Dr. Moreau or Dr. Frankenstein, but I often find my initial inspiration in the biological world. Some pretty amazing mutations, anomalies and unusual traits have been found in animals over history. “Freaks” have always amazed, but also amused and often frightened people – they are a source of mythology and folklore that is pervasive.
Upcoming projects include a book, scheduled for 2019, and new figurines that branch out to include different materials. You can stay up to date on Broz’s work and see behind-the-scenes on her Instagram. (via Lustik)
Photographer Suzanne Saroff (previously) continues her Perspective series, using water and glass to warp the appearance of vibrantly colored dragon fruits, lobsters, cabbages and other flora and fauna. You can see more of her striking images including the still life series titled Shadows, on her website and Instagram.
