Michael Halbert has a series of “inventors” that look like antique etchings. I love seeing revivals of this style.
And enjoy a bonus video of the scratchboard illustration for this great piece for Steamworks Beer:
Category: art
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From afar, you might think you’re looking at panels and portraits by one of the old masters.
But stepping closer you will see that Julianna Menna’s subjects differ ever so slightly from those in classical portraiture…in that they are inhuman and have no flesh.
Adornments spring from imaginary period costumes, unique yet strangely congruent with something that we…or a vaguely anthropomorphic species…might have invented in another time and place.
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My friend Stacey linked me to this awesome collection of Japanese monster illustrations by Gojin Ishihara.
The books came out in the 70’s, designed for kids. I wish my childhood library contained them!
I think these are some of my favorite vintage Japanese monster illustrations out there
See more here.
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The Topography of Tears is a fascinating visual study of tear crystalization under a standard light microscope, exploring the terrains of numerous emotions and forms of lacrimal activity. I want to paste some of the artist’s statement here, to give you her own lens on the work.
Elation:
The random compositions I find in magnified tears often evoke a sense of place, like aerial views of emotional terrain. Although the empirical nature of tears is a chemistry of water, proteins, minerals, hormones, antibodies and enzymes, the topography of tears is a momentary landscape, transient as the fingerprint of someone in a dream. This series ls like an ephemeral atlas.
Onions:
Roaming microscopic vistas, I marvel at the visual similarities between micro and macro realms, how the patterning of nature seems so consistent, regardless of scale. Patterns of erosion etched into earth over millions of years may look quite similar to the branched crystalline patterns of an evaporated tear that took less than a minute to occur.
Grief:
Tears are the medium of our most primal language in moments as unrelenting as death, as basic as hunger, and as complex as a rite of passage. They are the evidence of our inner life overflowing its boundaries, spilling over into consciousness. Wordless and spontaneous, they release us to the possibility of realignment, reunion, catharsis: shedding tears, shedding old skin. It’s as though each one of our tears carries a microcosm of the collective human experience, like one drop of an ocean.
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Liza Corbett’s pieces speak of modern fairy tales untold…
From the artist statement:
Liza Corbett’s work contemplates The Summer-Land, the spirit world that lays unseen alongside our own. Liza creates visual narratives populated with otherworldly women and animals, under heavy suns low in hazy, wan skies.
Her subject matter is tinged with the menace of pre-modern life and suffused with an air of melancholy. Influenced by nineteenth-century spiritualism, by Dark Romanticism, by myths, fables and old tales, Liza aims to create images that, like tarot or other methods of divination, suggest a strange and unknowable significance underlying our worldly existence.
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Troy Brooks’s female subjects are not what we might call “beautiful” in the traditional sense. But these oddly elongated, crystal-eyed ladies are nonetheless compelling to look at.
Each one seem to be a piece of a story (that writes itself differently for every viewer, no doubt).
One can’t help but wonder what lies beneath these contemplative faces…what have they seen?
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I was instantly drawn to this image by Fair Rosamund. I have always felt a strong affinity for deers (though not until my 20’s did I look into the symbolism of deer totem).
The meanings associated with the deer combine both soft, gentle qualities with strength and determination:
*Gentleness
*Ability to move through life and obstacles with grace
*Being in touch with inner child, innocence
*Being sensitive and intuitive
*Vigilance, ability to change directions quickly
*Magical ability to regenerate, being in touch with life’s mysteries
Isn’t that lovely?
I’m a bit picky about fairy tale inspired art, but I think her creations have an ethereal innocence to them that I cannot help but admire.
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Today I bring you Nathan Vranckx.
A fine take on classic still life:
Vanitas?
A few of his incredible creatures have a glowing orb in the chest. I love thinking of this as the monster heart; the visible power center of these strange beings.
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Though not quite for the faint of heart, the group show going on at Modern Eden Gallery right now is definitely worth checking out for those who can attend.
Your can tour the online gallery of multimedia projects…so hideous…so hard to look away.
A favorite of mine: the string bat.
Has anyone gone?
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Last year I came across this haunting image by Irene Garcia, but there was no image credit. I was happy to find it again and peruse her other work.
It’s a skeleton-laden portfolio, heavily inspired by dia de los muertos (works for me!)
I think this is my favorite pencil sketch.
SheWalksSoftly 