Paper worlds

Mia Pearlman cuts paper to create these chaotic, whirling environments. Powerful, tumultuous landscapes without the land.

Noriko Ambe cut away these beautiful relief worlds that have a quieter, more painterly quality.

It's impressive to see how different the treatment of the same process can be. I also love the idea of revealing a new object or environment just by reducing what was there before. Not unlike Jean Blackburn's work from the last post.

Jean Blackburn

Today I'm assembling bookshelves from Ikea, part of the move towards maximizing our small amount of square footage this summer. The whole assembling process brought to mind this piece by artist Jean Blackburn. I love this piece......but I wouldn't want it to show up in a box w/ hardware.

Azalea OR

For so long I've wanted to start photographing some of the odd little places that are so characteristic of the small towns of Oregon as I remember them from when I was a kid. I always get a bit nostalgic for these places in the summer since that's when we ran around these rural areas either for camping or swimming or whatnot. I'm always afraid they'll be "improved" and lose all their great rough edges.

Yesterday I seized the opportunity while driving the I-5 to veer off course a bit and snap a few photos of the Azalea Market. It used to be a hotel and restaurant and at one time contained a post office. Outside a few freckled kids were hanging out with a jar of polywogs they'd just caught (catching polywogs used to be a passion of mine). Inside was dark and fairly sparse.... nothing much going on. Half the shelves were empty, as was the bird cage. An old black and white movie was rolling away on the t.v.. I'd always been nervous to ask to photograph these places but the owner seemed genuinely happy to have me snapping away as she explained some of the improvements she planned on doing.

Cynthia Ona Innis and Stas Orlavski

These gorgeous imagined landscapes by Cynthia Ona Innis make me so curious. Want so much to be able to stare very closely to see what she's done w/ all these mixed processes. Love the mix of looseness and fine controlled details. Seductive spaces.



Drawing from an array of historically sentimental imagery, Stas Orlavski creates these images and landscapes which are somewhat nostalgic, but in some ways so incongruous as to make them feel a bit tongue-in-cheek......and beautiful at the same time.

Patrick Jacobs

These magical little backyard scenes by Patick Jacobs are viewed through small lenses (about 3-5") which, alas, I haven't had the opportunity to see in the flesh but would seriously love to. Hopefully one day......meanwhile, though I can't find a website for this artist, you can see a few more images of these vignettes at Pierogi.

Donna Ruff and Jihyun Park

I think my jaw literally dropped when I saw this work by NY artist Donna Ruff. These burned paper drawings combine so many elements I love; beautiful line quality, the controlled looseness of the burning technique and book pages. I'm almost afraid of showing work that may influence me as much as this could! See more of her beautiful work, including books and installations here.
Or, if you're in NY this summer see the work in person here, or in Philadelphia check it out here.





Jihyun Park is another artist working incredibly skillfully and beautifully w/ the burned drawing method. These drawings are contemplations of Utopia done w/ incense on paper. Given that word “utopia” in Korean is “Yi Sang Hwang” and “Hwang” means “incense” the choice of incense as a drawing tool becomes clear.

Brooks Shane Salzwedel

You can find more of these beautiful, layered silhouettes by Brooks Salzwedel here.
Or, if you're in the LA area you can see them in person at the Black Maria Gallery.
I think I would be too tempted to touch the surface if I got my hands on the real thing.

Ricardo Lanzarini

Don't know exactly why it is I'm so drawn to impossibly tiny work, but here is an artist that always draws me in to study his painstaking details and I always end up smiling in the end when I realize I've been staring so long at rolling papers, or deceived by pencil shavings while trying to enter this liliputian world of eccentric characters.

Yeondoo Jung

Korean photographer Yeondoo Jung has some excellent projects on his website. The Wonderland series is an amazing collaborative piece but I don't want to give too much away, it's so cool to scroll through the images and discover what's going on for yourself. You can read more about his process here.

Cody Bustamante

I'm hoping that you can click on these and admire the amazing details contained in these intricate charcoal drawings by Oregon artist, Cody Bustamante. If not you can see more here, w/ good details or the real things here where they'll be showing soon in Pasadena, CA.

6-10-08

Coe & Waito

Coe & Waito.
I was google-ing images of jellyfish and found this. Would love to have seen this installation!

too good

Laura Splan

These delicate, lacey drawings of doilies and neuroanatomical forms by artist Laura Splan are made even more surprising with the knowledge that the primary drawing medium is the artist's own blood, taken from a stab to her finger.
To quote the artist's statement directly:
I was drawn to these images as a formal exploration of the elements of our body that tell us we sense pain or pleasure. We respond to these sensations in a way that we often have no control over. Bleeding itself is an involuntary response to the penetration of the skin. The images of neurons and other brain structures evoke the complex psychological and physiological responses our body has to outside forces. The forms of the brain structures act as visual metaphors for the extreme complexity and delicate fragility of the human body.

Lula Capri

I took a peek this morning at Lula Capri. It was such a treat to see what my friend has been posting on this new blog of hers. These gorgeous, intricate little worlds with birds and dogs are meticulously painted w/ the tiniest brushes you can find. They are just 5"x7" and the fine lines just seem to float effortlessly on the surface. There is something so loving and elegant about the way the dogs and birds are painted. Can't wait to see the paintings in person, Lula!

Misako Inaoka

Misako Inaoka is an artist in the bay area that works with the ideas of what we consider natural and artificial. The animals, plants and environments that she creates are a gorgeous blend of organic and plastic. Here's a bit of her statement describing her process:

To arouse notions of existence and coexistence, I construct environments that are rooted in the reality of vanishing species and mutating nature. My minuscule sculptures and site-specific installations force viewers to focus on small details and to take a harder look at their surroundings. My world is not a creation of total imagination, but is a hybrid of the artificial and the actual.

Riyaz Design

This collaboration team, Alexander Gorlizki, an English artist, and Riyaz Uddin, a master Miniature painter in Jaipur, Rajasthan produce some beautiful design work and paintings.
See it here.

the body breaks..... Devendra Banhart