Ok, I’m showing soft sculpture two days in a row, but when I found this work by Australian based artist Helle Jorgensen I couldn’t control myself. Barnacles made out of reclaimed wool, and discarded plastic beautifully crafted into sea anemones… how could I not write about it immediately? I imagine that she finds the reclaimed wool at garage sales and thrift shops, but where does she get that plastic yarn? She makes it herself of course, and if you have the patience that’s required, she’ll even teach you how it’s done.

{I found her while searching around flickr for a knitted birthday cake. Oh, and if you like these, you’ll probably want to have a look at Emily Barletta’s work .}

Yep, an entire year of being ridiculously jealous… and I hope that’s only the beginning! That’s right, one year ago today I wrote my very first blog post, and I quote:

‘If I could curate an entire show of only felt food I totally would.  I think they are hilarious, weird, and beautifully hand crafted. Sadly, all of these objects are on etsy.com priced anywhere from $8 to $24 because they’re considered craft, not art. Show them in a white walled gallery with shiny wood floors, add some much needed intent by calling the show something like “Comfort Food – A Nation Consumed” and mark my words, they’d be selling like hotcakes for a lot more than $8. It probably couldn’t hurt to adjust the scale a bit too… just ask Claes Oldenburg.’

So, one year later, with a ‘jealously curated’ show section now firmly in place, here it is… Comfort Food – A Nation Consumed.

{The lovely little knitted birthday cake above is by Helle Jørgensen, aka ‘gooseflesh’.}

I don’t know about you, but I always get a huge rush when I go into an art supply shop… so imagine how I felt when I found these!

In 2006, Helsinki based artist Jonna Pohjalainen spent the summer at the Environmental Art workshop of the Open Air Art Museum in Pedvale, Latvia. She arrived there supply-less and with an open mind. Everyday she would sit quietly taking in the rural landscape, sharpening her pencils and watching the sun set. Really, what else could she do but turn these grey aspen logs into an enormous, beautiful, art-supply-rush-inducing sculpture, titled Colour Pencils.

Um, I don’t even know where to start, which makes me wonder, how on earth does Jen Stark know where to start?  Well, at the paper store I guess. Yes, that’s right, I said paper. These insanely beautiful sculptures are made entirely of hand cut paper. I can’t even begin to imagine the focus required to create something like this… not to mention the hand cramps! Yowch.

I’ve been jealous of other artist’s studios before, but never quite like this. These images are from Joe Fig’s book Inside the Painter’s Studio in which he gives the reader a unique glimpse into the studio, routine and daily life of 24 painters. Now, most authors would go into these studios to observe, take some photos and get their interview. Joe Fig did all of that… oh, and he also perfectly recreated these 24 work spaces into miniature sculpture form {11″ x 11″ x 9.5″} right down to the teeney-weeney oil paints and the splattered mess on the floor. Yep. I love this book, I love these sculptures, and I really wish I had that many bottles, tubes and cans of paint in my studio!

{The sculptures shown above are the studios of 1) Eric Fischl 2008 2) Malcolm Morley 2007 3) Barnaby Furnas 2006}

I would love to own any of AJ Fosik‘s insanely beautiful wooden masks. But I wouldn’t hang them in my bedroom, for the obvious fear of nightmares involving Chinese dragons and Haida totems chasing me through a blindingly neon forest. Maybe in the living room? No, then I’d be constantly overwhelmed by my jealousy of his unbelievable craftsmanship, intricate design and stunning colour choices. Hmm, maybe it’s best that I just leave them at the Jonathan Levine Gallery in New York for now… until I can work through a few of my issues.

{I’m also a bit jealous of his gold shoes, not to mention the feature article that went along with them in TOKION Magazine, November 2009}

Stunningly beautiful and an overwhelmingly important message? Usually I don’t expect so much from my lamps, but I do now! British artist/designer Stuart Haygarth has shown me the light… too cheesy? Sorry, but it’s true! These spectacular chandeliers are breathtaking, and they are made from found/discarded man-made debris that is polluting our planet.

The first one is titled Tide. This huge sphere is made up clear and translucent objects (mainly plastics), that the tide washed up on a specific stretch of Kent coastline. The sphere of the chandelier ‘is an analogy for the moon which effects the tides, which in turn wash up the debris.’

The second piece is shaped like a drop of water. What could it be made from? 1800 plastic water bottles that were collected at Stansted Airport in England. Haygarth cut off the bottom of each bottle and tossed them in a cement mixer filled with sand and water giving them the look of frosted glass. Gorgeous.

The third one is my favourite. Nope, not your traditional, run of the mill disco ball. This one is made up of 4500 prescription eyeglass lenses, and instead of reflecting the light, ‘the light is refracted through the many layers of glass lenses. A magical explosion of light is created.’ I want this so badly it hurts a tiny bit.

It’s like a biology text book and a ball of yarn fell madly in love, got married and had a few babies.  And the matchmaker that got these two crazy kids together? New York artist Emily Barletta. I have to admit… I might be a little bit in love too. I have a soft spot in my heart for work that blurs the line between art and craft, and she has definitely done that with these stunning, organic sculptures. Crochet, embroidery, clay, bead work and a very interesting concept behind it all. Yep, a match made in heaven.

I truly love every piece of art that I write about, so it’s really hard to pick a ‘Top 10’… so I’m doing a ‘Top 15’. It has literally taken me hours to decide on only 15. Maybe I should do a ‘Top 100’ next year? Anyway, these are the chosen few {in no particular order}. Some of them have inspired my own artwork, others represent major milestones for The Jealous Curator, and the rest just make me really, really jealous.  Here’s to the year ahead… may it be filled with cheek-flushing inspiration & soul-crushing jealousy for all! Cheers and Happy 2010!

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Martha Rich (Sketchbook)

Trey Speegle

Alyson Fox

The Hot One Inch Action Show 2009

Margaret Kilgallen

Dave Barnes

Mikael Kennedy

Anthony Zinonos

Julien Pacaud

Diane Arbus

Tina Berning

Yellena James

Sarah Applebaum

Vivian Maier

Wendy Walgate

I want to be a curator at ACE Gallery. Want to know why? Well, how about locations in New York, LA and Beverly Hills, not to mention over one hundred amazing artists in their roster. I’ve shown the work of four of those amazing artists here because there was no way I could only pick one… how was I supposed to make a decision between fake-fur covered rockets and benches with loop-dee-loos in the middle of them? See, it was an impossible task.

{The work show above: 1) Gary Lang 2) Jeppe Hein 3) Jeff Colson 4) Sylvie Fleury}