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Oh, this is a woman after my own heart… I have literally cut out those plants from the same book… so, where can I get those birds, cars, and giant bottles of booze? These are the whimsical and wonderful collages of American artist Vivienne Strauss. The only question I have now… how have I never written about her before? HOW!?
{ps. all of these pieces can be found in her online shop}
Yep, you guessed it, I’ve had these drawings bookmarked for ages, just waiting for Easter! They are all from a series, titled Manimal, by Ireland based artist Lee Boyd… granted, he draws all sorts of animal/humans, but these dramatic, romantic rabbits were calling my name.
Found bits and pieces of wonderfulness. Today I’m talking to New York based artist/illustrator Andrea D’Aquino. She is just as lovely as her work, and almost as carefree. She talked about being disciplined in the studio {ie., getting in there and doing the work}, but she also talked a lot about happy accidents and chance. I loved this conversation and I hope you do too. Listen on the little player right up there, or subscribe on iTunes.
First up, the original piece that she created for my book, Collage. Clearly she was drawn to the mustache in the starting image I gave all 30 of the artists… or the death of it:
So fun, as is all of her work! Fun and quirky and odd and wonderful… perfectly imperfect you might say. Here are a few of my favorites … oh, and when she said she’s been drawn to color since she was little, well, I was not surprised. Take a look:
Oooh, I love all of those random bits and pieces. I really do want to go for a walk around New York with her and see what we find on the street to add to a collage!
You might remember this from a few months ago. I wrote about this beautiful book, a gorgeous version of Alice in Wonderland that was illustrated by Andrea, and published by Quarto. It’s absolutely wonderful, and I love that she was able to put her stamp, or style you might say, on a classic {tough task, but Andrea nailed it}:
Sigh. The end. Well, almost… Andrea sent me a few photos of her studio! UHU stick, kinda color-coordinated piles of found stuff, and a sneak peek at the cover of her new collage book, “Once Upon A Piece of Paper”, {due out this fall}:
Ok, now it’s the end. Thanks to Andrea for doing this, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode {and generously giving away two VIP tickets to the Affordable Art Fair in NYC next week… enter here because I’m drawing the winner at noon on Saturday March 26th}, and of course thanks to you for listening. There will be more art for your ear next week.
Other links:
Intricate weavings. Made from paper. PAPER! This is the incredible work of India-born, Australia-based artist Gunjan Aylawadi. Here is part of her very poetic artist statement:
Through her unique and intricate, paper tapestry technique, she explores the intersection between craft traditions, sensory pleasures she experienced growing up and the new culture she finds herself in now. Crafting thoughtful mosaics out of personal reflections, she creates works with simple materials and processes that are as important as the end result – illustrating the quiet power of slowing down and a thoughtful absorption of our environments.
The patience she must have… I cannot even begin to imagine.
My friend/idol Ben Skinner is at it again. This is a new series he’s working on. Paint? No. Holographic transfer foil. Yeah, that’s how Ben rolls. But he doesn’t stop there, oh no, a holographic foil plant would not be complete without the illusion of a chainlink fence created with engraved Plexiglass. Sigh.
I did a little poking around on his Instagram feed to get those “in progress” closeups, but let’s be honest, photographs just don’t do these pieces justice… here’s a little video that I also found during my snooping researching that really gives you a sense of this work (pre-engraved plexiglass fence):
Magic.
… and the winner is… NICOLE REDDINGTON! Congratulations Nicole, have an amazing time – I hope you get to see Charlotte’s work in person! And thanks to everyone that entered – stay tuned because there are always more giveaways around the corner.
……..
Sigh… these vibrant oil paintings make me want to go swimming on a warm, tropical night! Mind you, they also make me want to go to the Affordable Art Fair in New York next week. Yes, these gorgeous paintings by Brooklyn based artist Charlotte Evans will be there… and you might be too! Saatchi Art has given me a pair of VIP tickets to give to you! Leave a comment below and I will draw one name on Saturday March 26th, at noon pst. The winner can decide which of their lucky friends gets that second ticket. Here are the details:
Two Complimentary Tickets to the Private View of the Affordable Art Fair ~ Courtesy of The Jealous Curator and Saatchi Art
Join Saatchi Art on Wednesday, March 30th from 6-9pm for the VIP Private View of the Affordable Art Fair in New York City. Saatchi Art will be presenting new works by 9 outstanding emerging artists on the first level in Booth #1.49. VIP guests will receive a copy of Saatchi Art’s new print catalog, as well as a limited edition tote bag, while supplies last! We look forward to meeting you in New York.
VIP Pass includes admission to each day of the fair, including After Dark and the Sofa Session with Saatchi Art Chief Curator Rebecca Wilson on Thursday, March 31st at 1:30pm.
Featured artists: Kevin Bradley and his Church of Type, Fabio Coruzzi, Charlotte Evans, Alex Jackson, Koen Lybaert, David Fredrik Moussallem, Robert von Bangert, Dean West
The Affordable Art Fair, Metropolitan Pavilion 125 West 18th Street, New York, NY *between 6th and 7th Avenues
Ok, if you’re going to be in New York next week, leave your comment below… good luck! {ps. HUGE thanks to Saatchi Art for this fantastic giveaway xoxo}
Oh. Yes. I love this series, titled “Swimming Pool” so, so, so much. The simplicity, the color palette, the little bits of perfectly placed text. Sigh. This is the clean and striking work of Slovakian photographer Mária Švarbová. Let’s just say, if Wes Anderson ever wants to make a film in Bratislava, I know who he should call.
{… thanks to maria ysasi for sending me a link to this wonderful work}
If you’re thinking to yourself, “Cool… wait… is that… hair?”, you’d be exactly right. Crazy and amazing. This is the work of Brooklyn based artist Spencer Merolla. I’m going to let her explain what this is about and where it came from:
“This series takes the Victorian women’s practice of sentimental hairwork as its jumping-off point. For the Victorians, mourning was a very public act. Rather than a private emotion or an embarrassment, grief was a popular motif for the arts and fashion. What strikes modern sensibilities as mawkish and overly sentimental behavior was, at the time, considered proof of a person’s sincerity and morality. Ornamental hairwork, painstakingly crafted from the hair of loved ones, was a fashion that insisted the wearer embodied these virtues. This work plays with the tension between sincerity and emotional performance, imagining a contemporary practice in which moderns might socially engage with death’s physicality. The dissonance of the craft (when transposed onto the emotional and aesthetic landscape of our times) draws attention to the ever-shifting boundaries of permitted public display.
That the hair must be severed from the body to be worked in this fashion is a compelling aspect of the practice for me. With few exceptions, the provenance of antique hairwork is now unknown. As a result, it loses its essential quality of referring to a specific person, while still being a distinctively “personal” object. In a sense, the story of hairwork is a testament not of our capacity to remember our lost loved ones, but of our ultimate inability to hold onto them.”
Yep. Crazy and amazing.
Today I’m talking to Swedish artist/illustrator Camilla Engman. Eep! She is one of those people who I’ve got way up on an artsy pedestal… and so do a lot of you apparently! I’ve had several people send messages asking if I can get her to come on the podcast. Yes, yes I can! Listen on the little player right up there, or subscribe on iTunes.
Let’s start with a few of my favorite paintings by Camilla:
Ah, so good. Mysterious, narrative, and oh so beautifully painted. We talked a little bit about her strange characters… the bears and dogs etc… turns out they represent people {people that may or may not take on those animal-like characteristics}:
Ahh, I love them so much. So sweet and innocent… but I have a feeling they’re probably not quite as sweet and innocent as one might think. Next, these are the amazing envelope collages, from her “Distant Friends” series that she and Ana Ventura started together. I cannot get over them. So simple. So smart. So “damn I wish I thought of that” :
LOVE! We also talked about her studio. Sigh. I want to go to there:
She’s in her own little house which is part of a larger arts community area, in Gothenburg Sweden, called Konstepidemin, which means “the epidemic of art”. There is a little blue restaurant, galleries, AND guest studios that you can apply for as part of their artist-in-residence program. Here’s a little peek:
Yeah. Let’s ALL go there! Thank you so, so much to Camilla for talking to me, even though she was worried about her English… which I thought was perfect/much better than my Swedish; thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode; and THANK YOU for listening! There will be more art for your ear next weekend.
Other links:
Chicago based artist Laura Berger… so good, right? Well look what she’s doing now… YES! It’s as though her paintings have popped right off the canvas and onto the tabletop. Ceramic versions of her lovely little people:
Love.
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