Beautiful, geometric sculptures that I want to hang on my wall… or on my shirt. These little pieces of art are brooches made from bits of colorful polymer clay by an Athens based artist/Agricultural Biotechnology student named Eva. Yes. I said Agricultural Biotechnology student.  Apparently, when she doesn’t feel like studying, she’s busy filling her Etsy shop, nomilk today, with all sorts of wearable art to make me jealous … make sure you check out the earrings, necklaces, and rings too! Love.

{via Pikaland}

“Pieces of the Moon ~ Photographs by Mikael Kennedy ”
Opening Reception ~ Thursday June 30th, 2011 6pm til late
Presented by Catalog Gallery, Vancouver
Curated by… me!

I am beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to hang this show! I have been a huge fan of New York based photographer Mikael Kennedy since the first time I wrote about him in 2009. We quickly became friends… well, email friends who have never actually met in person. Anyway, earlier this year I had an idea for a show, I emailed him about it {as email friends do}, and he said yes! Easy, right? Now all I had to do was find a gallery… and, thankfully, that was easy too. The guys at Catalog Gallery in Vancouver offered their amazing space in the very cool neighborhood of Gastown. I’ll keep you posted on our progress over the next few weeks… but until then, here, in a curatorial nutshell, is what this beautiful show is all about:

Over the past decade, American born photographer Mikael Kennedy has taken thousands of Polaroids during what has often been described as a ‘Kerouac-esque” journey, wandering back and forth across the continent, hitching rides, couch surfing, moving from city to city. In 2010, Kennedy had his first solo show in New York City, titled “Shoot the Moon” with the Peter Hay Halpert Gallery who now represents this immense body of work. “Shoot the Moon”, an exhibition 500 Polaroids was an introduction to Kennedy’s story, edited down from the thousands of Polaroids. I have looked at this series countless times, and while all of his work is a mysterious narrative, it is the photographs of the women that have completely drawn me in.

“Pieces of the Moon” features 50 images that have been pulled from the original “Shoot the Moon” show. When the photographs of these women are shown along-side the other 450 images in the series, they’re a quiet part of the overall story. But when hung together in this smaller, more focused grouping they create a beautiful, feminine view into the personal life of the artist. There is an undeniable intimacy in each image, revealing an obvious closeness to the subject – however, to the viewer, the details still remain vague. Were these friends, lovers, strangers, or all of the above? The images are titled with the name of the woman, the location of the photo, and the year, leaving it completely up to the viewer to piece these relationships, friendships, and chance meetings together. These are the women that have shaped Mikael Kennedy’s life over the past decade – and they are beautiful.

Um… yeah. It’s pretty much impossible not to be jealous of New York based artist Nicola Ginzel. As you can see, she turns mundane, and in some cases, discarded items into precious works of art through the painstaking application of embroidery thread, a little paint, and the occasional bit of gold leaf.  Yep, anyone that can make an old paper cup {not to mention a piece of toilet paper} look this beautiful, is definitely right up there on my list of “soul-crushers”.

{Nicola is part of a two-man show that opens tonight in New York, at Heskin Contemporary. The other artist is Jazmin Berakha… who I also happen to love! Thanks to Kate at Art Hound for the head’s up on the opening.}

Ok, all of you moms out there… get ready to cry. These images are part of a show called Threads of Feeling that just ended in March, at The Foundling Museum in London. Here’s the story:

During the late 18th century women who, for whatever reason, couldn’t care for their babies could bring them to The London Foundling Hospital. The idea was that the hospital would care for the babies until the mothers were ready to come back and get their children – sadly, many of them never did. However, in hopes that these women would be able to return one day, they put a system in place. No names were recorded, instead each mother left a piece of fabric that was unique in some way. Part of the fabric was left in the baby’s file, and the other piece was taken by the mother. This would prove which baby was hers when, and if, she returned. Over 16,000 children were left there between 1741 and 1760. These beautiful, and unbelievably sad, images are from the hospital’s records during that time… are you crying yet? Yep, me too.

{There is a fantastic article in The Guardian if you’d like to learn more… oh, and also cry more.}

Two words. Road. Trip. Who wants in? I’m pretty sure I could convince American artist Grant Haffner to come, as long as I promised him some paint, a bunch of markers, and a whole lot of open road!

Reminders is a funny, beautiful, text-based photography series by Austin artist Erin Hanson. Let’s be honest – we could all use a few tips to help us become better, more regular, people, yes? Yes. Oh hey, I think it’s working already… I just washed my dishes, and I plan on feeling the music later this afternoon.  See? Helpful reminders really do work. Now, go call your parents… and finish that bran muffin!

{via frankie magazine}

This is some incredibly powerful work… for something that isn’t even technically art. These photos were taken a few days ago by the US Marshall’s Office. They are the belongs of Ted Kaczynski {aka The Unabomber}, which are being auctioned off by the US Government this week. Creepy? Absolutely. But, strangely enough, they’re also really beautiful photographs. I think it’s probably this dichotomy that makes them so captivating. It may also be that, on first glance, they look like “collections of common objects” – something that a lot of artists are assembling, and photographing these days. However, once you know the context, it’s difficult to look at these images without feeling somewhat nauseous.

{All of the money raised in the auction is going to the victims’ families. Does that make it slightly less disturbing that these items are being sold? // I found this story through a tweet from Meighan of my love for you, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.}

What do you like to color with? Crayons? Paint? How about sand? Yes… sand! Japanese artist Naoshi creates these cute, and slightly bizarre, images using brightly colored sand on art board. In Japan it’s referred to as “SUNAE”. I, however, refer to it as “AWESOME”.

{via Dear Japan NY, a fantastic art project that continues to help Japan after the disaster in March. Their auction/event is on June 4th in New York. Find out more here.}

Ink.

In water.

Can’t.

Stop.

Staring.

Ok, I’ll look away long enough to tell you that these stunning photographs were captured by Italian artist/illustrator Alberto Seveso. And yes, it’s really just ink being poured into water. So simple, yet absolutely mesmerizing.

Staring.

Again.

If I’m dreaming, please don’t wake me up. I absolutely love the beautiful, slightly odd, dream-like work of Paris based photographer Maia Flore. Masked twins, backwards updos, and sleeping girls floating through France. Ah oui, je suis très jaloux.

{The images above are from these beautiful series: Maia och Flore // Big Head Poetry // Sleep Elevations}