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Category: Photography

Discordant Nature. Jessica Tremp

When we’re out hiking, I always notice something that seems so contradictory. One would assume that most people who hike are doing so for the enjoyment of the outdoor world. So why in the world would they think it is OK to leave their trash all over the trail? Man in general seems to have this sort of dysfunctional relationship with nature and in this series of photos by artist Jessica Tremp, I see the drama being played out.

Nature, in its ineffable beauty calls out to our spirits and our souls. We long to not just see it, but experience it, for it to become a part of us. But inevitably, our selfishness gains the upper hand and we do the very thing we hate– we become part of the problem. We drive our car too much, we let the water run while we brush our teeth, we throw away what we no longer want and so that our garbage fills what was once pristine. And then we cry over what we have done, cursing ourselves, only to continue the cycle day after day.

To see more of Jessica Tremp‘s work, please visit her website.

All images via the artist’s website. Artist found via The Artful Desperado.

September 12, 2014
In Pieces. Dean West + Nathan Sawaya

As we get back into the swing of normal life following our week in the wild, I’ve been struck by the obvious artificiality that surrounds so much of our landscape. Plastic flowers where real should be, fountains instead of waterfalls. In their In Pieces series, photographer Dean West and Nathan Sawaya present highly stylized, manipulated representations of modern life.

Upon first glance, these may appear as simple photographs, just as that strip mall facade from a distance might appear to be a row of historic buildings. But on closer inspection, we see that these are carefully crafted tableaus combining West’s photography with Sawaya’s LEGO sculptures to create an unreal reality. ( click on each image to enlarge the photo and see the LEGO elements better ).

To see more from the In Pieces series, please visit the collection website. You can check out more work from Dean West here and Nathan Sawaya here.

All images via the In Pieces website.

September 9, 2014
Woven Tales. Lala Abaddon

Artists are often stereotyped as a caricature of sorts– wacky, flittering, unorganized types who thrive on free expression. And while some of that is often true, many artists find creating in a highly deliberate, meticulous way to be the best fit for their mode of expression. For Brooklyn artist Lala Abaddon, her painstaking process of weaving photographs to create a new composition has as much to do with expression as any abstract painting.

Abaddon carefully hand-cuts existing analog photographs and then hand-weaves several together, deconstruction leading to new construction, old stories becoming a part of a new tale. The artist often juxtaposes intense images with more delicate ones, the compositions sometimes abstract, or hinting at a figure seen behind the visual curtain created by her woven technique. The texture and depth she creates isn’t just visual, but physical too, so that three dimensions are transformed first into two dimensions by the photographic process, then rebirther again in three dimensional form as a weaving.

Check out the artist at work–

To see more of Lala Abaddon‘s work, please visit her website.

All art images via the artist’s website, studio image via HiFructose. Thanks to SCAD curator Aaron Levi Garvey for introducing me to this artist!

August 26, 2014
Fielding Color. Mitch Paster

I’ve been kind of obsessed with the atmosphere of color lately. From my #colorforaging2014 project on Instagram, to the Feminine Wiles series, to some newer ideas I’m exploring, color is in the forefront of my mind. I’m continually amazed by the way a slight shift in hue can change our perception of a place, a person, an atmosphere. In his Color Fields series, Brooklyn photographer Mitch Paster distills scenes down to the essentials of color.

As if viewed through a thick, opaque fog, Paster’s photographs leave us only with fields of color from which to glean any information about his subject. We can conjecture as to what we may be seeing, but there is no certainty. What we can get, however, is a feeling for what is there.. the bright warmth of light, the blue of sky. I am left, not really guessing, just basking in the color and light, blissfully ignorant as to what is there.

To see more of Mitch Paster‘s work, please visit his website.

All images via the artist’s website. Artist found via Uprise Art.

August 13, 2014
Collected Treasures. Jennifer Steen Booher

When I was a little girl in Florida, I always remember my mom collecting shells every time we went to the beach. She wasn’t( still isn’t ) a swimmer, but she loved going to the beach and finding treasures. Maybe it’s where my foraging instincts come from? Maine photographer Jennifer Steen Booher creates abstract portraits of a day’s experience and what was found.

prints available in The Trove, Artsy Forager’s Great.ly gallery

Whether the beauty of the craggy texture of a shell, or the shocking color of a piece of discarded plastic, each piece is a symbol of that particular instance, isolated against a bright white backdrop, even the ugliest trash becomes something special. After she has collected her treasures, Booher takes them back to her studio where they are carefully, meticulously arranged. The collections may seem random and haphazard, yet the artist’s eye finds common ground.

To see more of Jennifer Steen Booher’s work, please visit her website. Prints of Clematis Seedhead and other work by Jennifer Steen Booher can be purchased in The Trove, my gallery on Great.ly!

This post contains affiliate links. As a Great.ly Tastemaker and curator of The Trove, I receive a small commission on each piece sold from The Trove boutique gallery.

August 6, 2014
Hiding in Plain Sight. Flora Borsi

It can be so easy to push what we are or what we’re feeling back into the depths. Everyday life necessitates that we “get on with it” and we genuinely want to. But not being real with ourselves and with the people around us leads to surface relationships in which we just can’t be real. This series by Hungarian artist Flora Borsi beautifully seems to illustrate the struggle to balance self protection and vulnerability.

We need those people in our lives we can get real with. The ones that will cry with us, listen to us, laugh us through the weeping. Maybe we think no one else will understand our struggle. But if we never give them the chance, how will we know?

Borsi mixes photographic elements with painting techniques to create these emotionally charged images. To see more of Flora Borsi‘s work, please visit her website.

All images via the artist’s website. Artist found via I Need a Guide.

July 21, 2014
Troy Moth

There is such a magic and a mystery to the natural world surrounding us. The way trees grow, skies shift, often seem to be inherently artful and purposeful. The work of Canadian artist Troy Moth gives expression to those dreamful moments.

When Mr. Forager and I are out hiking, sometimes we stop talking and just listen to the forest– trees creaking, the rustle of birds in a bush, a breeze gently rattling branches. Occasionally we come across a particularly lovely tree, stroke its bark and imagine it breathing and taking in the enormity of its long and vast life. I wonder how these beings know how to find the food, how to find the light. We make it such a struggle, they make it seem so effortless.

To see more of Troy Moth‘s work, please visit his website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

July 11, 2014
The Artsy Nature: Joshua Tree & Karen Silve

While Mr. F and I were reluctant desert-dwellers and are sure to steer clear in the summer months, I’ll be the first to admit that spring in the desert is absolutely enchanting. What has been dry and dormant for months on end comes to life with color!

This post is the second in a new series, The Artsy Nature, in which I pair a photograph from our travels and forays into the wild with a work of art in which I find a reminder of that moment.

photo | cholla blooming in Joshua Tree, CA

art | Wildflowers 1 by Karen Silve

Though I have no idea the original inspiration for Karen Silve‘s Wildflowers 1 ( cropped above ), the palette of yellows and greens instantly takes me back to our desert spring. It was a time when we knew our own arid wandering would soon come to end and life was filled with dreaming of new beginnings. That spring was also a time of renewal for both of us, I remember us both brimming with energy and creativity, just as Silve’s painting is awash in lively movement.

Check out The Artsy Nature archives for more in the series!

Photo by Artsy Forager, art image credit linked above.

July 1, 2014
Delicate Dramas: Isabelle Menin

Have you ever thought about the stories unfolding around you? I don’t mean what the neighbors are up to, but the countless big and tiny worlds humming along around us, hardly aware of our presence? As Mr. Forager & I were backpacking in the Trinity Alps last weekend, it struck me how very small we humans are in this vast world, and yet how self-important, while the majority of life on earth couldn’t care less who we are and what we do. The work of Belgian artist Isabelle Menin seems to illustrate those teeming microcosms so blissfully unaware of our presence.

Menin creates these flowery domains by photographing flowers and then using digital software to layer, manipulate, and bring forth explosions of color and light. The resulting images are incredibly mysterious and sensual, almost operatic in their style– filled with melodrama and small, elegant nuances. There is a feeling of emergence and immersion, that walking out of darkness into light and vice versa. I might seriously consider giving up this world for hers.

To see more of Isabelle Menin‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

June 26, 2014
On the Road: Matt Sawyer

Thanks to this gypsy-like lifestyle we’ve chosen, Mr. Forager and I find ourselves on frequent road trips. Whether journeying to our next destination or exploring our current spot, we’ve put a lot of miles on our little Hyundai! Each stretch of highway has its own personality and Seattle artist Matt Sawyer beautifully captures the atmosphere of the view from four wheels.

prints available through the Artsy Forager Collection for Mantle Art

prints available in the Artsy Forager Collection for Mantle Art

An analog fine art photographer, Sawyer’s work has this beautiful signature palette– desaturated yet strong color and light that is reminiscent of those mornings when you rise before the sun to hit the road and evenings when you decide to just try to make it a little bit farther before stopping for the night. There is a quietness about this series, as if you’ve turned the radio off, stopped talking and just listened to the road as it passes. It has stories to tell, we just have to listen.

To see work by Matt Sawyer, please visit his website. Be sure to check out the collection of Matt’s prints available in the Artsy Forager Collection for Mantle Art!

All images via the artist or his blog.

*This post contains affiliate links. As curator of the Artsy Forager for Mantle Art Collection, I receive a small commission on each piece sold from the collection.

June 20, 2014

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