artsy forager

Category: Photography

  • Terrestrial Manipulations: Mark Dorf

    Terrestrial Manipulations: Mark Dorf

    One of our favorite things about taking time out for hiking and camping is getting unplugged.  No laptops, no iPad, no phone.  Only a camera.  I believe these excursions truly help Mr. Forager and I in our ability to willingly step away from the devices that seem to be ever present.  In his photo series //_PATH, photographer Mark Dorf  examines our dependency on technology and the impact that attachment is making on society.

    //_Path by Mark Dorf //_Path by Mark Dorf //_Path by Mark Dorf //_Path by Mark Dorf //_Path by Mark Dorf

    The photographer imposes 3D renderings and collage into photographs of lush forests, deserted beaches and snow capped mountains.  This technology we welcome so readily into our lives is encroaching ever so rapidly upon everything we touch, everything we see and do.  How long until our phones work in the now unreachable depths of the woods?  How long until we are no longer able to switch off?

    To see more of Mark Dorf’s work, please visit his website.  Was unplugging more one of your resolutions for 2014?  How are you doing so far?

    Artist found via Design Boom.

  • Sculpted Illusions: Erin O’Keefe

    Sculpted Illusions: Erin O’Keefe

    So much of what we see depends on how our eyes and brain work to create perception.  Last week, I shared the work of a photographer who creates work to change our perception of the body.  In her series, Things Fall Apart and Collection, artist Erin O’Keefe uses our methods of perception to create what seem to be three dimensional sculptures.  Or are they?

    Folded Mirror by Erin O'Keefe Scholar's Rock by Erin O'Keefe Venus by Erin O'Keefe Cicada by Erin O'Keefe Red Box by Erin O'Keefe

    Magicians and illusionists have been using our perceptions to create seemingly impossible tricks for centuries.  In order to process information at such a rapid pace, our brains take short cuts for us, but sometimes, they get it wrong.

    Erin O’Keefe crafts these “sculptures” from cut and torn photographic images.  Using the visual elements within the images themselves, she creates the illusion of a three dimensional object.  The “objects” are then photographed as if a piece of sculpture, further adding to the illusion and our brains’ confusion!

    Were you fooled?  To see more of the work of Erin O’Keefe, please visit her website.  Be sure to have a peek at all her other stunning work!

    All images via the artist’s website.

  • The Body Sculptural: Isabelle Wenzel

    The Body Sculptural: Isabelle Wenzel

    ‘Tis the season for transformational decision making aka New Year’s resolutions. We’ve all made our lists of who we’d like to be by the end of 2014– physically, mentally, emotionally.  We start off the year with such hopes and expectations for ourselves.  We make concrete goals but have we given consideration to changes in thinking and perception?  What if instead, we concentrated on how we see ourselves?  In her Models as Surfaces series, photographer Isabelle Wenzel  challenges our perceptions by treating the human body as sculpture.

    Model #5 by Isabelle Wenzel Model #2 by Isabelle Wenzel Model #1 by Isabelle Wenzel Model #7 by Isabelle Wenzel Model #6 by Isabelle Wenzel

    We most likely think of ourselves in labels that have been put upon us by others– she’s the pretty one, he’s the funny one, etc.  But we are so much more than who we are pigeonholed to be.  We have the power to transform ourselves, just as Wenzel’s models transform their bodies into headless, sculptural shapes.

    So maybe our resolutions shouldn’t be so much goal oriented as perception oriented.  Instead of a resolution to create a painting a week, how about a goal of changing your perception of how you see yourself as an artist?  Or instead of the highly popular diet resolution, change the way you view food and how your think about your own body.  We can change our minds first and the rest will follow.  I’m resolving to give it a shot!  Who’s with me?

    If you’d like to see more of Isabelle Wenzel‘s work, please visit her website.

    All images via the artist’s website.  Artist found via Design For Mankind.

  • Moving In Shadow: Nanna Hanninen

    Moving In Shadow: Nanna Hanninen

    Do you ever feel like life isn’t quite real?  Like you’re sleep walking or drifting in and out of a surreal existence.  Occasionally, I get the strangest sense of deja vu.  Its like finding yourself in a place you experienced in a dream, but this time in reality.  These photographs by Finnish artist Nanna Hanninen have that same kind of unreal fluidity.

    Hannanin_People2 Hanninen_Prayer Tree I Hanninen_Plant VI Hanninen_People III Hanninen_People I

     

    Her figures are obscured, seeming to float on the surface, wandering in and out of the frame.  I feel like there’s a parallel somewhere for our lives, the way we roam from place to place, whether physically, mentally or spiritually.  How often do we find ourselves in one place, but feeling like we belong to another?  We are physically present but the mind and soul are elsewhere.  It happens, too, in our daily interactions.  Are we truly present in each and every conversation?  Or are we allowing ourselves to be someplace else?

    To see more of Nanna Hanninen‘s work, please visit her website.

    All images via the artist’s website.

  • From the Outside: Todd Hido

    From the Outside: Todd Hido

    I love the warm glow of window light at night.  In fact, when I lived alone, I used to put my lights on timers so that I came home at night to a welcoming glowing light.  In his Homes at Night series, photographer Todd Hido focuses his lens on the glow of evening abodes.

    Todd Hido Todd Hido Todd Hido Todd Hido

    Todd Hido

    There is a strange phenomenon that happens in the dark of night.  Some things become softer, more welcoming in the night, while others take on a more oppressive, sinister air.  Hido’s work strikes me as having elements of both, making me wonder what is going on beyond those lit windows.  Warmth and laughter?  Loneliness and despair?  I love the ambiguity of these photographs.  Each one seems to be the beginning of a story.

    More work by Todd Hido can be seen on his website.

    All images via the artist’s website.

  • Under the Stars: Vanessa Marsh

    Under the Stars: Vanessa Marsh

    Mr. Forager and I have been camping our way down the West Coast this week.  While camping isn’t always the most comfortable way to bed down, there is something about sleeping under the stars, hearing the wind, the crickets and such that can put us more in touch with the world above and around.  In her photogram based work, Oakland artist Vanessa Marsh  crafts images that remind us of the wonder starlight provides.

    Landscape #9 by Vanessa Marsh Landscape #8 by Vanessa Marsh Landscape #4 by Vanessa Marsh Landscape #12 by Vanessa Marsh Landscape #19 by Vanessa Marsh

    In shades of grey, Marsh creates scenes filled with shadows and silhouettes, the simple way we see at night, breaking objects down to their most fundamental forms.  Though the shapes may feel a bit dark and haunting, skies filled with stars beckon a welcoming hello.  In focusing on the skies above, we’re able to shift away from the darkness surrounding us and turn our faces toward the lights twinkling down.  How is it possible to look up into a star-filled night sky and not feel a twinge of hope and possibility?  It never fails to fill me with both.

    To see more of the work of Vanessa Marsh, please visit her website and Facebook page.

    All images via the artist’s website.  Artist found via Little Paper Planes.

  • Stillness Therein: Virginia Mak

    Stillness Therein: Virginia Mak

    Moments of quiet reflection seem too frequent and far between these days.  Today, I’m packing up the last of our belongings as we prepare to leave Western Washington tomorrow morning.  Stillness in the physical and especially mental sense has been eluding me for weeks.  So when I spotted photographer Virginia Mak’s work, the sense of peace she captures completely spoke to my own harried mind.

    Virginia Mak Virginia Mak Virginia Mak Virginia Mak Virginia Mak

    In these painterly photographs, we see figures moving toward or looking forward to something or somewhere.  There is a sense of peace and hopefulness that what we are looking for may be just around that bend or approach our doorstep any moment.  Figures are keeping watch, looking ahead, ready to move.  So am I.

    If you’d like to see more of Virginia Mak‘s work, please visit her website.  Artist found via isavirtue.

    Top two images via Bau Xi Gallery website.  All others via the artist’s website.

  • Chemistry of Place: Matthew Brandt

    Chemistry of Place: Matthew Brandt

    With each place Mr. Forager & I travel to, we always come away with corresponding memories and associations.  Maybe with the weather, maybe with the food of the region, maybe with the experiences we had.  The work of Los Angeles artist Matthew Brandt takes the idea of associations of place and actually physically informs his work.

    Taste Tests in Color, Laffy Taffy 3 by Matthew Brandt

    [ taste tests in color, laffy taffy 3, blue raspberry, banana and grape laffy taffy multi-layered silkscreen on paper, 30×40 ]

    Dexter Lake, OR 3 by Matthew Brandt

    [ dexter lake, or 3, c-print soaked in dexter lake water, 40×30 ]

    120821716891 by Matthew Brandt

    [ 120821716891, bubbilicious blueberry gum on paper, 40×30 ]

    Ketchup and Mustard by Matthew Brandt

    [ ketchup and mustard, ketchup and mustard multi-layered silkscreen on paper, 40×30 ]

    Mary's Lake, MT 2 by Matthew Brandt

    [ marys lake, mt 2, c-print soaked in marys lake water, 105×72 ]

    In his photographs of iconic American landscapes and places, the artist pays homage to the locale’s meaning sometimes by soaking his prints in the water of the scene in question, or by using unusual yet culturally meaningful printing mediums.  For instance, in his Houses series, photographs of typical American homes are printed with flavored gum, perhaps a nod to the children who grew up there and the memories the buildings carry.  For the Taste Test series, the artist printed quintessentially American landscape scenes with typical American condiments like mustard and ketchup or processed sweets like Laffy Taffy and Jello.

    The resulting prints become not just images of idealized places, but those places have somehow become a part of the artwork itself.  Just as each place becomes a part of those who have visited it.

    If you’d like to see more of Matthew Brandt‘s work, please visit his website.  Seriously, so much more amazing work to see there!

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Artsy Lately: Amanda Clyne

    Artsy Lately: Amanda Clyne

    If you’ve been following Artsy Forager for a while, you may have noticed a few recurring themes in some of the work I write about– man’s relationship with nature, fashion industry and its psychology of influence, and art historical themes being a few.  When I first wrote about the work Toronto based artist Amanda Clyne , she was drawing reference from and making connections between historical portraiture and high fashion photography.  In her latest series, she continues the fasciation and the lines become even more blurred ( pun intended ).

    In this work, she begins with a photograph of a painting.  The photograph is then printed onto paper to which it doesn’t stick, creating a wet, workable surface.  She then “paints” the photograph, then once the residue dries, the surface is scanned and the painting then once again becomes a photograph of a painting.

    Gainsborough, Erased by Amanda Clyne Coello ( Catarina Micaela ), Erased Fragment by Amanda Clyne Van Dyck ( Henrietta Maria ), Erased by Amanda Clyne Coello(la Dama del Abanico), Erased by Amanda Clyne

    The resulting image is ghostly, with an x-ray-ish quality.  A nod to the illusory nature of the original portrait?  An attempt to find the real person beneath the layers of fashion and facade?  In style and palette, these are much softer than Clyne’s previous series.  Yet they are still asking the same questions and it seems we, as a society tend to continue to give the same answers.

    If you’d like to see more of Amanda Clyne‘s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Walled In: Rosa Rendl

    Walled In: Rosa Rendl

    We often think of walls in a negative light, something to put up to keep danger out.  But they can also bring a sense of safety and comfort, creating for us a haven from the weather and the world outside.  In this series of photographs, Austrian artist Rosa Rendl gives an intimate look at the walls and the views they create in a Paris building.

    Rosa Rendl | artsy forager

    Rosa Rendl | artsy forager

    Rosa Rendl | artsy forager

    Rosa Rendl | artsy forager

    Rosa Rendl | artsy foragerRosa Rendl | artsy forager

    The perspective from which she composes her photographs creates flattened planes of view, so that the photographs lose a bit of their perspective and take on characteristics of abstract collages.  I’ve always found those spots where one surface meets another to be very interesting and quite telling regarding the way a space feels.  Rendl definitely has an eye for composition as she invites us into this Parisian world with just a peek at what may be.

    If you’d like to see more of Rosa Rendl’s work, please visit her website.

    Artist found via It’s Nice That.  All images are from the artist’s website.