artsy forager

Category: Sculpture

  • Cut Like Glass: Ramon Todo

    Cut Like Glass: Ramon Todo

    The rocks out here in the Northwest fascinate me.  Growing up in Florida, there wasn’t much in the way of rocks that I remember.. just tiny pebbles and sand.  But out here, there are big, beautiful rocks!  I always marvel at the variety when we find ourselves in a dry, rocky river bed.  Dusseldorf-based artist Ramon Todo is juxtaposing rocks with their distant cousin, glass, for some stunning studies in contrast.

    Todo1 Todo2 Todo4 Todo3

    The blue green hue and reflective surface of the glass give these stones a landscape-ish quality, almost as if the sky or sea were caught between the two pieces of earth.  Such an interesting contrast of textures, don’t you think?  And the glass is perfectly cut to fit between the stones, as if it evolved there naturally.  I want to turn one over in my hand and see how the light changes the reflections in the glass.

    If you’d like to see more from Ramon Todo, please visit his page at Art Front Gallery.

    All images via This is Colossal.

  • Artsy Lately: Rachel Denny

    Artsy Lately: Rachel Denny

    Mr. F and I often talk about what has drawn us to the Northwest.  The mild summers have a lot to do with it, but even more, is the feeling that, in comparison to so much of the US, there is a wildness here.  Big cities are few and far between, the landscape filled more with small towns, rural communities and much still wild and untamed wilderness.  The thought that we can go out on a hike and see deer, elk, bears, and even moose in some areas, is thrilling.  We are living on the edge, ya’ll.  But that also means that we, as humans and society are ever encroaching on the wilderness and the animals found therein are paying the price.  These themes of nature and our relationship with it and effects upon it are the catalyst for the work of Portland sculptor, Rachel Denny.

    Cold Comfort by Rachel Denny Tangled by Rachel Denny Soft Heart by Rachel Denny Lemon Thief by Rachel Denny Rumor of Spring by Rachel Denny

    In her work, Denny has created a visual language for exploring the charm and delicacy to be found in the natural world.  Whimsy belies a deeper meaning, if we take the time to look beyond what we see.

    Rachel Denny’s latest work can currently be seen in her solo exhibition, Outside In at Foster/White Gallery in Seattle through October 26th.  You can also see more of Denny’s work on her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • The Masks We Wear: Lucky Jackson

    The Masks We Wear: Lucky Jackson

    It’s that time of year.  Kids are planning who they’ll “be” for Halloween, adults are racking their brains to come up with costumes for themselves that are funny, clever, sexy, whatever the think they are or wish that they could be.  But the latest series by Canadian artist Lucky Jackson, I am the Hero of This Story, has got me thinking about the masks we all put on every day.

    Lucky Jackson Lucky Jackson

    It’s funny how we all grow up thinking we can do anything, be anything, but slowly over time as we age and life beats us down, doubt creeps in.  Maybe I’m not smart enough, or pretty enough, or cool enough, or brave enough.  So instead of believing that we can be the hero of our story, we play dress-up each day, pretending to be who we are not, faking it, hoping to make it through.

    Lucky Jackson Lucky Jackson

    Eventually though, either publicly or privately, whether when we’re young or at the end of our days, the facade will begin to crack.  We’ll come to realize that face we’ve been putting on all these years isn’t really who we are.  And hopefully, if we’re lucky, we’ll figure out who is truly hiding behind the mask.

    Lucky Jackson

    These painted woodcut pieces by Lucky Jackson harken back to those days of dreaming of who we would become, but also look to what happens to who we become as we listen to the voices around us.  Want to see more of Lucky Jackson‘s work?  Please visit her website.

    All images via the artist’s website.

  • Delicate Grace: Gosia

    Delicate Grace: Gosia

    Once in a while, I come across an artist whose work really captures me and I want to drink in each detail.  While perusing the work of another artist, I came across the website of his studio mate and immediately fell in love with what I saw.  The sculptures of Toronto artist Gosia haunted me with their delicate grace.

    Eva by Gosia Pearl by Gosia The Feeling Washes Over Me by Gosia Luna by Gosia The Penny Bust by Gosia

    The shrouded faces, the graceful features and gentle expressions, all rendered in snowy white.  They remind me of a quieter place, perhaps a place that doesn’t even exist, where time moves slowly and people are unfailingly tender and kind.

    If you’d like to see more of Gosia‘s work, please visit her website.  If you’re in Toronto, she has a show currently up at Latitude 44 Gallery until October 12th and will open a new show at Wall Space Gallery on October 10th!

    All images are via the artist’s website and Facebook page.

  • Pocket-Sized Memories: Jefferson Hayman

    Pocket-Sized Memories: Jefferson Hayman

    There were days when, to commemorate an engagement or a special occasion, one might have a tiny portrait painted for a loved one.  Or perhaps even now you wear a locket around your neck, or carry a special stone in your pocket.  There’s something enchanting about the preciousness of miniature treasures, isn’t there?  Tappan, NY artist Jefferson Hayman forges his own liliputian remembrances in his small framed photographs.

    Metropolis by Jefferson Hayman Good Fortune Locket by Jefferson Hayman Secret Little City by Jefferson Hayman Daymoon by Jefferson Hayman Martini by Jefferson Hayman

    The handcrafted silver gelatin and platinum prints are a delightful surprise when tucked inside antique boxes or frames of the artist’s making.  Larger than life places like Manhattan and the moon seem forever caught in a moment inside each little box, there to charm us all over again each time they are revealed.

    To see more of Jefferson Hayman‘s work, please visit his website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Divine Junk: Amy Santoferraro

    Divine Junk: Amy Santoferraro

    I come from a long line of hoarders, ..er collectors.  My grandmother had beautiful collections of costume jewelry from the 1940s-1960s that fascinated me as a little girl, as did her glass paperweight collection.  My grandparents were hunters of the first rate.  Always looking for something useful or unique and rarely paying much for it. 😉  That same spirit of finding objects with promise permeates these whimsical sculptures by Amy Santoferraro.

    Santoferraro_Three's Company

    The things that we hold onto say so much about us, what and who is most important to us, they physically tell the story of our lives.  For Santoferraro, the fascination with objects which may be past their usefulness leads to a reimagining of what those objects can be.

    Santoferraro_Spendid Grey Santoferraro_Ivory Dusk Santoferraro_Miami Moonlighting

    The artist creates these wonderful little dioramas using thrifted and Dollar Store finds meticulously arranged to compliment each other and give interest to the composition as a whole.  Kind of makes you think differently about that old fly swatter, doesn’t it?

    Santoferraro_Charlie Brown

    To see more work by Amy Santoferraro, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.  Artist found via Art is a Way.

  • In the City: Daniel Everett

    In the City: Daniel Everett

    As much as I love the quiet of rural settings, there is something undeniably appealing about the structures in urban life.  As we were showing Mr. F’s sister around Seattle last week, she was in awe of the architecture and I was reminded, too, to look up and around and take notice.  The work of artist Daniel Everett takes those intriguing bits of urbanity and isolates them in all their glory.

    Untitled, from Monument series by Daniel Everett
    Untitled, from Monument series
    Untitled, three pieces by Daniel Everett
    Three recent untitled works
    Untitled, from Monument series by Daniel Everett
    Untitled, from Monument series
    Untitled, from Monument series by Daniel Everett
    Untitled, from Monument series

    Sometimes, the structure is set starkly against a colorful, seemingly computer generated hue, and then others seem to almost melt into a white sky, pastel lines graphically juxtaposed.  Everett is taking those slices of urban infrastructure and challenging us to see them in a new way, for someone, this is the spot where they spend each day, perhaps a job they worked hard to get or their refuge from the rest of the world.

    And just because it’s awesome and I loved it too much to not include it, I give you..

    Artist Statement II by Daniel Everett
    Artist Statement II, gum

    Want to see more work from Daniel Everett?  Check out his website and Tumblr.

    All images via the artist’s website or Tumblr feed.

     

  • Crystallized Imagination: Alexis Arnold

    Crystallized Imagination: Alexis Arnold

    As Mr. Forager & I go through our belongings, deciding what goes with us and what stays behind, one of the hardest things to part with have been books.  Even as my family was packing up our Florida storage, it was so difficult to say “don’t ship it” to my books.  But it feels like we have less and less time for reading these days.  In fact, when I came upon these crystallized book sculptures by San Francisco artist Alexis Arnold, they reminded me of what my own mind feels like sometimes, having grown frozen from under-utilization!

    Post Mortem by Alexis Arnold
    Post Mortem, book, Borax crystals, 7x9x5
    Cookbook by Alexis Arnold
    Cookbook, book, Borax crystals, 9x6x6.5

    Reading stimulates the brain in ways other activities just don’t provide.  If you’re like me, you actually feel differently when reading a book than you do when reading online or even a magazine.  I feel like my mind is more engaged, more completely consumed than I do with any other type of reading.

    San Francisco Magazine by Alexis Arnold
    San Francisco Magazine, magazine, Borax crystals, 11x6x5.5
    The Catcher in the Rye by Alexis Arnold
    The Catcher in the Rye, book, Borax crystals, 7x5x3

    But for some reason, I just haven’t been compelled to pick up a book lately.  I’ve been known to devour books within a few days time.  Lately, though, in the evenings, normally prime reading time, I find myself reaching for my iPad instead, using the time to catch up on blogs or social media.  Maybe it’s because I don’t have a super comfy reading spot in this apartment.  Or maybe it’s because we only have overhead lighting ( which I hate! ), so there isn’t a cozy, makes-me-want-to-curl-up-and-read atmosphere.

    Allure by Alexis Arnold
    Allure, magazine, Borax crystals, 11x12x3.5

    These are all just excuses.  I am now adding an item to my to-do list: READ.  Not blogs, not social media.  A real live, smells like musty paper book.  I will do it!  Soon.

    Want to see more of Alexi Arnold’s work?  Check out her website.  Anyone else suffering from book withdrawal?

  • Color Harvest: The Deep Blue Sea

    Color Harvest: The Deep Blue Sea

    Maybe it’s finally living in a place surrounded by water after living in the desert last year, but I have been finding such inspiration in the various hues of blue to be found in the waters around Seattle!  So many gorgeous shades from the deepest, darkest blue to green aquas, I just want to plunge right in and see what mysteries await!

    IMG_1114It’s only natural that this blue obsession is trickling over into the artwork I’m foraging on my Pinterest boards.. here’s a little deep blue sea inspiration to get your own seas churning!

    Color Harvest_Deep Blue Sea

     

    [ clockwise, from top left: Elena Kalis |  John Armleder | Miranda Lake | Emily Ferretti studio | Michal Fargo | Jennifer JL Jones

    What colors are inspiring you this summer?

    All image credits linked above.

     

     

  • Life in Balance: Ben Fiess

    Life in Balance: Ben Fiess

    Mr. Forager & I both marvel at the way architects here in the Northwest deal with the terrain.  Houses and other structures are built to hug the earth or conform to it, often leaving us wondering what a feat of design and engineering it took to solve that problem!  The ceramic compositions of Philadelphia artist Ben Fiess  remind me of those precariously perched buildings.. seemingly random or off-kilter, yet as a whole making perfect sense.

    BC: DD: DB:: YW, porcelain, stoneware, fabric, tape, wood, 23x10x7 cm
    BC: DD: DB:: YW, porcelain, stoneware, fabric, tape, wood, 23x10x7 cm
    BL:: DD:: DO:: FS, porcelain, fabric, 23x10x7 cm
    BL:: DD:: DO:: FS, porcelain, fabric, 23x10x7 cm

    Fiess, whose more practical design I featured in last week’s Design Foraging, puts together these compositions with great care and concern for the elements of texture, materials and space.  Indeed, each piece seems like a perfectly balanced still life in three dimensions.

    GP: FS: SD:: PB, porcelain, stoneware, lizella, felt, rubberband, 23x13x7 cm
    GP: FS: SD:: PB, porcelain, stoneware, lizella, felt, rubberband, 23x13x7 cm

    In addition to line, form, and texture, color plays a key part in Fiess’s compositions.  He works within a tight palette, each cool tone balanced by the natural warmth of wood and textile elements.

    IW: WP: DD:: LB, porcelain, izella, wood, felt, tape
    IW: WP: DD:: LB, porcelain, izella, wood, felt, tape
    IC: SB: PS:: GD, porcelain, stoneware, felt, tape
    IC: SB: PS:: GD, porcelain, stoneware, felt, tape

    Want to see more of Ben Fiess’s work?  Be sure to check out his website here.

    All images are via the artist’s website.