artsy forager

Category: Figurative

  • Seeing Askew: Travis Collinson

    Seeing Askew: Travis Collinson

    One of my favorite things is to discover new views just by changing my angle of perspective.  How much more interesting some things become when we look at them with different eyes!  The work of San Francisco artist Travis Collinson challenges us to see consider simple scenes from a new aspect.

    Scatter by Travis Collinson
    Scatter, oil on canvas, 48×48

    Collinson’s figures, often caught in moments of what seems to be a trance-like state, are seen by the viewer in a sometimes voyeuristic perspective.  We may feel as if we are walking in upon a moment of private reflection, or intruding on the subject’s privacy.

    Marcy by Travis Collinson
    Marcy, acrylic on linen, 14×12
    The Pornography of Nature by Travis Collinson
    The Pornography of Nature, acrylic on canvas, 18×20
    Upside Down by Travis Collinson
    Upside Down, acrylic on canvas, 66×90

    In each composition, there is always the tiniest detail that almost goes without notice.  Yet once it has been seen, we can’t un-see it.  And it captures our attention with each glance, changing how we consider everything else we’re taking in.

    Rutso by Travis Collinson
    Rutso, acrylic on canvas, 56×32

    To see more of Travis Collinson’s work, please visit the websites of his representing galleries, Eli Ridgway Gallery and Maloney Fine Art.

    Artist found via New American Paintings.  Scatter via Maloney Fine Art, all other images via Eli Ridgway Gallery.

  • Artsy Lately: The Deep South and Other Stories by Gigi Mills

    Artsy Lately: The Deep South and Other Stories by Gigi Mills

    Having lived the first ahem, three decades, of my life in the South, I completely understand why people are drawn to it.  There is a co-mingling of worlds in the South, some owing to its sordid history, others a product of the atmosphere and the people who find themselves there.  New Mexico artist Gigi Mills, having grown up with her family in the circus on the West Coast of Florida, far from the “traditional South”, finds herself repeatedly drawn to its charms.  In her latest series, The Deep South and Other Stories, which debuted at Gallery Orange in New Orleans two weeks ago, the artist explores her attachment to a life that could have been hers.

    Some Days by Gigi Mills
    Some Days, oil on panel, 20×16

    A childhood in the circus, while filled with color, charm and adventure, doesn’t offer much in the way of stability.  For Gigi, it is that sense of permanence of place, of generations of history that leads her again and again to southern places.

    Somewhere on Esplanade Interior by Gigi Mills
    Somewhere on Esplanade Interior, oil on paper, 21×24
    Laundry in a Dark Landscape by Gigi Mills
    Laundry in a Dark Landscape, oil on panel, 24×20
    Interior with Baker and Cake by Gigi Mills
    Interior with Baker and Cake, oil on paper, 22×25

    In her work, as in many areas of the South itself, there is an enchanting sense of elegance and charisma that completely bewitches us.  But it is the complexities of this world that we find most intriguing– the secrets kept, the stories told and untold.

    Lagniappe of Pearls Conversation with Carlos by Gigi Mills
    Lagniappe of Pearls, Conversation with Carlos, oil, 12×16

    If you’d like to see more from the Deep South and Other Stories series, please visit the Gallery Orange website.  Gallery Orange also has beautiful Gigi Mills books available for purchase through their website– a lovely way to learn more about the artist and enjoy her work, even if a painting is out of reach.

    All images via Gallery Orange.

  • Bright Cravings: Kelly Nicolaisen

    Bright Cravings: Kelly Nicolaisen

    As I mentioned on Monday, I am battling a doozy of a cold.  I’m on my third day of confinement and first day of being out of bed before 10am ( although I’m writing this at 10:37am and I’m ready to crawl back in ).  I’ve been consoling myself with Pinterest and guilty pleasure tv marathons on Hulu.  But the bright colors and quirky compositions of the work of San Francisco photographer Kelly Nicolaisen remind me that there is fun and life to be had on the other side of this temporary yuckiness.

    Nicolaisen is an art photographer with an incredible eye for color and composition.  Each image is carefully balanced yet they still feel like the capturing of a fleeting, ordinary moment.

    Just in case we’d forgotten, Nicolaisen’s imagery reminds us of the color, joy and humor to be found in this life.  We aren’t meant to live in worlds of taupes and greys.  We need and crave the bright spots.  Living in the desert has taught me that.  For it is in those moments that we remember there is still delight to be found.

    To see more of Kelly Nicolaisen’s work, please visit her website.

    All images via Saatchi Online.

  • Artsy on Escape Into Life: Stasia Burrington

    Artsy on Escape Into Life: Stasia Burrington

    Nothing says spring like girls with flowery tattooes!  When I spotted this piece by Seattle artist Stasia Burrington on Artsyo, I was smitten with her work, her use of cut paper florals and girls is at once sweet and strong.  Love it!  I’m featuring Stasia’s work in my Artist Watch on Escape Into Life today, see it here!

    Clementine, charcoal, ink and fabric collage on Stonehenge paper, 11×14

    Stasia Burrington on Escape Into Life

    Artist found via Artsyo, image also via Artsyo.

  • Sketched: Kate Long Stevenson

    Sketched: Kate Long Stevenson

    I will never forget how intimidated I was during my first figure drawing class. And how incredibly awful I was. My professor was very encouraging, telling me to push through until it clicked. And then one day it did and I loved it. All that time spent agonizing over drawing the perfect figure gave me the freedom to let loose once I got it. Charleston artist Kate Long Stevenson seems to get it, too. Her elegantly sketched figures are perfectly imperfect.

    Femme Nue by Kate Long Stevenson
    Femme Nue, oil, latex, charcoal and chalk pastel on canvas, 22×28
    Pastoral by Kate Long Stevenson
    Pastoral, oil and charcoal on canvas, 30×40

    With a minimum amount of line, Stevenson shows us the essence of each figure, a hint of a toe reveals a foot, shapes and angles slightly exaggerated so that our eye finishes the sentence they’ve begun.

    Reclining by Kate Long Stevenson
    Reclining, 28×20

    Bold patches and slashes of paint cause the eye to follow the colors around the canvas, landing and concentrating on just the right spots.

    AKT by Kate Long Stevenson
    AKT, oil, acrylic, gouache, and charcoal on canvas, 18×24
    Woman by Kate Long Stevenson
    Woman, oil, gouache, charcoal and chalk pastel on canvas, 42×48

    To see more of Kate Long Stevenson’s work, please visit her Kate Long Stevenson website.

    All images but Reclining are via the artist’s Kate Long Stevenson website. Reclining is via the Chicago Artsource Chicago Artsource website.

  • Amplified Spaces: Jeffrey Palladini

    Amplified Spaces: Jeffrey Palladini

    Hotels are usually advertised as a luxurious means of escape. A place where you don’t have to make your bed and clean, neatly folded towels appear while you are out as if by magic. But they can also be places of desolation and despair. Where a cast-out husband goes to sort out his life, where the traveling salesman spends countless hours missing his family. In his Hotel series, San Francisco artist Jeffrey Palladini explores the intimacies of this microcosm of life.

    Pool #10 by Jeffrey Palladini
    Pool #10, oil and charcoal on wood, 55×37

    When I first spotted Palladini’s work at the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair, I was immediately drawn to his quiet expanses of solid color. The simplicity of his palette adds to the somber, isolated feeling in some of the work.

    A Late Morning by Jeffrey Palladini
    A Late Morning, oil and charcoal on wood, 13×9
    Missing Our Reservations by Jeffrey Palladini
    Missing Our Reservations, oil and charcoal on wood, 13×9
    The Highlights by Jeffrey Palladini
    The Highlights, oil and charcoal on wood, 13×9

    Then there’s the flip side of hotel visits– when all is fun and irresponsibility. Staying up late, sleeping in, lounging around the pool doing nothing at all. The anticipation of what might happen and memories you might make. In showing us glimpses of his subjects from behind, we voyeuristically gaze, wondering which kind of hotel scene we’ve stumbled upon.

    Pool #8 by Jeffrey Palladini
    Pool #8, oil and charcoal on wood, 37×25

    If you’d like to see more of Jeffrey Palladini’s work, please visit his website.  I hope you love this work as much as I do.  Seriously it was like a scene from a hotel bar.. I spotted it across a crowded room.. 😉

    All images are via the artist’s website.

     

  • Cardboard Beauty: Cristobal Valecillos

    Cardboard Beauty: Cristobal Valecillos

    It is a special gift bestowed upon artists to take what is ugly and make it beautiful.  In his Recycle series, photographer Cristobal Valecillos uses every day materials to craft the fashions and sets he then photographs, so that what is often never looked twice upon becomes elevated to extraordinary.

    Tea Time by Cristobal Valecillos
    Tea Time, archival digital print on metallic paper on plexiglass, 26×36

    Every single thing but the models in each set is carefully crafted from pizza boxes, Starbucks sleeves, newspapers, etc., giving each design incredible texture and depth.  The fashions seem to fit the models as well as any couture, and the drama of what seems to be unfolding in the expanded scenes lends those pieces in particular a wonderfully theatrical quality.

    Doubt by Cristobal Valecillos
    Doubt, archival digital print on metallic paper on plexiglass, 53×35
    Olga by Cristobal Valecillos
    Olga, archival digital print on metallic paper on plexiglass, 60×36
    Untitled by Cristobal Valecillos
    Untitled, archival digital print on metallic paper on plexiglass, 60×36

    I spotted Valecillos’ work several times at the LA Art Show and the photographs, mounted on plexiglass are sleek and beautiful in person.  However, it was the artist’s cardboard sculptures and set installation that really stayed with me.  A reminder that every thing around us is temporary and fleeting, every chair we covet and save for, every piece of art hanging on our walls, every item of clothing carefully chosen.

    Organic A by Cristobal Valecillos
    Organic A, archival digital print on metallic paper on plexiglass, 24×36

    In his artist statement, Valecillos alludes to the creation of beauty from waste, using recycling to inspire art.  For me, I see in his work more of a statement upon the artificiality and ephemeral nature of the world we find ourselves in.  What do you see?

    To see more of Cristobal Valecillos’ work, please visit his website.

    All images are via the website of the artist’s representing gallery, The McLoughlin Gallery.

  • Drama Immersed: Gay Ribisi

    Drama Immersed: Gay Ribisi

    I apologize in advance for the number of posts coming your way featuring artists whose work I discovered at the LA Art Show.  I can’t help it.  There was so much amazingness there and some of the work I just can’t get out of my head!  I kept going back both physically and in my mind to the photographs of LA artist Gay Ribisi.

    Head Above Water 2 by Gay Ribisi
    Head Above Water 2, photograph

    No doubt, we’ve all seen underwater fine art photography.  But Ribisi’s method of blacking out the background and her storyteller’s style of setting each scene creates images that burn into our memories.

    The Space Cleaner by Gay Ribisi
    The Space Cleaner, photograph
    The Space Traveler 1 by Gay Ribisi
    The Space Traveler 1, photograph

    Her floating women, stark against their black backdrop are isolated in their moment and movement.  We know there is a tale to be told with each one, perhaps epic or ordinary.  It’s as if we’ve walked into a darkened theater in the midst of the 3rd act, who is this on stage?  What is her story?

    The Red Dress by Gay Ribisi
    The Red Dress, photograph

    To see more of Gay Ribisi’s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

     

  • No Place to Hide: Gillian Lambert

    No Place to Hide: Gillian Lambert

    At times, there is much disparity in the art world between skill and talent level vs. level of fame and success achieved.  There are some mediums in which it seems easier to get by on mediocrity than in others.  Drawing skills, however, are very hard to fake.  And artist Gillian Lambert has the skill in spades.

    Shirt by Gillian Lambert
    Shirt, graphite on paper, 22×30

    In her Self-Deception series, Lambert finds beauty in the vulnerable and grotesque.  Female faces ( hers ) are partially hidden or disfigured in some way, yet not completely concealed.

    Paint by Gillian Lambert
    Paint, graphite on paper, 22×30
    Hands by Gillian Lambert
    Hands, graphite on paper, 22×30

    In the same way, we try to deceive ourselves, don’t we?  We put on this costume or that mask, hoping the world doesn’t see through.  Not knowing how much more accepted we might be if we just threw back the veil.

    Foil by Gillian Lambert
    Foil, graphite on paper, 22×30

    To see more of Gillian Lambert’s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • 2G2B4G: Shawn Huckins

    2G2B4G: Shawn Huckins

    Just in case you don’t speak text short-hand, 2G2B4G = too good to be forgotten.  Which very aptly describes the work of today’s artist, Denver’s Shawn Huckins.  The artist’s current series, An American Revolution Revolution combines 18th Century American portraiture with 21st Century lexicons such as tweet and text acronyms, creating diverting and provocative images.

    Vanderlyn's Secret Obsession, Talk Dirty to Me by Shawn Huckins
    Vanderlyn’s Secret Obsession, Talk Dirty to Me, acrylic and pencil on canvas, 30×36
    Dorothy Quincy: Don't U Realize Dat I Only Txt U Wen Im Drunk by Shawn Huckins
    Dorothy Quincy: Don’t U Realize Dat I Only Txt U Wen Im Drunk, acrylic on canvas, 34×44

    Like the historical portraits he uses in his work, the text slang has become a part of our own period in history.  Will we still be using this jargon to communicate in a hundred years?  Or will future generations look back and see us as stodgy, stuffy, and hopelessly formal?  Hard to believe that we could denigrate any further than we have, but perhaps our ancestors thought they were just as hip and happening as we believe ourselves to be.

    The Transient State of Mr. Rice, acrylic and pencil on canvas, 22×28

    My first thought when looking at this series was similarities between traditional portraiture, often created as a remembrance of a certain person for a special occasion, and our modern obsession with texting and tweeting, and the impressions and memories of ourselves we are creating.

    Young Girl with Dog and Bird- Sorry to Tell You, But Your Girlfriend Looks Like a Farm Animal by Shawn Huckins
    Young Girl with Dog and Bird- Sorry to Tell You, But Your Girlfriend Looks Like a Farm Animal, acrylic on canvas, 32×40
    Verplank's Post on American Moralism: Like Duh, Obviously, It's a Complete Waste of Time by Shawn Huckins
    Verplank’s Post on American Moralism: Like Duh, Obviously, It’s a Complete Waste of Time, acrylic on canvas, 40×53

    I’m not sure I would want to be remembered for my texts.  Would you?  To see more of Shawn Huckins’ work, please visit his website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.