artsy forager

Category: Figurative

  • Weaving Tales: Kaoru Mansour

    There is nothing better than a good yarn.  And by yarn, I mean story, although the fiber kind can be pretty satisfying, too.  One of the things that I love about Mr. Forager is his propensity for spinning tales.  Los Angeles based artist Karou Manour weaves visual stories throughout her work, whether figurative, abstract, sculpture, or landscape, her work catches us in the midst of a mystery.

    Kaoru Mansour
    Yoshinobu 1949, collage, acrylic and ganbi tissue on wood panel, 16×16

    Each piece has such an clandestine atmosphere, making us wonder where we have found ourselves, what we are seeing, and how it came to be.

    From Portland #117, collage, acrylic on wood panel, 10×10
    Uzu Uzu #104, acrylic and thread on gourd, 5x5x5
    Rocket Apron, thread, acrylic, ink pen on paper, 23.5×35

    It feels as if we are caught in the midst of an ancient story, one filled with myth and mysticism.

    Iro #529, collage, acrylic and 22k metal leaf on canvas, 30×30

    To see more of Karou Mansour’s work, please visit her website.

    Artist found via Florida Mining Gallery, where I saw a few of Karou’s pieces in person– they are stunning!

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Transforming Myths: Hung Liu

    Transforming Myths: Hung Liu

    I’ve always had a fascination with Asian cultures, especially Chinese folklore and familial traditions.  Chinese American artist Hung Liu’s work evolves from her background in socialist realism  taking traditional “mythic poses” of Chinese propoganda photography and reshaping them into visual stories of feminine strength.

    Calendar Girl, mixed media, 41×60

    The women in Liu’s paintings are not victims.  They are towers of strength, their fortitude existing not in brute force but in quiet dignity.

    Green Mountains, mixed media on panel, 41×41
    Soul Mates VII, mixed media, 13.5xx13.5

     

    Series V, mixed media, 13.5×13.5

    To see more of Hung Liu’s work, please visit her website, as well as the website of her representing gallery, Diehl Gallery, where I first discovered her work.

    All images are via the artist’s representing Jackson Hole, WY gallery, Diehl Gallery.

  • Without Guile: Catriona Miller

    Without Guile: Catriona Miller

    There is so much cynicism to be had in this world, that sweetness and innocence seem to get lost in the shuffle.  What drew me to the work of Scottish artist Catriona Miller is its charming purity.

    Brighton Belle

    Her figures gaze coyly to the side, just a hint of a smile on their lips.  It’s as if they carry a delicious secret they cannot tell.

    Daisy Daisy
    Small World
    River Man

    Isn’t it interesting how we might often feel sorry for “simple” folks,  yet how much more happy might they be than we?

    Jack Jarrett

    To see more of Catriona Miller’s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Artsy on Escape Into Life: Sarah Johanna Eick

    Artsy on Escape Into Life: Sarah Johanna Eick

    While most of the time I’m drawn to saturated “happy” color, occasionally my soul calls out for a little moody darkness.  So when I laid my eyes upon the work of photographer Sarah Johanna Eick at The Red Arrow Gallery here in Joshua Tree, the quiet power in the work took hold of me and I just had to feature her in my Artist Watch over on Escape Into Life today ( see the EIL post here ).

    From The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing series by Sarah Johanna Eick

    Sarah Johanna Eick on Escape Into Life

    PS- stay tuned for another Red Arrow artist later this week!

  • On the Verge: Kevin Peterson

    On the Verge: Kevin Peterson

    You may have noticed that moving over the website didn’t happen yesterday.. things didn’t quite go as planned.  Working on it again today! 

    In just a few days, I’ll be seeing my beautiful nieces for the first time in over a year.  They’ve gotten older and taller and I can tell from photos that they are on the brink of leaving childhood behind.  The work of Houston artist Kevin Peterson looks at that the journey out of childhood and into a fractured world.

    Oil on panel, 27×34
    Acrylic, metallic paint on panel, 36×36

    As children, we’re so quick to want to grow up, we can’t wait to go on our first date, get our driver’s license, go off to college, be able to sit at the “grown-up table”.  But isn’t it amazing how swiftly we would go back to swing sets and school holidays, once we get a glimpse of the cynicism and cruelty of life among the full grown.

    Bubbles, oil on panel, 27.5×31
    Lovely, oil on panel with corrugated metal, 40×57

    While entering adulthood has its carefree qualities ( hello, ice cream for dinner! ), there is a delicious freedom when you’re a kid that only grown-up children can recognize.

    To see more of Kevin Peterson’s work, please visit his website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • There’s a New Facebook Featured Artist! It Must be November Already!

    There’s a New Facebook Featured Artist! It Must be November Already!

    While it certainly doesn’t feel like it here in Joshua Tree, Fall is in full swing and November is upon us!  A new month means a new Featured Artist is up over on the Artsy Forager Facebook page.  I’m thrilled to feature this month’s artist, Seattle artist Susan Melrath.

    Dog Park by Susan Melrath

    Stay tuned throughout the month of November for more from Susan Melrath!  Make sure you check out the Artsy Forager Facebook page to see her beautiful cover image. ( And be sure to check back often, as we’ll be rotating several of Susan’s images as our Facebook cover- fun! )

  • The Poetic Palette: Brianna Angelakis

    The Poetic Palette: Brianna Angelakis

    Reading an enthralling tale comes pretty close to the joy I get from viewing incredible artwork.  Some of my absolute favorite books have been the work of “classic” female authors such as Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen.  I still pick up my well-worn paperback of Persuasion from time to time.  North Florida artist Brianna Angelakis marries her own passion for literary characters with feminist  surrealism in work that is as wonderfully layered and moody as any Bronte novel.

    God’s Orchestra, graphite and oil on canvas board, 36×24

    Angelakis explores the idea of isolated femininity by placing her female subjects alone in wild landscapes and in her most recent series, Wonders of the Invisible World, we see young women falling from an unknown place to an unknown destination.

    Neurathenia, graphite and oil on wood, 24×24
    Modern Hero, graphite and oil on wood

    Her use of a cool, limited palette add to the eery mood of Angelakis’ work.  We are caught in the midst of the story she is telling and left wondering.. and wanting to hear more.

    Blind Contentment, graphite and oil on canvas board, 24×36

    To see more of Brianna Angelakis’ work, please visit her website.  The painting above, Neurathenia, can be seen as a part of the Folio Weekly Artist Invitational at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville, FL until December 6th.  Her work can also been seen beginning in December in Minneapolis, MN and in the United Kingdom.  More details on her website!

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Flashbacks & Snapshots : Diego Gravinese

    Flashbacks & Snapshots : Diego Gravinese

    There are some artists whose work I respond to on a visceral level, visually.  I see it.  I love it.  I don’t have to know what it’s about or the super secret story behind the meaning of each piece.  The paintings of Argentinian artist Diego Gravinese grabbed me when I spotted one on Pinterest last week.

    The Love of Renault and Burritoes Obsequious ( diptych ), acrylic and enamel on canvas, 79×51

    The artist’s earlier work ( such as The Love of Renault.. & In the Future.. ) are conglomerations of painted memories.. scenes from childhood and current memories mix with nostalgic elements to give us visual tales of how each experience builds on the ones that came before it.

    Milk Girl, oil on canvas, 40×27.5
    The Method, oil on canvas, 71×47.2
    Mimesis, oil on canvas, 71×47.2

    His more current work, ( Milk Girl, The Method & Mimesis, above ), leave behind the nostalgia, focusing instead on fleeting everyday moments.  Painted in a photorealistic style, the palette of each painting seems carefully selected and limited, so that not only do we get a sense of situation and place, but the resulting image is arrestingly graphic.

    In the Future, We Will Colonize the Exterior Planets, acrylic on canvas, 75×39.5 ( overall )

    To see more of Diego Gravinese’s work, please visit his website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • The Feminine Mystique: Pam Hawkes

    The Feminine Mystique: Pam Hawkes

    We are all guilty of over-sharing these days.  Thanks to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Four Square, etc., the world has become privy to our innermost thoughts, what we ate for lunch, how many miles we ran that day.  We scoff at reality shows detailing the daily lives of the Kardashanians, Snookis, and Honey B00-Boos of the world.  We wonder, whatever happened to the allure of mystery?  UK artist Pam Hawkes reaches back into the iconography of illuminated manuscripts and Renaissance portraiture to cleanse our palate of the modernly overexposed.

    Unbound, oil on copper leaf on board, 61×104 cm
    Tracing Mythologies II, oil on copperleaf on board, 62×122 cm

    The stillness and serenity of Hawkes’ figures are at such odds with how we live today.  The often classical poses reminiscent of religious iconography of the Virgin Mary and other figures may at first seem foreign to our contemporary eyes.  Yet there is a softness and vulnerability in these women, as if the ancient had come alive and found itself somehow wandering about our modern world.

    You Made Me II, oil, beeswax, and dutch metal on board, 30×41
    Fading, oil on copper leaf on board, 122×122 cm

    There is a sense of bound freedom to Hawkes’ figures, as if they are only just discovering the door to their cage is open.  We wonder why they sit so still, resisting the temptation to be free.  Perhaps they, like us, have grown fond of their cages.

    Birdsong, oil on copperleaf on board, 76×122 cm

    To see more of Pam Hawkes’ work, please visit her website— a great many gorgeous works to see there!

    Artist found via artist Deborah Scott and POETSArtists Magazine.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Historical Bent: Frohawk Two Feathers

    Historical Bent: Frohawk Two Feathers

    ‘Tis election season in the US which for many ( including myself ) = the season for cynicism, frustration, and the eventual choosing between what we hope will be the less destructive of two not-so-great choices.  Throughout history many a nation has had a habit of creatively reinterpreting their own backstory to slant history more to their favor.  In his work, Los Angeles artist Frohawk Two Feathers calls out the ridiculousness of such reinvention, echoing the growing dissatisfaction with the political status quo.

    He Dead. Amen! LaDonna, inventor of the hot comb and widow of Andre I of Hispaniola Maitresse of Mambo Erzulie Freda Dahomey, 30×44

    Two Feathers’ ( born Umar Rashid ) works are a fictional retelling of periods in history, his latest series being a fictionalized version of the conquest of Haiti.  The overall style of his work bases itself in traditional colonial portraiture yet the artist tweaks it to tell his own version of the story.

    Let Me Upgrade You. A farewell embrace for Duke Tarik Ibn Rashid and the Duchess Josefina of Margarita and Tortuga. Tarik was called to Frengland to Tirain the artillery corps by Lord Protector Casimir Theroux of the Republic of Frengland. Josefina is running shit for real man, 30×44
    The Spanish Main 1794 (3BB) Blanca, the motherfucking Queen of Spain Jacinta, Queen of the Tairona (Deceased) Carlota, Queen of Santo Domingo (Deceased), 60.5×44.75

    While the works are satirical in nature, I can’t help but think that they aren’t that far off from how our own histories have been subtly reshaped over time in order to gloss over certain ugly facts or to push a powerful group’s agenda.

    Solid. Solid as a Rock Lord protector Casimir Theroux of Pomerania (Poland) and his wife Helen Sidney of London, 30×44

    To see more of Frohawk Two Feathers’ work, please visit the website of his representing gallery, Taylor De Cordoba.  I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to explore LA galleries while we’re in Joshua Tree, since I’ll be heading to Florida for a month in November, but seeing this work in person at Taylor De Cordoba is high on my list.

    All images are via the Taylor De Cordoba website.