artsy forager

Tag: collage

  • Transformative Illusions: Alexandra Bellissimo

    Transformative Illusions: Alexandra Bellissimo

    I often envy Mr. Forager. When we’re camping or out hiking, he has no problem at all laying down wherever– absolutely no fear of bugs or other creepy crawliest like yours truly. He can really allow himself to be one with nature. The collages of Los Angeles artist Alexandra Bellissimo beautifully simulate what it might really be like for the human body to merge with the natural world.

    Surface by Alexandra Bellissimo
    Surface, photo collage, 7×9.6
    Euphoria 02 by Alexandra Bellissimo
    Euphoria 02, photo collage, 12×15

    Bellissimo photographs her models ( often she is her own model, giving even more emotional depth to her work ), in their own completely natural state.. No clothing, nothing between the skin and the world around it. The nude figure appears vulnerable, easily overtaken by the flora creeping over its form.

    Rupture by Alexandra Bellissimo
    Rupture, photo collage, 6×8.4
    Extension 02 by Alexandra Bellissimo
    Extension 02, photo collage, 7.6×9.8

    While there is some work done in Photoshop ( I.e., the removal of an arm to be replaced by a branch ), the added elements are done through traditional, meticulous cut and paste collage. In doing so, the artist maintains a very real feeling of physical transformation.

    The Observer by Alexandra Bellissimo
    The Observer, photo collage, 12×16

    To see more of Alexandra Bellissimo’s work, please visit her website.  And if you’d like to read about and see some insight into her process, be sure to check out her blog!

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Artsy on Escape Into Life: Pascaline Dargant

    Collage seems to be the “it” medium these days.  And why not?  It takes a gifted eye for composition, color, and visual texture to make a collage that stands out amid the throng.  French artist Pascaline Dargant’s collages are beautifully simple yet remarkably memorable.  My new collage crush!  I’m sharing her work today in my Artist Watch over on Escape Into Life.  Check out the post here!

    Pascaline Dargant

    Pascaline Dargant on Escape Into Life

    Image via the artist’s website.

  • Art Possessed: Chad Wys

    Art Possessed: Chad Wys

    Our currently semi-vagabond lifestyle dictates that Mr. Forager and I travel light.  Any purchase of a new object is always weighed against whether it’s truly necessary, how much room it will take up when in transit, or if it is too beautiful/wonderful/amazing to live without.  In his work, Illinois artist Chad Wys takes on our obsession with possession, questioning whether we can truly possess a piece of artwork, what our possessions say about us, and how we objectify the world around us.

    Arrangement in Skintones by Chad Wys
    Arrangement in Skintones, c-print ( edition of 10 ), 30×30
    Nocturne 111 by Chad Wys
    Nocturne 111, c-print, 24×30

    When we purchase a piece of artwork, what is our motive?  I believe the majority of art is acquired for aesthetic reasons– something about the work, whether it be the subject, the colors or the composition, appeals to us.  But what about artwork that doesn’t appeal, isn’t pretty?  Is it any less valuable?

    Golden Tea Party by Chad Wys
    Golden Tea Party, paint on found porcelain, 8.5x7x5.5
    Opus 1 by Chad Wys
    Opus 1, c-print

    And what do the objects we possess say about who we are?  And what makes the things we own or the things our ancestors owned so special?  Or are they not really special at all?

    To see more of Chad Wys’s work, please visit his website.

    Thank you to artsocial for reminding about this artist!  All images are via the artist’s website.

     

     

  • The Art of Celebrity: Emma Gale

    The Art of Celebrity: Emma Gale

    For eons it seems that with a certain level of success in the art world, comes a level of celebrity most artists will never know.  Especially today, artists are selling themselves as a brand almost as much as they are selling their work.  Australian artist Emma Gale turns the tables to feature celebrated artists as the subjects of her work.

    Tribal Chic by Emma Gale
    Tribal Chic

    The artist takes these immediately recognizable artists and reinvents them in her own style, yet each one retains the essence of the personality we’ve come to associate with them and their celebrity.

    All My Lovin by Emma Gale
    All My Lovin, mixed media on paper, 56×76 cm
    Jimi by Emma Gale
    Jimi, collage and pencil on paper, 56×76 cm

    Yet, we’re left to wonder.. how much of our perception of the celebrated among us is based on spin and branding?  If we were to meet the famous in person, would they be just as we imagine them or would we be surprised to find how different they are from their image?

    Soho Glam by Emma Gale
    Soho Glam, mixed media on paper, 56×76 cm

    To see more of Emma Gale’s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s representing gallery, Anthea Polson Art.

  • Artsy on Escape Into Life: Mathilde Aubier

    I’m a closet Francophile.  I loved my two years of high school French and think everything sounds better in a French accent.  I could watch Amelie every day.  The collages of French artist and illustrator Mathilde Aubier are so sophisticated and cheeky and French, I couldn’t resist featuring her in my Artist Watch over on Escape Into Life today.  Voir l’art ici!

    Sous La Neige by Mathilde Aubier

    Mathilde Aubier on Escape Into Life

  • The Uncommon Familiar: Shaun Kardinal

    The Uncommon Familiar: Shaun Kardinal

    While Mr. Forager & I are on the road, making our way to California, we’re rerunning Artsy Forager’s most popular posts.  This post originally published on April 23, 2012 and got a huge bump thanks to being featured on the Freshly Pressed WordPress feature.  Enjoy!

    Do you have any idea how bummed I was to miss out on Shaun Kardinal’s show, Connotations, while we were in Seattle?  So very very bummed.  But time was not my friend on this trip.  Two half-days and only one full day just isn’t enough to fit in time with friends, every gallery show I wanted to see and one on one time with the hubby.  But I know I’ll be back and I have a feeling Shaun’s work is going to continue gaining ground while I’m gone.

    Connotation No. 18, hand-embroidered paper collage, 9.75×6.5

    Kardinal increases the complexity of his collages with this new series.  Beginning with a foundation of vintage ephemera, he embroiders each piece with a geometrically intricate design carefully placed to compliment the retro imagery.

    Connotation No. 25, hand-embroidered paper collage, 9×6

    Kardinal’s work feels like sophisticated folk art and I mean that in the best possible way!  It is approachable, yet thoughtful.  Highly designed using common materials.  Love.

    Connotation No. 24, hand-embroidered paper collage, 11.75×11.75
    Connotation No. 19, hand-embroidered paper collage, 9.25×8.25

    To see more of Shaun Kardinal’s work, please visit his website.  If you’re in Seattle, do what I couldn’t– go see his Connotations show at Joe Bar Cafe.

    Featured image is Connotation No. 2, hand-embroidered paper collage, 11×11.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Artsy on Escape Into Life: Larissa Haily Aguado

    Artsy on Escape Into Life: Larissa Haily Aguado

    I do love a fabulous collage.  And these creations from Argentinian artist Larissa Haily Aguado immediately caught my eye when I spotted them over on The Jealous Curator.  The artist seamlessly blends disparate found images to create the spectacularly simple but striking work.  Check out more of her work over on my Artist Watch at Escape Into Life today!

    Pinky Esmeralda by Larissa Haily Aguado

    Larissa Haily Aguado on Escape Into Life

  • Urban Existentialism: Nicola Lopez

    Urban Existentialism: Nicola Lopez

    It often feels like there is no place left in the world untouched by technology.  Even in some of the most rural areas, you’ll still find yourself within technology’s reach.  The work of Brooklyn artist Nicola Lopez explores the idea of how the saturation of technology is shaping the way we experience the world.

    Water, etching, carborundrum collograph and collage, 41×41

    Beyond the brilliant depictions themselves, Lopez utilizes the creative process to mirror the transformation the landscape goes through as it is built upon.  From her website– “I use the language of printmaking to address the processes of automation and mass production that have brought today’s world into existence. The specific media of intaglio, woodblock and drawing that I choose to work with, however, are still closely linked to the artist’s hand and allow the work to be about my own attempt as an individual to come up with a system of navigating this overwhelming landscape instead of simply consuming one of the pre-fabricated, mass-produced and -marketed versions, of which there are so many.”

    Excerpt from the Flood I, lithograph on paper and mylar, 30×44
    Half-Life 7, woodcut and photolithography on mylar collage, 36×48

    “As with the evolution of the human-built landscape, there are moments in the construction of my world where the building proceeds according to plans that have already been laid and there are moments when the building precedes its own planning, expanding unpredictably and organically towards an order of a very different sort. Our world is full of the tension between just this order and disorder.. “

    Boneyard, woodcut, photolithograph, silkscreen on mylar collage, 22×22.5

    To see more of Nicola Lopez’s work, please visit her website.  If you happen to be in Florida, be sure to stop by J.Johnson Gallery in Jacksonville Beach to see Lopez’s show, Multiplicity, which can be seen at J.Johnson until November 2nd.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Pop Goes the Art: Sarah Boyts Yoder

    Pop Goes the Art: Sarah Boyts Yoder

    If you’ve been reading Artsy Forager for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I have a bit of a weakness for saturated color mixed with bold graphics.  I don’t know what it is about this combo, but I am completely unable to resist.  The colorful abstract collages of Charleston, SC artist Sarah Boyts Yoder had me at hot pink.

    Magenta Bun, collage on paper, 14×18

    I am completely enchanged with those heavy black lines reminiscent of a child’s coloring book.. Often the lines are left partially “colored-in”, a playful nod to their childlike quality.

    Bun With Yellow, collage on paper, 17×18
    Ear Collage 1, collage on paper, 13×16

    And I love the way Boyts Yoder seems to take two disparate compositions and layers one over the other, creating a game of visual “peek-a-boo”.  I want to peel back each layer to see what’s hiding underneath!

    Striped Listen, collage on paper, 13×17

    To see more of Sarah Boyts Yoder’s work, please visit her website.  Her work can be seen in Charleston at the Michael Mitchell Gallery.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Living in Technopia: Natalie Nicklin

    Living in Technopia: Natalie Nicklin

    I am officially back among the technologically connected!  While we were camping in Glacier National Park and Yellowstone, we made the decision to be completely unplugged– not much cell service or wifi to be had in most spots anyway.  But it was a bit disheartening to see families and couples who, while surrounded by what is arguably some of the most beautiful scenery on earth, tapped away on their iPhones and Droids.    The illustration and collage work of artist Natalie Nicklin confronts us with the imaginary worlds taken over by technology imagined in our past.  Sometimes it feels like they actually came to be, doesn’t it?

    Left Behind

    The artist calls these worlds “technopias” and perhaps they consist of the flying cars, etc., that were being imagined during the birth of the technological age.  People in the 1950s and 60s imagined that we would be living like George Jetson by now.  But are we really that far off?

    Waiting For

    Nicklin uses geometrics to illustrate a hard-edged technology driven society yet juxtaposes them against a flesh-colored palette.

    Aether

    Found vintage imagery reminds us of how far we’ve come and the inclusion of figures, usually female, seem act as a hint that no matter how much we advance in technology, the human element will always be the most important and intriguing.

    Pioneers- Delia Derbyshire

    To see more of Natalie Nicklin’s work, please visit her page at Cargo Collective.

    Artist found via isavirtue.  All images are via the artist’s website.