A Bouquet Of Birds. Artist Hong Yi Uses Flowers Petals To Construct Birds.

above: Owl made of white, orange and maroon chrysanthemums with trumpet flowers for the eyes and a dried leaf for beak

Malaysian artist and architect Hong Yi (aka Red) whose wonderful portrait made of socks and coffee stain portrait for Nespresso I have already shared with you, has this sweet series of birds made from flower petals, herbs, dried leaves and twigs.

The Work of Jedediah Morfit Is Flat, Fabulous and Fanfriggingtastic.

Artist Jedediah (Jed) Morfit is a professor of sculpture at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

You Thought Packing Tape Was For Shipping Boxes, But Mark Khaisman Proves Otherwise.

Artist Mark Khaisman, originally from the Ukraine and now based in Philadelphia, uses packing - or packaging - tape in a very different manner than you do. Applying layers of 2" wide translucent and clear packing tape to backlit panels, he uses the play of shadow, depth, shape and color to create images of objects, portraits, patterns or motifs and the re-creation of movie and film noir stills. The results are reminiscent of digitized or pixelated photos, only with a depth and tactile quality that is unique to his work.



above: Tape Noir_72, 2012, Packaging tape on acrylic panel with translucent resin light box, 20.5 x 27 x 6 inches (52 x 68.5 x 15.2 cm)

The artwork with the lights off, compared to when it is illuminated from behind, is quite a transformation:


Here are some more wonderful examples of his work from various categories over the past few years.

Objects

Birkin Girl 2, 2013:

above: Packaging tape on acrylic panel with translucent resin light box, 27 x 40 x 6 inches (68.5 x 101.6 x 15.2 cm)

Faberge Egg 2, 2013:

above: Packaging tape on acrylic panel with translucent resin light box, 20.5 x 27 x 6 inches (52 x 68.5 x 15.2 cm), Private Collection

Antique Serapi Rug 1 and Antique Serapi Rug 3 (two different pieces), 2012:

above: Packaging tape on backlit polyester film , 100 X 58 inches (254.00 X 147.32 cm) and Packaging tape on backlit polyester film , 96 X 48 inches (244.00 X 122.00 cm)

image at the top:
Birkin Girl 5, 2013, Packaging tape on acrylic panel with translucent resin light box
27 x 40 x 6 inches (68.5 x 101.6 x 15.2 cm), shown with lights off and on


Motifs

Motif 2013.1, 2013:

above: Packaging tape on acrylic panel with steel light box, 48.5 x 36.5 x 6 inches (123.2 x 92.7 x 15.2 cm)

Motif 2013.3, 2013:

above: Packaging tape on acrylic panel with steel light box, 48.5 x 36.5 x 6 inches (123.2 x 92.7 x 15.2 cm)

Film Stills

James and Ursula #1, 2013

above: Packaging tape on acrylic panel with translucent resin light box, 40.5 x 27 x 6 inches (103 x 68.5 x 15.2 cm)

James and Ursula #3, 2013:

above: Packaging tape on acrylic panel with translucent resin light box, 40.5 x 27 x 6 inches (103 x 68.5 x 15.2 cm)

Tape Noir Glimpse 47, 2012:

above: Packaging tape on acrylic panel with steel light box, 48.5 x 36.5 x 6 inches (123.2 x 92.7 x 15.2 cm)

Killer's Kiss (007), 2010:

above: Packaging tape on acrylic panel with translucent resin light box, 20.5 x 27 x 6 inches (52 x 68.5 x 15.2 cm), Private collection, USA

Portraits

Barbara, 2012:

above: Packaging tape on backlit acrylic panel, 26.5 X 20 inches (67.31 X 50.80 cm), NBC Collection

Alfred, 2012:

above: Packaging tape on backlit acrylic panel, 26.5 X 20 inches (67.31 X 50.80 cm), NBC Collection

Images of his work on display:



The Artist:

above: Mark and his wife Elena stand in front of His Antique Serapi Rugs made of packaging tape at Miami in 2012 (image courtesy of Facebook)

Mark explains his work as follows:

ON TAPE:
My works are pictorial illusions formed by light and shadow. Tape allows for images that communicate what I'm interested to do in a very direct way. My medium consists of three elements: translucent packing tape, clear acrylic or film panels, and light. By superimposing layers of translucent tape, I play on degrees of opacity that produces transparencies highlighted by the color, shading, and embossment (sic). There are some qualities of tape that make it unique for me as an art material: its banality, humbleness and its “throwaway” nature; its default settings of color and width; its unforgiving translucency; the cold and impersonal attitude that tape surface suggests.

ON PROCESS:
I apply a stripe of translucent tape on a clear backlit panel, and if I don't like it, I peel it off. If I peel off less frequently than apply, a chance is that an image emerges. The whole process is reminiscent to the red room photo development in the pre-digital era, in a way, as my hands do the job, and my mind is witnessing the appearance of the image, then the only concern becomes to not under - or overdevelop it. Though I try not to lose control completely, I am not aware of every move I am taking, so by the time the piece is done, I don't exactly know how it has happened, so I feel compelled to start a next image to make sure that I can do it again.

ON LAYERS:
Layering tape, and even peeling it off, gives me a strange satisfaction. The only explanation for it I can offer comes from the Eastern cultural perception of the self as an onion, according to which if you peel off the outer layers of the onion you find more layers underneath. It makes you want to peel off more, and more, and more to find the pit, but when you finally peel it off to the very last layer you are left with nothing. I do it in reverse, but the feeling that it is only the different direction of the same process feels liberating.

ON PIXELATION:
I think that my art may be dabbed as post-digital, because although it has been inspired by the pre-digital movie media and developed in the context of digital pixels, it bypasses virtual reality finding itself in the blizzard combination of light, disposable plastic, and calculated rhythms of imaginable music all holding together with the stuck familiarity of random cultural references.

As soon as I pick up a 2-inch tape and start blocking the light streaming through the Plexiglas screen in attempt to render the image, the abstract field of intersections occurs. It consists of lighter and darker polygons with different lengths and angles of sides, which I refer to as “pixels”. To be immersed in the field of their vibrations and never loose photographical realism of an image woven into the fabric of rhythmic scores and luring into deception that image is all there is, is just too much fun. My goal can be roughly put into three subtasks, which are managing the scale, figuring out the ratios, and controlling intensity of light.

Light has a well-known affect of dispersing in geometrical cones, so that the greater the distance from the light opening the larger it seems. I play with the size of openings, placing the lighter and smaller ones next to the wider and darker to create contrast.

ON SUBJECTS:
The tape is the message. A parody on Marshall McLuhan’s famous quote could explain the superficial motives, which make up the work. Subjects are categorized into different groups: fragmented stills from classic cinema, iconic objects from art history, portraits. The works are exploring the familiar as our shared visual history; made of a familiar material formed into a familiar image, asking the viewer to recognize and complete the work, stimulating both memory and interpretation in the process.

Mark Khaisman

In the USA, Mark is represented by Pentimenti Gallery
In CANADA, at Galerie LeRoyer
In KOREA, at Gallery YEH
In SPAIN at the Ampersand Foundation PF

images © and courtesy of Mark Khaisman and Pentimenti Gallery

Robots Reborn. Upcycled Illuminated Robot Sculptures by +Brauer

Bruno Lefevre-Brauer, known as + Brauer, is a graphic designer living in Paris. Over the past 20 years he has designed numerous album covers for French and international artists and pursued his personal artistic expression through painting, photography and sculpture.



An artist who regularly exhibits in Paris, these charming illuminated metal upcycled robots are from his series "Viva la Roboluciòn!"









More than their technological features, he tries to reveal the original, almost primitive, form of the robots he creates. +Brauer carefully chooses vintage objects that have an industrial past, that are marked by time and whose patina has been moulded by years of manual use. He admires the beauty, sometimes hidden, of these discarded industrial parts, alters their appearance, sculpts them, and incorporates light sources into their structure before assembling the parts together to create a unique and poetic piece.





The beauty of the materials and the venerable patinas express their beauty in the light of day, while at night, it is the turn of the strange, evocative light fittings to reveal their magic. Right from conception, the element of light is an integral part of the artwork: each robot is designed to interact with it’s environment in a different way whether it is turned on or off.




Abandoned or forgotten in workshops and garages, the industrial parts are reborn in unique works of art that embrace us with their kind presence, imposing personality, and amazing humanity.


images and info courtesy of the artist

Each piece is a statement of poetic resistance to mass-consumption.

See more and other works by +Brauer here

Andrew Myers Decides To Screw Art. Portraits Made With A Drill and Philips Head Screws.

It's hard to know whether or not to call Andrew Myers' work paintings or sculpture. A bit of both, Artist Andrew Myers uses anywhere from 8,000 - 10,000 screws (which he then hand paints) drilled into boards to create thoughtful portraits of men and women.




His backgrounds are created from a collage of telephone book pages. Despite the unusual mediums, the completed images are surprisingly soulful.

This recently completed screw portrait used 9,800 screws:


Other screw portraits by Andrew:



above: Portrait of John. Dimensions 48 in x 48 in x 5 in. Medium: screws, oil paint and phone book pages



above: An Artist's winter. Dimensions 24 in x 24 in x 4 in. Medium: screws, oil paint and phone book pages



above: Portrait of Bill. Dimensions 24 in x 24 in x 4 in. Medium: screws, oil paint and phone book pages



above: Portrait of Sabrina. Dimensions 48 in x 48 in x 5 in. Medium: screws, oil paint and phone book pages

About the artist:


Since his early childhood, Andrew Myers has been artistically influenced by european life and culture. Born in Braunshweig, Germany and raised in Ciudad Real, Spain his exposure to modern continental living and classical architecture prompted the universal and classical themes, yet modern design found in his artwork.

At the age of 20, Myers applied to the Art Institute of Southern California (now known as the Laguna College of Art and Design); with no previous art training, he was accepted based upon the natural talent his application portfolio evidenced. The young artist developed his skills through advanced figurative sculpture and accelerated painting curriculum. While these two and a half years of creative training provided Myers with the basic working knowledge of the artistic field, it was his drive, passion, and leap of faith into work as a full time artist that allowed him to cultivate his particular style. Myers blends modern material with classical figurative technique featuring a universal subject matter that is prevalent throughout his work. It is his unification of these three characteristics that results in the innovative and modern artwork that captivates viewers and has been so highly acclaimed nationwide.

Most recently, Myers has been working on public commissions, some of which include, St. Catherine’s Catholic Church in the Diocese of Orange and a public work for the City of Laguna Beach, California, as well as several private client commissions.

Andrew Myers