Surreal Artwork by Deborah Hamon Combines Photography & Painting In Photoshop

above: Deborah Hamon's The Game combines a painted figure with a photographic background.

41 year old artist Deborah Hamon, born in Adelaide, Australia and now living and working in Marin County (my own home town), was recently named one of PDN's 30 Photographers to Watch and has been featured in New American Paintings, Israel's Picnic magazine, Flak photo, has a permanent piece (Wonderland) in the prestigious Crocker Bank Art Museum Collection, and has been the recipient of numerous awards, honors and mentions.


above: The artist, Deborah, in her studio, alongside Queen of The Hill (also shown below):


Her unusual work consists of both 'constructed' photography and complete paintings. Her surreal photos (c-prints) combine a study of fiction and reality, placing flat graphic painted figures (almost always girls) usually confronting the viewer, with photographic backgrounds of exterior settings. She uses Photoshop to construct her photographs with figures from her paintings.


above: detail of Forever and Ever shows the contrast of the painted figure with the photographed tree, combined in Photoshop.

Here are a few examples of her Constructed Photography:

Facade:

Forever and Ever:

Grandma's House:

Huff and Puff:

Manicured:

Sandtrap:

Snowbound:

Tree Fairy (left) and Walkabout (right):

Wonderland:


It seems as though her photographs have received more attention than her paintings, likely because of the unusual combining of media. But, as you will see from the images below, her large acrylic paintings which consist of similar subject matter, are also very compelling and thoughtfully rendered.

Here are a few examples of her acrylic paintings:
Poolside:

Cowgirls and Butterflies (left) and Rope Swing (right):

He Loves me, He Loves me Not:

Haven:

Red Arrow:

Victory:

Deborah Hamon

Judging Art By Its Cover. The Book Sculptures Of Mike Stilkey.

Los Angeles based artist Mike Stilkey's wall mountable book sculptures are stacked books whose spines and covers are painted with acrylics and colored pencil to form one image. His elongated forms of humans and animals with thin features are both simultaneously ghoulish and beautiful. And his style is clearly reminiscent of late German expressionism.


above: Dog Playing Dead, 2008, ink, colored pencil and acrylic on books, 26 x 10.5 x 6 inches

Take a look at his wonderful book sculptures (all the images below are composites of individual sculptures by If It's Hip, It's Here):











The following images are from his show solo "Words Fail Me" at David B. Smith Gallery in Denver, last September. Images courtesy of Daily du Jour:





You can purchase some of the above book sculptures at the following galleries:

BLK/MRKT Editions
David B. Smith Gallery
Gilman Contemporary

The artist at work:

Artist's Bio:
b. 1975 in Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles native Mike Stilkey has always been attracted to painting and drawing not only on vintage paper, record covers and book pages, but on the books themselves. Using a mix of ink, colored pencil, paint and lacquer, Stilkey depicts a melancholic and at times a whimsical cast of characters inhabiting ambiguous spaces and narratives of fantasy and fairy tales. A lingering sense of loss and longing hints at emotional depth and draws the viewer into their introspective thrall with a mixture of capricious poetry, wit, and mystery. His work is reminiscent of Weimar-era German expressionism and his style has been described by some as capturing features of artists ranging from Edward Gorey to Egon Schiele.

His more recent work has been shown at Kinsey/DesForges Gallery in Culver City, CA, David B. Smith Gallery in Denver, CO, Gilman Contemporary Gallery, Ketchum, ID, and Rice University Gallery, Houston, TX.

Visit the artist's site here.


Fecal face has a great interview and visit to the artist's studio with tons more pics. Check it out here.

The Art of Art Appreciation: Paintings Of People Looking At Paintings

Above: Karin Jurick's Modigliani

Ever notice how many artists paint people admiring art? So that we observe the observer? There are quite a few, as you'll soon see. So many that I felt it deserved investigation and I found that despite the commonality of the subject, there are vast and numerous differences.