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.

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

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

Hole Punch Dots Make Whole Face Portraits by Artist Nikki Douthwaite.

Artist and huge F1 fan Nikki Douthwaite makes mosaic portraits out of photographs, paper scraps, articles and ephemera, but her Hole Punch Dot portraits really caught my eye. Most of us just toss out those little round pieces of paper punched out from larger pieces without giving them a second thought. What we think of us trash, Nikki has turned into an art medium.


above: Marilyn Monroe's portrait made with approx 99,000 punch hole dots


above: James Lebron takes a good close look at Nikki's portrait of John Lennon

Taking colored hole punch dots to create large overscale black and white portraits (yes, colored dots create the shading and tones in the black and white portraits) Nikki painstakingly arranges them on wood, varnishes them and frames them.



She has created many Hole Punch Dot portraits of Formula 1 race car drivers and even one of Bruce McLaren himself- all shown below. She has also created several commissions and boasts a world's record. Here's a look at her work.

MUHAMMED ALI
Hole Punch Dots (Approx 115,000) on wood, Size - 165cm by 150cm:


JIMI HENDRIX
Hole Punch Dots (Approx 150,000) on wood, Size - 150cm by 200cm:



MARTIN and ALEX BRUNDLE, Hole Punch Dots (Approx 140,000) on wood:


ALAIN PROST
Hole Punch Dots (Approx 100,000) on wood, Size - 160cm by 122cm:



JENSON BUTTON
Hole Punch Dots (Approx 100,000) on wood, Size - 160cm by 122cm:


JAMES HUNT
Hole Punch Dots (Approx 100,000) on wood, Size - 160cm by 122cm:


BRUCE MCLAREN
Hole Punch Dots (Approx 150,000) on wood, Size - 200cm by 150cm:



JOHN LENNON
Hole Punch Dots (Approx 99,000) on wood, Size - 158cm by 122cm:



MARILYN MONROE
Hole Puch Dots (Approx 99,000) on wood, Size - 158cm by 122cm:



AYRTON SENNA
Hole Punch Dots (Approx 100,000) on wood, Size - 160cm by 122cm:



CHERYL COLE
Hole Punch Dots (Approx 59.000) on wood, Size - 122cm by 105cm:



ARTIST STATEMENT:
My work for the last three years has been based around two mediums; dot art (also known as confetti art) and collage.

My dot art is made by using coloured dots produced by a hole punch, and painstakingly stuck on, one by one, with a pair of tweezers. This idea came from the works of Georges-Pierre Seurat, studying his pointillist paintings from the late 19th century. My collages are made from magazine articles relevant to the subject of the picture.



My work, whether dots or collage, have similarities in progress. Based around art-critic and teacher Charles Blanc and chemist Michel Eugene Chevreul's theories of optical mixing, colour placement and colour relationships. Colour excites me, and use of it is critical to the success of one of my works.

Whatever the medium, my goal is to create two experiences for the viewer. The first is a close up experience of either thousands of tiny, mixed up coloured dots, or readable magazine articles, which in detail intrigue in themselves, but may seem chaotic and to have no order to the viewer at this distance. The second experience is the far away view, the viewers' eyes and brain mix the dots/articles/colours together, revealing the relationships of the details and the image as a whole.

My choice of portraits comes from an interest in faces, in the biological form; bone and muscle construction, sociological, expression and individuality. Most of my work is based around my love of motor sport, predominantly Formula One, for which I have a huge passion.


above: Nikki Douthwaite shows off her world record holder certificate for creating the world's largest confetti mosaic consisting of 587,000 hole punched dots.

I have been working with these mediums now for about three years. I am obsessed with attention to detail, and I am meticulous about every dot, every piece being in the right place. I work for ten to fourteen hours at a time, through the night to optimise concentration.


For Sales Enquires please contact her Agent, Henna at henna.riaz@gmail.com


Nikki Douthwaite