The Latest Paper Sculptures, Editorial and Advertising Work From Su Blackwell

The enchanting book sculptures by Su Blackwell have been featured commercially and in fine art galleries around the world. Created on various scales, her amazing craft has been used as full sized sets for videos, theater productions and television commercials, window displays and editorials as well as compelling small boxed sculptures, installations and fine art exhibitions.


above: Su Blackwell's The Little Prince


above: for The 2008 Snow Queen video

While many art sites and blogs showcased her talents, it's been awhile and she has some new work worth sharing.  Here's a look at some of her latest (2012-2013).

Snow White:

Editorial:

Nature:

The Last Unicorn:

Rose:


2013 Editorial work for Intelligent Life Magazine, Oprah Magazine and Real Simple Magazine:


Some of her earlier pieces from 2009-2011 That I especially favor:
Out of Narnia, 2009:


Little Red Riding Hood, 2010:



Baron In the Trees, 2011



Su Blackwell's work is often used in advertising and marketing because it's a nice and unique way to conveyy people and places that is different from photography. Many large brands (Cartier, Volvo, British Airways, to name a few) have featured her work in their stores, commercials and print ad campaigns.

British Airways:


The Fairmont Hotels have commissioned her work on a few occasions:


Crabtree & Evelyn posters:


Volvo:


Pilsner Urquell:


Harper's Bazaar editorial:


Theater set for The Snow Queen:


Video set for Indah:


In-store installations:



Su talks about her craft in this video from the artist:


Available starting December 5th, 2013 (and can be pre-ordered now here) is this Artist Monograph from Su that catalogs her work from 2006-2013:

above: Su Blackwell 'Book Sculptures', Case-bound, hard-back with 84 full-colour pages. Measures 297mm x 210mm.

Su says of her work:
”I often work within the realm of fairy-tales and folk-lore. I began making a series of book-sculpture, cutting-out images from old books to create three-dimensional diorama’s, and displaying them inside wooden boxes”.

”For the cut-out illustrations, I tend to lean towards young-girl characters, placing them in haunting, fragile settings, expressing the vulnerability of childhood, while also conveying a sense of childhood anxiety and wonder. There is a quiet melancholy in the work, depicted in the material used, and choice of subtle colour.”

Paper has been used for communication since its invention; either between humans or in an attempt to communicate with the spirit world. I employ this delicate, accessible medium and use irreversible, destructive processes to reflect on the precariousness of the world we inhabit and the fragility of our life, dreams and ambitions. -- Su Blackwell, 2007

A great holiday gift for both young and old is the book, The Fairy-Tale Princess: Seven Classic Stories from the Enchanted Forest, which features seven classic fairy tales, imaginatively retold and illustrated with Su's specially commissioned paper-cut constructions:






buy it here

Her online shop features laser cut greeting cards, signed monographs, prints of her work, journals and more.

Su Blackwell Studio Ltd. was set up in 2011 to work on a variety of projects, commissions and collaborations. The studio comprises of Su (director) and her assistants, ‘Emma and Freya’.

Su is represented by Long and Ryle Gallery, London.

Su Blackwell

A 9 Foot Tall Tower of 50,000 Wishbones and 20 Other Examples of Wishbone Art For Thanksgiving.

Last year I treated my readers to a selection of Wishbone inspired art on Turkey Day. This year I have a new round-up of contemporary art, furniture and other Wishbone items I'd like to share with you in honor of Thanksgiving.

"Cathedral de St. Icarus, the Wishful" by artist Berenice Rarig



While collecting wishbones artist Berenice Rarig realized that there is a relationship between the seemingly individual rituals of wishing and the more traditionally religious rituals of prayer.




This inspired Berenice to create some various pieces of 'wishbone' art. Most impressive is her Cathedral de St. Icarus the Wishful, made with over 50,000 wishbones, wire frame, lights and stands approximately 9 feet high:




(Collection of the artist - touring installation).

Offspring of Icarus by Berenice Rarig (broken wishbones and beeswax):

See more from her 'Offspring of Icarus' here

Both The Cathedral de St. Icarus and Offspring of Icarus are parts of Rarig's Soul Cages collection.

Truong Tran's Wishbone Art
Three Wishes, 2008, enamel on wishbones:



Tran's Wishbone Installation:




Truong Tran: Before the Wish, A short (6 and a half minute) documentary about the process of visual artist Truong Tran collecting one thousand wishbones by hand for his installation, Wish (2012), first displayed at SOMArts Gallery in San Francisco:

Credits: Directed/Shot/Edited by Daniel Lichtenberg, Post at Photon Creative


Lorna Simpson: III (Three Wishbones in a Wood Box)



Lorna Simpson is best known for her photography, which often combines images of black women with text as a way to explore society's relationship with race, sex, and ethnicity. Frequently elusive, her works involve the viewer in the creation of their meaning while also confronting the viewer with the underlying racism still found in American culture. Over time, Simpson's work has grown to include sculpture as a way to enrich her explorations of the relationship between words and image. With this piece, Simpson continued with that focus, and centered on the wishbone, a key of her artistic imagery. Drawing on the metaphorical meanings of the project's materials, Simpson used III as both an examination of and meditation on wishing. The set includes a wooden box filled with three contrasting wishbones, or "wishes," made from bronze, ceramic, and rubber. The bronze and rubber wishbones are unbreakably rigid. The ceramic wishbone was designed to be fragile, which was the artist's intention.


Available for purchase here at MoMA
or here at Artware Editions

"Point", "Weave" and "Float", 3 pieces from artist Dana Weir's Wishbone series. Encaustic collage with map and real bone, 2010, 6" x 6" each:




Yoga Saraswati's Little Wishes, wish bones, red thread, pastel on black paper, 19 x 27 cm:


Nina C Marrero, Handmade studies in pencil, charcoal, and ink, with a final graphic translation of a wishbone:


Ethan Patrick Harris, The Endless Throb:


Barbie KJAR, Wishbone 2005, drypoint etching, 180 x 180cm:


Joey Monsoon's Wishbone Mechanic:


Mark Beam's WISH BONE, painted mixed media sculpture, signed and dated on verso, 30” tall:


Alie Ward, Wishbone print:


Wishbones For The Home (furniture, decor and housewares):

StackLab's Wood tables with their signature 'Wishbone' legs

StackLab's Wishbone Walnut table (private commission). Solid, machined bronze stitches replace traditional bowtie joints to stabilize the natural crack in the wood. The legs are Stacklab’s signature cast bronze Wishbone design in a polished finish:



The Rubaiyat Table is a 10’ x 36” x 3” historic redwood burl paired with Stacklab’s sand-cast aluminum ‘Wishbone’ legs:


The Troost Desk is a 10’ x 38” x 3” historic redwood burl paired with Stacklab’s sand-cast aluminum ‘Wishbone’ legs.

Modern Toronto has an interesting article and interview with Jeff Forrest of StackLab about their wishbone tables here

Brass Wishbone by jewelry designer Herbert Hoover in fun packaging.


Decorative Grand Wishbones by Lunares


Lucky Break Wishbone Wall Hooks and Jewelry Holder by IMM Living



Other wishbone item links:
•Wishbone art to buy via Fine Art America
•There are almost 5,000 Wishbone items (jewelry,housewares and art) available here on etsy
 •Don't forget to see last year's 18 pieces of art inspired by the wishbone here.

Happy Thanksgiving!