suspended paper jewels

They are faceted like precious stones, but they are made of paper (and some other things).

Dans la Lune, Kirsten Hassenfeld

“Some friends were visiting from France, and one described speaking with her doctor about a medication. She had inquired if it would make her “dans la lune.” When I asked her what that meant, she said, “dopey, drugged.” Later I looked up the French idiom and found that it referenced daydreaming. “Il est dans la lune” can be translated as “He’s got his head in the clouds,” or “He’s on another planet.” Dans la Lune is a perfect title because in my work I try to create an imaginary place that relates to our longings for a better, grander existence.Hassenfeld describes her work as “a three-dimensional daydream”.  -Kirsten Hassenfeld

Untitled (Star) detail, Kirsten Hassenfeld

She expresses her ambivalence toward materials wealth, power and privilege by creating images of precious objects using paper as a primary material. Her installations are dreamlike, and I would love to wander through her fantastic, created worlds.

Dollar Dreams, Kristen Hassenfeld

The artist finds inspiration in her collection of auction catalogues and books on decoration.  Her research involves experimenting with new types of paper and methods, and it takes many hours of work hand-cutting, coiling, folding and gluing the various types of archival papers that she uses. See her website: www.kirstenhassenfeld.com.   There is also a nice photo selection of her installations at Bellwether Gallery:  www.bellwethergallery.com

whirling kaleidescope of color

Hadieh Shafie finds inspiration in the Sufi whirling dervishes,  Islamic ascetics who whirl around in a dizzying attempt to get closer to Allah. Google “Whirling Dervish” and select “images” to get a page full of colorful, spinning costumes.

20871 Pages
2012
Hadieh Shafie
Ink/ acrylic and Paper with printed & hand written Farsi Text Esheghe
“Love”
48″ x 48″ x 3.5″

Shafie titles her pieces according to the number of tiny strips of paper that are tightly scrolled and set into the frame. Inside the scrolls are written one word:  “Eshghe”, or “Love” in the Farsi language.

21680 Pages Detail
2011
Hadieh Shafie
Ink/ acrylic and Paper with printed & hand written Farsi Text Esheghe
“Love”
48″ x 48″ x 3.5″ / 121.92 x 121.9 x 9 cm

She is very interested in process-oriented work, with repetition and patterns that find their roots in traditional Iranian art. As she performs the methodical, repetitious work, she loses herself in a meditation of memories and thoughts and inspirations.

Image from Morton Fine Art

Some weeks ago, looking at my friend’s pictures from Turkey, we noted that the flowing brushwork Arabic lettering is like an art form in itself.  Seeing it here on Hafie’s pieces, I love the way it forms patterns as it scrolls around her wheels of color.  She has wonderful, huge images on her website that display the details and colors beautifully:  hadiehshafie.com

bring on the rainbow

I was browsing through the artists that are being honored with the The Catlin Art Prize 2012, an annual exhibition that features the most promising art grads in the UK. Julia Vogl caught my eye with her rainbows of color.

£ 1 000 000 | 1 000 opinions ( where would you allocate £ 1 000 000 of public spending?), Julia Vogl

Vogl is an installation artist who works to challenge social issues through public art.

“…I started to understand the role that public art can have in a community. It can make neighbourhoods safer, it can lead to positive engagement with strangers and generally it can beautify an otherwise neglected area.” – Julia Vogl from an interview with Aesthetica Magazine Blog

Colouring the Invisible, Julia Vogl

In “Colouring the Invisible”, Vogl covers 150 windows of an interior atrium at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies.  Her artistic aim is to reflect on the languages spoken there.

Preferences Overview, Julia Vogl

Her rainbow bursts of color grab your attention.  I like the interactive aspect of “Preferences Overview”, based off the childhood game of hopscotch.  Did you know that game has ancient Roman origins?

Color and pattern are essential elements of Vogl’s work.  See more on her website:  www.juliavogl.com

speaking of cement

Yesterday’s post was on a new form of lighted, translucent concrete. This led to an investigation of some concrete art . . .

Casa do Conto Hotel, Portugal

Not sure how comfortable I would be with a massive, concrete ceiling over my head.  It is pretty cool, though.

Leaning, Andrew Goss

Andrew Goss is a concrete artist who writes a blog about his work and other interesting ideas.  He is a Canadian jewelry designer, who works in concrete as well as metals.  I wanted to feature this piece because I think of concrete sculpture being blocky and heavy, and I love the “twiggy” feel of this one. Visit his blog: artconcrete.blogspot.com

He also creates some beautiful wall mounted pieces.  See the David Kaye Gallery in Toronto, “Lift – Some Ideas about Concrete”.

Sculpture, Rachel Josepher Gaspers

Gaspers is an artist working out of Port Townsend, Washington.  She creates sculptures that are created from  kiln-cast glass and concrete.

“Since I often think of glass as transparent stone or rocks, the “themes” of the pieces are in reference to fossils, or ancient walls that are carved with a story.” Rachel Josepher Gaspers

She also produces oil paintings, fiber art, and pastel paintings, in addition to the concrete & glass work. Visit her website here: www.rachelgaspers.com

concrete concepts in art

A new form of concrete caught my eye the other day, making me think of this materials being used for artistic applications.

Luccon

Luccon is a new material, a translucent concrete that is made up of concrete blocks with embedded webbed fiber optic cables.  The stone appears incongruously massive as well as transparent.

Luccon Concrete Steps

The Luccon website has many examples of how this material is being used around the world in architectural applications.

Luccon

The architectural uses are beautiful.  I would imagine concrete installation artists might be eying this new material, wheels turning as to how to integrate it into sculptural works.

Luccen stands for “lucent concrete”, and was invented by Austrian Jürgen Frei. He researched this project independently, finding information online and experimenting in his garage.  He was the “Category Idea of the Year” winner in the 2009 Austrian contest called “The Start-Up Entrepreneur”.

digging through the text

There have been some “book carving” artists out on the blogs lately.  I have thought them interesting, but haven’t featured them.  Then I saw the work of Brian Dettmer, and I think he takes it just a bit farther, and I like it.

There’s Nothing to Fear, Brian Dettmer

He speaks of his work as a collaboration between himself and the book.  With tweezers and surgical tools he carefully excavates, searching to expose images and ideas, history and memories.  Take a closer look at “Fear”, and you will find “secrets”, “dark”, and “inactivity”.  There is more to explore here than the graphic sculpture of fear.

The Encyclopedia of Architecture, Brian Dettmer

Dettmer does not rearrange any images or words from where they are found in the book.  Things are removed, to reveal, never added in or replaced.

New Books of Knowledge, Brian Dettmer

In many of his sculptures you are hard pressed to determine the materials used, if you didn’t know they were books.  They twist and flow, or pieces are geometrically cut to flare out into abstract shapes.

He has exhibited internationally, and has upcoming shows in 2012 throughout the U.S., including California, Georgia, Illinois and Washington D.C. See more information and images on his website:  http://briandettmer.com

what is revealed

The broken sculptural pieces of Jonathan Prince reveal visual treasures.

Disc Fragment 2011, Jonathan Prince

The Cynthia-Reeves Gallery in New York is presenting Prince’s work from February 10 – March 30, 2012. His Torn Steel series is the result of laborious hand-working. The outer surfaces are oxidized steel, and the inner forms revealed have been polished to a shining finish.

Southern Remnant, Jonathan Prince

Prince begins by sketching out his concepts on paper, then refining that on computer. He creates a urethane foam model next with engineering drawings, noting the essential materials for fabrication. After the work is constructed, he marks the sections to be “torn” out, which is a process accomplished with a plasma torch.

And this is not the end . . . stainless steel plates are shaped and welded into the form, patterns are overlaid onto the plates with a MIG  welder, and all areas are then smoothed and blended with a TIG welder. The final step is polishing and smoothing with various abrasives.

working on Torus 340, 2011

His background is just as interesting as his work. From sculpting in his teens with stone, clay and plaster, he moved into the art of dentistry and maxillofacial surgery. From that career he went on to directing and producing films and computer animated special effects projects. After those varied twists and turns in profession, he finally came back to sculpting.

Southern Remnant, on display on Madison Avenue

Visit Jonathan Price’s website for more of his sculptural work:  www.jonathanprince.com

the motion of art

I think kinetic art is amazing – it takes your perception and experience to a whole new level. Studio Glithero has an amazing repertoire of art that is created by action.  I’m not sure if it would be classified as kinetic art, but motion is a defining element in many of their works. British designer Tim Simpson and Dutch designer Sarah van Gameren met and studied at the Royal College of Art, then started a studio in London where they create installations that result in products.

Blueware Collection, Studio Glithero

The gorgeous blueware pottery is created by applying dried plants to ceramic surfaces treated with light-sensitive chemicals. The arrangements are exposed to UV light. See a visually stunning video of this process as they dip the vases into the vat of color:  www.glithero.com/blueware-vases.

Fire Drawings, Studio Glithero

Fire Drawings are one of the newest works on the Glithero website. The pattern is screen-printed with a flammable paint.  As the flame travels along the lines, it leaves a charcoal trace behind.

Fire Drawings, Studio Glithero

Fire Drawings, Studio Glithero

An important part of the Studio Glithero process is to produce films that document the creation of their products.  They aim to capture the spirit of the moment in which things are made. Their work is basically science based, as they look to how elements react, the key ingredient being transformation. They want the consumer to experience the moment at which artwork appears from raw materials into something that is complete.

Visit their website to view videos of their many varied installations.  Glithero.com  View a video interview of the artists and their process:  www.detnk.com

Valentine bits of heart art

Searching the web for some lovely images that caught my eye for Valentine’s Day . . .

Follow Your Heart – Let’s Swing, Kristiana Pärn

In The Heart Of Winter By Georgianna Lane Fine Art Photography

photo from Flickr, Dr. Iftwood

Q. Cassetti, Illustration

Ice Heart, Linda Oeffling

favorite things for monday

The very best thing about working in the elementary school was working in the library.  Books and art are my passions, and children’s book illustrations are some of my very favorite art pieces.

The Frick  Museum  is an art and historical center located in Pittsburgh, and they are featuring a new exhibition, Draw Me a Story: A Century of Children’s Book Illustration, from February 11–May 20, 2012.

Kate Greenaway, Hush a Bye, Baby

The exhibition spans one hundred years of illustration, and includes watercolors, pen drawings, and experimental combinations of media.  Artists include Ernest Shepherd, Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are), and Randolph Caldecott, to name just a few.

Randolph Caldecott, A Frog He Would a Wooing Go

They are hanging the artworks at a lower level than the standard, and step stools will be available for child-friendly viewing of this charming collection.

Ernest Shepherd, Wind in the Willows

Would you like the explore more children’s book illustration?  Take a look at a great link to some of my old fashioned favorites: www.ortakales.com
And here are a few thumbnails:

Cicely M. Barker

Tasha Tudor

Gabrielle Vincent

Garth Williams