A selection of art & oddities collected by a pessimistic optimist. I am intrigued by things off-kilter. I am seeking the places that don't exist. The furniture does not match.
I've been told my partner, Jason Mitchell & I make phantasmagoric images.
Our photo + still work : Purebred
I also write an art blog : Ransom Notes
I'll tell you all my secrets : Fake Believe
Jason's tumblr : impureacts
I'm nice... mostly.
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portrait painted by Buddy Nestor
Bonsai-B by Takanori Aiba
One of the many breathtaking mixed media sculpture created by Takanori Aiba. He constructs sprawling miniature communities that wrap around bonsai trees, lighthouses, and amongst the cliffs of nearly vertical islands.
Via FreshPics
Schwinn pigeon by Edouard Martinet
Quote from the artists website:
Edouard Martinet transforms everyday objects found in flea-markets and car boot sales into works of art. Working with a variety of refuse materials such as rusted kitchen pans, typewriter keys, car lights and other scrap metals, Edouard Martinet sculpts several types of animals and insects. His sculptures are made without the use of solder. He fits each component into place as if putting together a puzzle of random pieces and parts. Each masterpiece is carefully assembled after having drafted several detailed sketches. This process requires a sufficient amount of time to get from the idea to the completion.
via Archie Mcphee’ Endless Geyser of AWESOME!
(via archiemcphee)
Banc Poissons by Edouard Martinet
Quote from the artists website:
Edouard Martinet transforms everyday objects found in flea-markets and car boot sales into works of art. Working with a variety of refuse materials such as rusted kitchen pans, typewriter keys, car lights and other scrap metals, Edouard Martinet sculpts several types of animals and insects. His sculptures are made without the use of solder. He fits each component into place as if putting together a puzzle of random pieces and parts. Each masterpiece is carefully assembled after having drafted several detailed sketches. This process requires a sufficient amount of time to get from the idea to the completion.
via Archie Mcphee’ Endless Geyser of AWESOME!
Brian Colin’s interpretation of The Black Rabbit of Inle.
Titled “Watership Down Syndrome” - size is approx 17″ x 10″ x 17″
This piece is part of a group show called INLE, curated by Greg “Craola” SImkins’ @ Gallery 1988: LA. Over 100 artists will interpret the anti-hero (The Black Rabbit of Inle) from Richard Adams’ novel Watership Down.
Opening is 3/11/11 from 7-10pm - For more information visit my blog.
Jessica Joslin / Sculptor / recent works from 2004-2011
Cooper, 2011
Owl created for “In The Trees: TWIN PEAKS 20th Anniversary Art Exhibition” honoring filmmaker David Lynch. The event is at Clifton’s Brookdale, Los Angeles. Saturday, February 12th, 2011 (8 – 11pm).
Jessica Joslin is a deft Medium whose tools of the trade are not dog-eared Tarot cards or a faded Ouija board, instead she employs drills, jewler’s files, well oiled hand taps and needle nose pliers. From bins of antique hardware, beads, aged leather, salvaged antique serving wares and animal bones, Joslin gives birth to magical beasts that are elegant, noble and rife with emotion.
Rudolph, 2010
Gustav, 2008
Oskar, 2009
She beckons her creatures from the forgotten places of our collective past - piecing together the misplaced memories that lie dormant in our silverware, opera gloves and door knockers, while also honoring the life blood that once pulsed through the very bones of the beings she reanimates.
Please follow the jump for many more photos, an interview, plus links to her book and latest show (honoring David Lynch).
James Elliott Moore / Illustrator, Painter, Sculptor, Installation artist / 2010
Moore’s greatest talent is his ability to portray a truth that resonates like piano keys struck with blunt force. His work is fierce and unrelenting, barely leaving space to breath. It is impulse and passion, never pausing to look back, nor heading the future. It pulses with the power of the moment, as he forces the uncertainty and turmoil roiling within his subjects to literally burst from within.
He is a clairvoyant among us. Yet he does not see auras of ethereal wispy colors, but instead he envisions gurgling mucous, severed fingers, crumpled metal and dirty socks.
Please follow the jump for more artwork, an interview, and information about his current show opening Feb 4th in NYC.
Scott Musgrove / Painter, Sculptor / 2010-2011
Musgrove could be described as an elegant fusion of Dr. Dolittle & Dr. Frankenstein. He creates unexpected, (oft misunderstood) beasts with paint, wood, bronze and any other surface willing to bend to his will. Despite his creature’s peculiar nature, they are not grotesque, nor do they elicit fear or mockery. Instead they speak with quiet dignity as they stoically gaze back at us — their moist eye’s rimmed with sad understanding of their slipped grasp of the mortal coil.
Follow the jump for many more paintings plus links to his humorous blog and store.
Heather Gargon / Puppeteer, Installation Artist, Illustrator / 2010
Gargon’s vast assortment of works include melancholy illustrations, youthfully designed puppets and cleverly imagineered installations. Her whimsical creatures could easily be understood by any child’s open mind, but Gargon is on a relentless mission to reach the youthful heart that beats in every adult.
Follow the jump for more artworks and an interview.
Andy Paiko / Glass Sculptor & Inventor / 2006-2010
bell jar vessels (interior objects are 24K plated)
balance weights - “46” high (accurate to 10 grams) functional glass seismograph for measuring earthquakes - 46”x48” It would be easy to appreciate Andy Paiko solely for his wide variety of intricate glass vessels. They so deftly mix nostalgia and modernity, any would look at home in the Mütter Museum as well as the Guggenheim. Yet Paiko seeks to create more than just beauty for adoration’s sake alone, he is a lover of functionality and is passionately reinventing how glass behaves and ultimately is perceived. Follow the jump for many more pieces, videos of his intricate glass machines and an interview.
(Source: andypaikoglass.com )
Kate MccGwire / sculptor / 2009-2010
MccGwire’s work is at once breathtakingly beautiful and quizzically unsettling. Her primary medium is feathers that are systematically positioned around bulky, undulating forms. These creations are remarkably unexpected and are a far cry from their original purpose of airborne flight.
Please follow the jump for more images of her work, links to a Juxtapoz interview and her website.
Iootaur (aka 100taur) / 2007-2010
Iootaur’s work mixes popular culture into a delicious cocktail of savagery and wry humor. The span of work is an impressive compendium of street art, paintings, drawings, sculpture and installations. I am enraptured by the complex details even as my heart tightens at their grotesque assemblage.
Please follow the jump for more images, an interview and links to more work.
Kate MacDowell / sculpture / 2008-2010
MacDowell creates porcelain sculptures of heartbreaking anatomic beauty. The subjects range from delicate autopsies of birds, rabbits, etc. to a specimen’esque views of internal human organs. In all cases, her intimately realistic renditions evoke deeper metaphors of mortality – each a solemn confirmation of mankind’s intrinsic bond with even the smallest earthly disquiet.
I am impressed by the master craftsmanship of all her sculptures and deeply moved by her ability to balance the common metaphors of ‘bella vita’ and ‘morte brutta’ in a most unexpected way. She cleverly employs the bloom of youthful splendor to seduce a closer look into the dark places no living being could ever permit passage. Once our gaze is caught, MacDowell encourages Death to kindly escort us within so we may glimpse our fragile impermanence.
MacDowell Notes :
What is the part of your process you enjoy the most?
“The most delicate parts are actually the most enjoyable to sculpt as I get immersed in close study of a blossom or a bee.”
… the least?
“Building and hollowing the larger forms at the beginning of working on a piece is quite time consuming and is more nerve-wracking as I’m making so many decisions and adjusting the form as I work, so I listen to a lot of audiobooks. Science fiction, history, and fantasy are often good accompaniments.”
List of current exhibition cities.
Paris, France : thru Jan 13, 2011 / Bellevue, WA : thru Jan 16, 2011 / Pittsburgh, PA : thru Mar 26, 2011 / Sheboygan, WI : thru Jan 31, 2011
For specific details visit her website: http://www.katemacdowell.com
(a special THANK YOU goes out to David Pescovitz at BoingBoing.net for reposting this entry. And props go to Jessica Joslin and Audrey Kawasaki who both introduced me to this talented lady )
Jessica Harrison / sculpture / 2008-2010
Jessica Harrison is an intrepid explorer of our deepest discomforts. Her 2010 work blends the innocent charm of ceramic figurines with the corporeal nightmares of disembowelment and other grotesque wounds. In ‘09 she wrapped miniature furniture with dry, wrinkled skin, peppered with ugly sores and hair growth. In ‘08 she created engorged monsters out of pulpy red human tongues thrusting out of delicate miniature furniture.
Harrison is walking a knifes edge to create such remarkable unbalance. I truly adore and admire her unsettling work. Something tells me if she were to tear a crusted scab off of my knee, a stream of red velvet ribbons would fall to the floor.
http://www.jessicaharrison.co.uk
(via Cory Doctorow @ http://boingboing.net )
Andrew Scott / sculptor / 2006-2008
Scott’s enormous and horrifyingly accurate trilobites, insects and Cthulhu’esque sculptures make my heart sing. He has an incredible passion for the subjects and is a regular lecturer on arthropods, evolution and ecology at Stanley Park in Vancouver, CA. His adoration for his creatures shows in the impeccable craftsmanship throughout his work. I implore everyone to take a look at the in-progress “studio” set of images to get a sense of how incredibly detailed and solid his sculptures are. The cut of this man’s creative coat is of the rarest and finest kind.
Extensive portfolio: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bugmaker999/sets
Blog: http://bugfactory.blogspot.com
Facebook: Bugmaker
