Saturday 24 December 2011

Aled's Animals - Other art (Cartoon) - Aled Lewis


Aled Lewis, 'Toy Stories; What If The Dinosaurs Deserved It?', 2011

Aled Lewis is an illustrator and designer currently working in London, England. For the year 2011 he commissioned a project for himself. Namely to ‘make something cool everyday’. 
During this ambitious project Aled Lewis created the ‘Toy Stories’.

Aled Lewis, 'Toy Stories; Murder Mystery', 2011
The so called ‘Toy Stories’ are a series of comical cartoons. The characters in these cartoons are little plastic animals and sometimes people. Toys, but carefully collected and combined by Aled Lewis.

The following image shows the making of ‘N00b’ in Aled Lewis’s working space. Using blank paper he created a neutral surrounding for his figures to place in. After composing all the elements, Aled will make a photograph of the scene he created. The balloons and text are added digitally. 

Aled Lewis, 'Toy Stories' the making of 'N00b, 2011
Aled Lewis, 'Toy Stories; N00b', 2011
 
The attention Lewis gave to this project is clearly showing in his ‘Toy Stories’ visually and lyrically. He really read the expressions on the little faces amazingly and has brought them to life in a humorous way. I hope you’ll enjoy them and have a very happy Christmas!

Aled Lewis, 'Toy Stories; What If Cats Were Using The Internet All Along?', 2011

Wednesday 21 December 2011

Volcanic Potraits - Collage art - Sylvia Stølan

Sylvia Stølan, 'Volcanic Spirit' 2011

Sylvia Stølan, born in Norway, graduated in 2007 as a bachelor in Visual Communication at the Utrecht School of the Arts. Today she is still based in Utrecht, working as a freelance illustrator designer. 
A technique Sylvia often uses is ‘collage’. This year she expositioned with ‘Volcanic Spirit’ at the ‘International Weird Collage show’ at gallery Opperclaes in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. 

Sylvia Stølan, 'Volcanic Spirit', 2011





















Sylvia Stølan was inspired by the existing volcanic powers during the making of the series collages ‘Volcanic Spirit’. The works include portraits combined with visual elements of volcanic material. It makes me think of all the effects volcanic eruptions can have on people. The immense powers of nature, beautiful yet destructive.
Sylvia Stølan, 'Volcanic Spirit', 2011
   
Sylvia Stølans collages are also truly beautiful. She has an incredible feel for composition and combining color that also shows in the presentation of ‘Volcanic Spirit’. The works are printed on foamboard and hung from the wall so a small space is created behind the object. Then Sylvia added a source of light in a perfectly chosen pinkinsh-orangy-red colour. The result causes that the works get the impression of glowing, from heat.

Sylvia Stølan, 'Volcanic Spirit', 2011, Gallery Opperclaes in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Monday 12 December 2011

Cinna Monday.. - Inspiring art

Hannah Radenkova, 'Phantom Barber', 2009, brush and ink, paper and digital textures
' The Phantom Barber of Pascagoula ' is a legend that started in during World War II. 
At night little wisps of hair from woman and little girls were cut of while they were sleeping.

Theresa Pfarr, 'Lapse', 2009, ink, graphite, papercollage (61 x 46cm)


Seungyea Park (Spunky Zoe), 'Blind me not', 2011
Spunky Zoe is trying to capture two monsters. One that lives outside of her and one on her inside.




Metsa, 'CementPearls', cement and silver



Photographer: Maarten Alexander, Artist: Stephan Bontje (Rul3rs), 2011, Mini Mall Wall, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (300m2)


Saturday 10 December 2011

Tight Thoughts - Photography - Michael Wolf


Michael Wolf is a photographer who was born in München, one of Germanys biggest cities. He grew up in the USA and has been working and living in China for several years now.
In 2010 Wolf visited Japan for the making of his project ‘Tokyo Compression’. 

Michael Wolf, 'Tokyo compression; Image #17', 2010
‘Tokyo Compression’ is a photo series that shows us commuters on their daily travel in the overcrowded subway of Tokyo. People standing in uncomfortable postures with various intriguing expressions on their faces. At first glance it is hard to grasp what is going on.

Michael Wolf, 'Tokyo compression; Image #9', 2010
Wolf’s photos have a certain mystique feeling about them. It is not quite clear were the people are. And the photos are sometimes a little blur or even foggy. When starting to realize that the fog you see is created by the condensation of the breath of all the people, Wolf's photos take you even closer to that misty place..
– It must be hot in there – Those people have absolutely no choice but to stand so close together – How will it smell? – Where are they even traveling to?–

Michael Wolf, 'Tokyo compression; Image #13', 2010
Together the photos of Michael Wolf make a fascinating documentation of the daily situation of many Tokyo inhabitants. But every single photo is also a portrait, showing us the different ways the persons are coping with this compression.
The photos are very personal as they have been shot as a close-up. But also distant caused by the glass of the subway doors, separating us, allowing us to read their faces and imagine their thoughts.

Michael Wolf, 'Tokyo compression; Image #33', 2010
Michael Wolf, 'Tokyo compression; Image #35', 2010

















Two books have been published this year about the interesting ‘Tokyo compression’ by Michael Wolf. But if you’ve become really curious, why not visit the Tokyo subway yourself…