3rd Wave of Inspiration
Since 2003
"Meredith Marsone's (formerly Collins) paintings and drawings explore questions of heritage and identity. At times there is a tension in her works that reference her Pakeha and Māori heritage, ta moko or floral designs delicately adorn faces of her subjects. Heritage as well as the continuity of one's lineage are depicted in Meredith's works which often feature her with her daughters."
Ventricle is a two-part installation created by SOFTlab that was commissioned by the Southbank Centre in London for the Festival of Love. The installations recall the heart, a symbol that has been used for many centuries and in many cultures to represent love. Along with the chambers of the heart, the installations are a modern interpretation of the hanging gardens of Babylon, a place of many cultures and languages, and also of Eden, a place of free knowledge and expression.
Fabien Merelle's "renderings, simultaneously absurd, humorous, ironic and cruel, weave their own tapestry of tales and legends, blurring the line between what has been written and what our memory has forged."
“My paintings incorporate elements of both fiction and reality, and are brought to fruition through a varied means of production. I draw from a pool of collected images that are then digitally edited, and serve as a starting point for a process-based practice.
The paintings lend themselves to a simulation of reality, presenting a hyperreal aesthetic that is heightened by the screen-like finish of the work. Perspectival planes are shifted, flattened or extended, warping the notion of depth within the image, presenting a simultaneous distancing and magnification that offers multiple readings of the work. Although the aesthetic of the work suggests a digitally mediated experience of the urban environment, broken and dripped paint ground the work in a more traditional notion of materiality.”
Josh Sperling is a young contemporary artist currently living and working in Brooklyn, New York. Sperling’s works on canvas waver between wall sculptures and paintings. Building layered plywood structures by hand, the artist stretches canvas over these forms to create a subtle relief.
Permanent contemporary tattoo is nothing new since Tattly project run by famous design tank Tina Roth Eisenberg but Taiwan-raised US based artist John Yuyi taking it to the new level. "FACE POST is the artist’s three-part series and a nod to social media via her aforementioned, now-signature transfer stickers. The stickers are reminiscent of the superhero tattoos you’d get in those packets of “cigarette” sweets, applied with a modest dunk of water but maintained the staying power of super-glue – it’s this use of familiar objects in a witty way that gives her work its relatability." says Dazed Digital
Cristina Cordova is a sculptor currently based in Penland, North Carolina. She now works with ceramics to create powerful, reflective figures which create an emotional entrypoint for those experiencing her work. She often jumpstarts her work with a specific notion: what is important to her culture or her family. She envisions herself primarily as a growing artist; though her identity now includes being a partner and a mother.
"Baugh’s work can be described as narrative impressionistic realism. Specializing in oil paint and charcoal, he began painting at the age of 13 and began selling professionally at age 17. When he was only 21 years old, Baugh began showing in galleries and after four years of studying with artist Richard Schmid, he had his first solo show at age 25. He has made several television appearances and has been featured on the covers of many publications, including The Artist’s Magazine,American Artist’s Magazine, and American Art Collector."
Young visual artist Javier Martin has developed most of his works in painting & in sculpture. He uses fashion portraits often taken by him to compose his artwork. Martin also uses a mixture of techniques that involve digital prints as part of his trademark. Below we share his latest series of "Blindness Light" where he combines neon lamps with fashion photography
“In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped, and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it. The best artist has that thought alone which is contained within the marble shell; the sculptor’s hand can only break the spell to free the figures slumbering in the stone. The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.”
In Spring 2016 Quayola presented solo exhibition Laocoön at One Canada Square in London. The exhibition was a continuation of the artist’s ongoing research into iconography, whereby he abstracts classical sculptures using digital rendering and production techniques. In so doing, Quayola creates new spaces in which relationships between classical and contemporary art forms and themes can be re-thought.
Explore carnivore "naturmort" art of Eric Wert
Montana-based artist and photographer Kyra Schmidt triggers an increased consciousness of landscape with her ‘Transcriptions’ series.
Jessica is an Italian artist studied at the Academia Albertina di Belle Arti of Turin and now lives and works in Berlin.
“My work is a challenge to find a paint method that could be sensory, emotional but cruelly true and real at the same time. I take people I know or find and I get inspired from their natural gesture and the sensation that I find in them. I observe what they evoke in me, and I want to transfer this kind of emotional feeling to the people that observe my paintings. I try to find a way to let my figures breath, move, think – but not only in their physical appearance. I don’t want to make a realistic paint, but a real painting, with all the sensation of their action. This is why I start from gesture, because is instinctive, it is pure, it is just a reaction to something external about us. Then I arrive to work on flesh with this caducity or freshness. This is the approach on my artwork, a continuous curiosity in development, life, communication, exchange.”
As there is literally no Planet B we must think not only about our relationship with environment but with the people around us, especially the ones in need. It is still unclear how we can raise millions in kickstarter for another gadget and avoid helping a bunch (in terms of percentage) of homeless people. British sculptor Maxwell Rushton approached by similar thoughts has created a "Left Out" piece on streets of London where nearly 7000 slept rough on streets during last year.
Filmed by Liam Thomson
Liu Yuanshou is a contemporary Chinese painter. He was born in Beijing in 1967. He earned a degree in oil painting from the Capital Normal University of Beijing in 1991, and has exhibited in and won awards in many prestigious exhibitions throughout Asia, including China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan.
Chris Guest’s work focuses mainly on painting heavily tattooed people, with a ‘Pin-Up’ feel. Utilizing classical oil painting techniques, learnt at London Fine Arts in Battersea, Chris creates paintings in a classic figurative tradition, coupled with a contemporary twist
“Korean artist Yeesookyung masterfully produces imperfect sculptures, bulbous yet elegant works composed from mismatched porcelain. The series, titled “Translated Vase,” was first inspired by the Korean artisan tradition of destroying porcelain works that are not deemed pristine, and she has continued to make the fused pieces since 2001. Intrigued by these tossed aside works and shards, Yee began saving fragmented tea cups and pots rejected by contemporary masters. Honoring the works’ dismantled states, she traces each crevice in 24-karat gold leaf in the style of Japanese kintsugi, merging the unwanted works together in a way that heightens the beauty of their distress. In this way she blends diverse methods to form a contemporary process that evokes both the elegant designs of her homeland and the delicate rebuilding of damaged works in Japanese tradition.”
“As of the most convenient mediums to capture reality, photography sometimes moves a step beyond it and takes us on a journey to the unknown. Ilka Kramer does just that, creating unearthly scenes that question our perception of landscapes.”
“In a time where we lose direct contact with nature, we accede to it only by the view.”
All images © Ilka Kramer
Claire Luxton works with her own body and face as an object of art creating colourful photography prints available for purchase
