i’m jealous of michelle forsyth

michelleforsyth

On first glance you might think, ‘Oh yes, an impressionistic painting of a bunch of flowers. Nice.’ Boy would you be wrong… twice.

Firstly this is not a painting, but a mixed media piece… to the extreme. Here’s the laundry list of everything that went into this installation: Color-Aid paper, 90 lb. Arches HP watercolor paper, Fabriano SP watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, black sandpaper, silver paper, felt, screenprint, gouache, watercolor, sequins, Swarovski crystal beads, seed beads, dressmakers pins, and hat pins. Phew.

Secondly, the ‘bunch of flowers’, that have been so intricately created by the above mentioned media, are actually blooms on a tree above the site where a devastating explosion took place in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The tragedy occurred on December 6, 1917, which gives this piece it’s title. As a matter of fact, every installation in this series by Canadian artist Michelle Forsyth features something in nature that is currently alive and thriving at the scene of a horrific event in Canadian history. A pretty far cry from a lovely impressionistic painting of a bunch of flowers, wouldn’t you say?






comments (7)

  1. purl scout /// 04.21.2010 /// 7:34am

    she kills. wish i could have made it up to brooklyn to see her show in my dear friends gallery, the hogar collection, this spring.

  2. Daughter Earth /// 04.21.2010 /// 7:41am

    Amazing!

  3. vadjutka /// 04.21.2010 /// 7:59am

    OMG, this is incredible!
    I truly admire this – she must be a genious!
    Btw – one of my favourite painting period is pointilism.

  4. The Jealous Curator /// 04.21.2010 /// 9:03am

    I love pointillism too. I even tried doing a few during my undergrad, but got such bad headaches from all of the concentrated detail… I think attempting work like this might very well kill me!

  5. sesiber /// 04.21.2010 /// 11:14pm

    Gorgeous design and designer. I’m going her link. Thanks for sharing.

  6. Pattern Pulp - Friday Quick Links /// 04.23.2010 /// 11:31am

    […] 3. It may look like simple pointillism from afar, but it’s much more complex via The Jealous Curator […]

  7. Mars /// 04.27.2010 /// 1:50pm

    As a long time follower of your blog, this post made me terribly excited – I live in Halifax!