Okay, I cannot deal with how much I love this series… Pop literally meeting culture. To be clear, she also works with gloves, objects, and textiles, but these beautifully beaded socks were calling my name!  This is the intricate and personal work of Audie Murray. Here’s part of her bio, and description of her practice:

Audie Murray is a multi-disciplinary artist who works with various materials including beadwork, quillwork, textiles, repurposed objects, drawing, and media. She is Michif, raised and working in Regina, Saskatchewan, treaty 4 territory. Much of her family and family histories are located in the Qu’Appelle and Meadow Lake regions of Saskatchewan.

Audie’s art practice is informed by the process of making and visiting. Her practice explores themes of contemporary culture and how this relates to experiences of duality and connectivity. Working with specific material choices, she often uses found objects from daily life and transmutes them. This practice is a way to reclaim and work through various subject matter, much of it relating to the body, space, and relationships with a focus on the intersection and expansion of time.

Brilliant. The photo of Audie is from a few years ago, but I love how the socks are incased and just had to include it in the post. Happy Friday.

Gasp! That’s exactly the sound I made in 2017 when I stood in front of the final piece above, titled “Colourfall”, installed at the Giardini during the Venice Biennale. It was ridiculously hot that day, and so I wasn’t completely sure if I was melting or if the art was! All of these “poured paintings” are the work of London based artist Ian Davenport {there he is sweating in the Venetian humidity while taking care of the finishing touches}. Here’s a description of Ian’s work:

Davenport’s artistic is an exploration of line and form in paint. Driven by an enduring fascination with the materiality of paint, his signature technique is to allow the fluid properties of the medium to form compositions of vibrant colours in defined lines across his support. The Artist’s intent is evident in the carefully composed series of colours that appear in his paintings, exploring colour relationships and guided by his intuition and decades of experience as a painter. Davenport often uses groups of colours from a historical painting as a reference point to initiate his own sequences. Inherent in his process is the question of how colour gives shape and structure to an image and how it produces rhythm and dynamism in abstract art. ~ via Jenna Burlingham Fine Art

Ah, what I wouldn’t give to be sweating beside that poured rainbow in Venice again. One day.

{Thanks to @taxcollection – and this insane video they just posted – for reminding me of Ian’s fabulous work}

Okay, it’s a three-way tie for my fave: “Send Noods”, “Sometimes She’s a Latte”, and “I’m Sure She Had Her Raisins”. Bahahaha! Hilarious titles, beautiful drawings… WIN, WIN, WIN! This is the work of Japan based, American artist Cameron Kester. Here’s her part of her bio/statement:

Cameron’s art is visually marked by feminine and delicate details and colors, contrasted with sassy, crass and irreverent humor to showcase mundane objects, delving into their contemporary as well as their historical contexts, often pairing them with the female figure. Equally important to her work is her witty, humorous, and often poignant titles. She considers herself a “fowl-mouthed absurdist,” and while that is true, like her work, her words and her personality contain layers of beauty as well as absurdity.

As Cameron says, “Ultimately, I use oddities and silliness to question how values and beliefs are manufactured and how we construct our own place in the universe.”

Cameron’s focus is on the medium of pencil drawings, often the first step of a “serious” work of art, which makes it another element in Cameron’s brilliant and witty arsenal.

Brilliant and witty, indeed! ps. #SendNoods

Well, usually around this time of year I’m writing my posts from Hawaii. Clearly we won’t be going this year, but oh my goodness I miss the ocean, the warm breezes, and all of the vibrant colors. And so, instead, I give you these beauties! This is the work of UK based artist Lisa Stevens. I found her on Instagram, where she’s known as @lisaseaurchin … appropriate, no? Here is a quick description of how she works:

“The main body of my work … is primarily influenced by the clay itself. I do not fight with the clay to make neat edges and smooth, even surfaces, preferring instead to leave the tool marks, the raw edges, and the natural texture of the clay … I also take reference form sea creatures, such as coral, jellyfish and of course, sea urchins. I love working with textures and a lot of my work is pierced. I do not smooth the piercing, but instead, choose to keep the barnacle effect as the clay splits as the tool moves through it.”

Sigh. Aloha.

“Figures Of Playful Rebellion” at UNTITLED ART 2020, Miami. Oh, I love every single circular piece! This is the vibrant and joyful work of Nigerian artist Dennis Osadebe. Here are a couple of excerpts from Dennis’ artist statement to explain the WHY and the WHAT behind his work:

Osadebe’s vibrant post-pop style is centered around the idea of reimagining Africa through the use of positive, provocative, and progressive imagery, and narratives, forging a dialogue where tradition meets invention and innovation. Through juxtaposing elements of the past alongside the present, while utilizing his Nigerian heritage as a starting point, Osadebe places Africa in the context of the future and its limitless possibilities  …

Osadebe’s process blurs the line between digital and psychical. The digitally composed scenes are elevated by painted adornments of carefully selected areas. This distinct texture change is inherent to the narrative of the work, by providing a visual relationship between the processes of the new generation artists and old masters together. Osadebe consequently renders each work as unique, as he removes the possibility for digital reproduction. The references to traditional materials and crafts, such as masks and colorful textiles, are inspired by the historic arts and culture of Osadebe’s home, Nigeria.

Beautiful. Happy Monday.

Okay, now that image is exactly how you start a post about an artist who creates “locative collages”! It’s art. On a lily pad. Floating out into a lake!? This can only mean one thing… yes, Angela Gobbens, aka @miss.printed, is on the podcast this week! She’s a Dutch artist who now lives in a little red house in Norway. However, before she started placing tiny people out into the big wide world, she studied politics and didn’t consider herself an artist. Yeah. Listen right up there under that floaty fellow, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts and or Spotify.

First up, some of Angela’s “locative” collages that I posted a few weeks ago:

Aren’t they fan-frickin-tastic? Little bits of joy in the most unexpected places.

Now, maybe it’s because it’s snowy and cold in Norway and Canada at the moment, or perhaps it’s the excitement of seeing art battle the elements… either way, I have to show you a few of Angela’s collages IN. THE. SNOW:

Gah! I love those “locative” shots! Those people are so tiny… out there all alone on snowy fence posts, outside Angela’s backdoor, and frozen into puddles. LOVE.

Speaking of LOVE, here’s the Scandinavian Collage Museum in all its glory:

Seriously, I HAVE to make this happen in my tiny town! {I’m working on it and will keep you posted.} And then of course, there are the many other projects Angela has on the go:

Ha! That lil pink slug. Alas, his journey has come to an end, but FEBRULLAGE 2021 is about to start this MONDAY {do it!}, and The Collage Garden is ongoing as well. Hm, I forgot to ask Angela when she sleeps. Next time.

And finally, as promised, after we chatted Angela bundled up and stepped out into the cold Norwegian landscape with a lovely {and about to be very cold} mermaid:

 

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Ahhh, magical! Imagine going for a walk and seeing this little lady lying in the snow? *Sigh* And with that, I will say thank you so much to Angela for sharing her story with me, and thanks to you for listening! There will be more ART FOR YOUR EAR next weekend.

Other links:

1. Angela on Instagram, aka @miss.printed
2. The Scandinavian Collage Museum
3. Februllage Prompts for 2021 {in partnership with Edinburgh Collage Collective}
4. The Collage Garden
5. The Pink Slug {no longer happening, but oh so sweet}
6. Kolaj Magazine

 

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YUM! These unglazed porcelain pastries are the work of Arizona based artist Jacqueline Tse, aka @mad_brooklyn. Oh sure, they look sweet ‘n delicious, but there’s definitely something menacing going on. Here’s why:

“My work is highly influenced by my anxieties of being human, particularly the dilemmas of everyday urban life. It is an ongoing exploration of my fascination with American society of excess and shameless consumerism, social media overstimulation, greed and gluttony as a remedy for emotional disconnection. Meanwhile still celebrating the beauty and flaws of these fragile human conditions.”

Such a beautiful way to execute this idea. Now, did you watch the video posted above? It’s just a little teaser, but you can watch the whole video about Jacqueline’s work right here. {created by Supply Unica, April 2020}

{Thanks to Rhonda Willers, another fabulous ceramicist, for pointing me to Jacqueline’s work.}

Okay, to be clear, he photographs a lot more than just discarded grocery bags… but I love these images so much I just had to put them all in one post! This the work of London, now NY based, photographer Arch McLeish…

Through photography he blends documenting ‘real world’ with something altogether more dreamlike. Capturing scenes suspended in time and depicting traces of life.

Ahhh, yes. Ethereal trash floating by on a summer breeze. ps. Go follow him on Instagram to see everything he does… you know, besides the plastic bags.

Okay, I know you’re not supposed to touch art… but I WANT TO. This is the latest work by Brooklyn based artist Lauren Clay. I loved this soft – but not actually soft – work immediately, and then I remembered I’d written about Lauren YEARS ago… in 2011 to be exact. Her work has evolved so much, from cut paper pieces to THIS! Arches and marbling and curves, oh my! ps. the short list for most of the sculptures reads: oil, paper pulp, plaster on panel.

{Re-discovered via Create! Magazine}

Urethane paint on wood. What about lights, or plastic… or something!? Nope. Urethane paint on wood. This is the mind-bending work of American artist Beverly Fishman. Not only is her work fabulous, apparently so is she. I’ve met so many artists who give Beverly credit for helping to shape their careers. You see, Beverly was the head of the painting department at Cranbrook from 1992 – 2019! Wow. She had a show, titled I DREAM OF SLEEP, last fall at Miles McEnery Gallery in New York, and I thought the description explained her work beautifully:

“The paintings in I Dream of Sleep are based on the slick, angular packaging of the pharmaceutical industry. They suggest the sleek corporate marketing and the fluorescent language of caution, even emergency. Each one contaminates the spaces of art and pharmaceuticals, speaking of the rage of loss in the language of corporate cure. Instilled with the standardized shapes of mass-produced medications, Fishman’s works deliver what looks like an opaque, machine high-gloss finish that, paradoxically, is meticulously handmade.”

Brilliant! Hm, I wonder if she’s working on anything vaccine related at the moment!? I’ll have to keep an eye out… first stop, Los Angeles, as Beverly has a show opening there this April at Gavlak Gallery.