I’m a closet Francophile. I loved my two years of high school French and think everything sounds better in a French accent. I could watch Amelie every day. The collages of French artist and illustrator Mathilde Aubier are so sophisticated and cheeky and French, I couldn’t resist featuring her in my Artist Watch over on Escape Into Life today. Voir l’art ici!
Sous La Neige by Mathilde Aubier
While Mr. Forager & I are on the road, making our way to California, we’re rerunning Artsy Forager’s most popular posts. This post originally published on April 23, 2012 and got a huge bump thanks to being featured on the Freshly Pressed WordPress feature. Enjoy!
Do you have any idea how bummed I was to miss out on Shaun Kardinal’s show, Connotations, while we were in Seattle? So very very bummed. But time was not my friend on this trip. Two half-days and only one full day just isn’t enough to fit in time with friends, every gallery show I wanted to see and one on one time with the hubby. But I know I’ll be back and I have a feeling Shaun’s work is going to continue gaining ground while I’m gone.
Connotation No. 18, hand-embroidered paper collage, 9.75×6.5
Kardinal increases the complexity of his collages with this new series. Beginning with a foundation of vintage ephemera, he embroiders each piece with a geometrically intricate design carefully placed to compliment the retro imagery.
Connotation No. 25, hand-embroidered paper collage, 9×6
Kardinal’s work feels like sophisticated folk art and I mean that in the best possible way! It is approachable, yet thoughtful. Highly designed using common materials. Love.
Connotation No. 24, hand-embroidered paper collage, 11.75×11.75
Connotation No. 19, hand-embroidered paper collage, 9.25×8.25
To see more of Shaun Kardinal’s work, please visit his website. If you’re in Seattle, do what I couldn’t– go see his Connotations show at Joe Bar Cafe.
Featured image is Connotation No. 2, hand-embroidered paper collage, 11×11. All images are via the artist’s website.
I do love a fabulous collage. And these creations from Argentinian artist Larissa Haily Aguado immediately caught my eye when I spotted them over on The Jealous Curator. The artist seamlessly blends disparate found images to create the spectacularly simple but striking work. Check out more of her work over on my Artist Watch at Escape Into Life today!
Pinky Esmeralda by Larissa Haily Aguado
Larissa Haily Aguado on Escape Into Life
It often feels like there is no place left in the world untouched by technology. Even in some of the most rural areas, you’ll still find yourself within technology’s reach. The work of Brooklyn artist Nicola Lopez explores the idea of how the saturation of technology is shaping the way we experience the world.
Water, etching, carborundrum collograph and collage, 41×41
Beyond the brilliant depictions themselves, Lopez utilizes the creative process to mirror the transformation the landscape goes through as it is built upon. From her website– “I use the language of printmaking to address the processes of automation and mass production that have brought today’s world into existence. The specific media of intaglio, woodblock and drawing that I choose to work with, however, are still closely linked to the artist’s hand and allow the work to be about my own attempt as an individual to come up with a system of navigating this overwhelming landscape instead of simply consuming one of the pre-fabricated, mass-produced and -marketed versions, of which there are so many.”
Excerpt from the Flood I, lithograph on paper and mylar, 30×44
Half-Life 7, woodcut and photolithography on mylar collage, 36×48
“As with the evolution of the human-built landscape, there are moments in the construction of my world where the building proceeds according to plans that have already been laid and there are moments when the building precedes its own planning, expanding unpredictably and organically towards an order of a very different sort. Our world is full of the tension between just this order and disorder.. “
Boneyard, woodcut, photolithograph, silkscreen on mylar collage, 22×22.5
To see more of Nicola Lopez’s work, please visit her website. If you happen to be in Florida, be sure to stop by J.Johnson Gallery in Jacksonville Beach to see Lopez’s show, Multiplicity, which can be seen at J.Johnson until November 2nd.
All images are via the artist’s website.
If you’ve been reading Artsy Forager for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I have a bit of a weakness for saturated color mixed with bold graphics. I don’t know what it is about this combo, but I am completely unable to resist. The colorful abstract collages of Charleston, SC artist Sarah Boyts Yoder had me at hot pink.
Magenta Bun, collage on paper, 14×18
I am completely enchanged with those heavy black lines reminiscent of a child’s coloring book.. Often the lines are left partially “colored-in”, a playful nod to their childlike quality.
Bun With Yellow, collage on paper, 17×18
Ear Collage 1, collage on paper, 13×16
And I love the way Boyts Yoder seems to take two disparate compositions and layers one over the other, creating a game of visual “peek-a-boo”. I want to peel back each layer to see what’s hiding underneath!
Striped Listen, collage on paper, 13×17
To see more of Sarah Boyts Yoder’s work, please visit her website. Her work can be seen in Charleston at the Michael Mitchell Gallery.
All images are via the artist’s website.
I am officially back among the technologically connected! While we were camping in Glacier National Park and Yellowstone, we made the decision to be completely unplugged– not much cell service or wifi to be had in most spots anyway. But it was a bit disheartening to see families and couples who, while surrounded by what is arguably some of the most beautiful scenery on earth, tapped away on their iPhones and Droids. The illustration and collage work of artist Natalie Nicklin confronts us with the imaginary worlds taken over by technology imagined in our past. Sometimes it feels like they actually came to be, doesn’t it?
Left Behind
The artist calls these worlds “technopias” and perhaps they consist of the flying cars, etc., that were being imagined during the birth of the technological age. People in the 1950s and 60s imagined that we would be living like George Jetson by now. But are we really that far off?
Waiting For
Nicklin uses geometrics to illustrate a hard-edged technology driven society yet juxtaposes them against a flesh-colored palette.
Aether
Found vintage imagery reminds us of how far we’ve come and the inclusion of figures, usually female, seem act as a hint that no matter how much we advance in technology, the human element will always be the most important and intriguing.
Pioneers- Delia Derbyshire
To see more of Natalie Nicklin’s work, please visit her page at Cargo Collective.
Artist found via isavirtue. All images are via the artist’s website.
I distinctly remember our section on collage in my Drawing 101 class. It was kind of painful for me. I wanted to create interesting beautiful work, but had a hard time getting past memories of third grade art class and Elmer’s glue. So it isn’t any wonder that some of my favorite work is of the cut and paste variety.. These artists have found the secret to what I was longing to do!
Ben Giles
Giorgio Russo
Nono Bandera
Mario Wagner
Be sure to come back on Monday to see more from another fabulous collage artist, this month’s Facebook Featured Artist Geoff Mitchell!
Ben Giles | Giorgio Russo | Nono Bandera | Mario Wagner
All images are via the artists’ websites, linked above.
You may remember the fabulous work of Shaun Kardinal, featured a few months ago. I was completely smitten by his technique of combining found materials and embroidered elements in such an artistic way. Along with Shaun, there are other artists putting their own spin on this way of working. Here are a few of my faves!
British Vogue Cover, Deconstructed by Inge Jacobsen
Paula by Stacey Page
Dance 8 by Romussi
Lucky Jackson
Work on Paper #14 by Hinke Schreuders
Inge Jacobsen | Stacey Page | Jose Romussi | Lucky Jackson | Hinke Schreuders
Have a fantastic weekend, Artsies! Will have a few fabulous guest posts for you next week!
Jose Romussi found via The Jealous Curator, Lucky Jackson found via Lost at E Minor. Thanks to Shaun Kardinal for the introduction to Inge Jacobsen, Stacey Page and Hinke Schreuders!
Featured image is Dance 11 by Jose Romussi. All images are via the artist’s websites, linked above.
“There is nothing new under the sun”, ( Ecclesiastes 1: 9 ). Each generation thinks they are better than the last, but if that were so, why do we as a human race continue to repeat our old patterns and mistakes? Colombian artist Randy Mora, takes vintage ephemera and creates digital collages that explore ideas that may seem to be modern yet still hearken to the styles of eras past. His work reminds us that time has not erased our patterns and prejudices.
Torre Blanca, digital collage, 51.35x66cm
Mora’s illustrations seem to show us that none of the issues we face today is really all that new. Man is man and has been of a similar nature since his beginning.
La Pitonisa, digital collage, 50x65cm
There has always existed a quest for wealth, for supremacy, for power and subjugation. It seems to be in man’s very nature to isolate ourselves with others who are like us, judging and condemning those who are not.
Pan de Vida, digital collage, 46x60 cm
We live in a world divided between “us” and “them”, being taught from an early age to look out for ourselves first, creating within us cynical, fearful souls who become so self-centered we are unable to empathize and understand anyone whose views may be different from our own.
Magritte's Trap, digital collage, 43x50cm
My Favorite Independent Bookstore: Gay's the Word, London, commission for The Guardian ( UK )
The inability to empathize and see the world from someone else’s point of view too often breeds in us feelings of first fear, then of superiority. Why are we afraid? Why do we think ourselves better than another? Each of us is born in the same way, completely innocent and knowing nothing of the world. To see more of Randy Mora’s work, please visit his website.
Artist found via Escape Into Life.
Featured image is Este Año Sí…, commission for Dinero, Business & Economy Magazine. All images are via the artist’s website.
Some days my happy mood gets kicked in the gut first thing in the morning. This usually results from something I’ve read online that a) infuriates me, b) disgusts me, c) leaves me sick to my stomach and shaking my head in dismay, or d) all of the above, as was the case this morning. So it is only fitting that the work of today’s artist, Portland’s Trish Grantham, is the perfect antidote for what ails me!
The Creators, mixed media, 54x24
Unapologetically sweet, Trish’s work is filled with joy-inducing imagery. Masked-bandit-like birds, happily wise woodland creatures, smiling toast (!).. they all speak to me, saying “Hello! We’re here to remind you that the world is really a happy place filled with kind beings!” Many of the world’s inhabitants have simply forgotten how to be truly grateful, gracious and happy.
The Creators Gather, mixed media, 24x12
Just as it is impossible to look into the face of a smiling child and not smile back, as I was looking through Trish’s portfolio, my pursed mouth and heavy heart where replaced by a light-hearted grin.
The Flight Instructor, mixed media, 30x36
This world can be an ugly place and for some reason, it seems, many of the people in it are striving to make it even more hostile, all for the sake of their fear of someone taking away something that never truly belonged to them. We don’t own this world. It owes us nothing. Oh what a happier place it would be if the world were ruled by the creatures in Grantham’s work! Instead of devouring the innocent, the wolf instead sets the baby birds free to live as they please. Sure his belly may not be as full, but his heart will be bursting.
Free to Fly, mixed media
Sympathetic Sea, mixed media, 72x60
Trish’s work spoke to my weary heart this morning. I hope it speaks to yours and perhaps, instead of choosing bitterness and hate, you will instead choose joy. I have.
To see more of Trish Grantham’s work, please check out her website. If you happen to be in Portland, OR ( And if you are, how about sharing a little housing advice? What areas are affordable but still nice & safe? Hubby and I are looking to the future.. ), sorry for the sidetrack– you can see Trish’s work in Portland at Augen Gallery, a delightful contemporary gallery downtown.
Featured image is The Futurist, mixed media, 24×12. All images are via the artist’s website.
I’m a firm believer that the beauty of objects we use every day enhances our simple daily rituals. That doesn’t mean every meal should be eaten off Royal Dalton china with fine silver, but we do eat with our eyes as much as our mouths, so why not help even the most ordinary of meals […]
There is so much cynicism to be had in this world, that sweetness and innocence seem to get lost in the shuffle. What drew me to the work of Scottish artist Catriona Miller is its charming purity. Her figures gaze coyly to the side, just a hint of a smile on their lips. It’s as […]
In the book I’m currently reading, The Opposite of Fate, author Amy Tan writes a great deal about the concept of fate, how much of what happens is in our own control or predetermined or even mere chance? In that same vein, how much control does an artist truly have in the creative process? Yucca […]
While most of the time I’m drawn to saturated “happy” color, occasionally my soul calls out for a little moody darkness. So when I laid my eyes upon the work of photographer Sarah Johanna Eick at The Red Arrow Gallery here in Joshua Tree, the quiet power in the work took hold of me and […]
I grew up around Mid-Century culture way before it was hipster cool. No, I’m not old enough to have experienced it first hand! But my dad did and we were heavily involved in a 1950s classic car club, one that celebrated mod style by restoring vintage cars, showing them off and even putting on the […]
