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!
Artsy on Escape Into Life: Larissa Haily Aguado
25 Sep
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!
Larissa Haily Aguado on Escape Into Life
Urban Existentialism: Nicola Lopez
25 Sep
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.
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.”
“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.. “
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.
Pop Goes the Art: Sarah Boyts Yoder
30 Aug
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.
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.
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!
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.
Living in Technopia: Natalie Nicklin
9 Aug
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?
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?
Nicklin uses geometrics to illustrate a hard-edged technology driven society yet juxtaposes them against a flesh-colored palette.
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.
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.
Friday Faves: Canvas, Paper, Scissors
8 Jun
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!
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.
Friday Faves: String Theory
1 Jun
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!
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.
Paraphernalia Resurrected: Randy Mora
12 Apr
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Little Happy Somethings: Trish Grantham
8 Mar
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.