Lisa Black

Lisa Black has been on my radar for a while and it's taken me a while to do a post on her. I am really excited about her newest work of departed skulls.

I first learned about Lisa's work while doing research for a school project. I was really fascinated with her ability to blend machine and animal creating taxidermied versions of cyborgs. She refers to her animal hybrids often as "fixed" as if something was wrong with them or if the added mechanics somehow enhances them.

Her craftsmanship is superb and I always love having something to strive toward with my own work. The results of her hard work are assemblages of a delicate nature. Have a look for yourself and be sure to check out her website lisablackcreations.com

Shauna Richardson

If you happen to be around London this summer, don't miss The Lionheart Project. Shauna Richardson has made some incredible creations that will be trucked around England to help celebrate the Summer Olympic and Parolympic games as a Cultural Olympiad. The Lionheart Project was selected to be one of the exhibits forming part of the Artists Taking the Lead project, a presentation of the Arts Council England. For just a hint of what you might see check out the concept drawing below and think...display case......WOW!

 

I can't wait to see more photos of this project, in particular I'd love some creepy night shots of this in a deserted parking garage or dark seedy alley, maybe even parked on the Tower Bridge deck one night. If you haven't seen Shauna Richardson's work before, here is a taste of what I'm talking about.

Be sure to visit her website and keep your eyes peeled for the Lionheart Project coming soon to a zoo (or dark alley) near you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Troy Moth

Troy Moth is a young Canadian Photographer with an impressive resume. He has shot all around the world both creatively and professionally and is now back in Canada literally returning to his roots in the forests of the west coast. I am particularly fond of his animal portraits but I include some of his more interesting (in my opinion) portrait work as well. I hope to see a LOT more creative work from this talented Canadian! Be sure to visit his website troymoth.com or keep updated via his blog.

 

  

 

 

  

 

David Ross Harper

There is intense empathy in the will to memorialize, to lay down a particular meaning on an object that is not inherent to it—life as remembered in the ripe fig of an ancient Xenia painting, or death anticipated in a skull. In my work I am taking account of these empathic tendencies, both in the sense of identification with and understanding of an ‘other’, and in the sense of joining one’s own feelings to an object. 

David R. Harper 

I was in Dawson City Yukon in 2009 and was lucky to get to see David Harper's work in person at The ODD Gallery. Photos don't really do David's work justice, the fine detail of the embroidery is difficult to see and the experience of actually sharing the space with the objects is quite different than looking at them on a screen. David's work Him part of the Wedding Portraits was purchased buy the Canadian Art Bank ensuring that it becomes a part of the Canadian cultural archive. If ever you get a chance to see David's work in person then be sure to go! For more great work from this upcoming Canadian artist visit his website.

"Him" part of the Series "Wedding Portraits" purchased by Canada Council for the Arts

 I wish there was a more comprehensive site with David's work including larger photographs and details. His work is amazing and the details are incredible. Unfortunately the images on his site are very small and it is difficult to source images of his more recent works. Keep looking and if I come across any more decent images of his work I'll be sure to post them.

Erick Swenson

Not only is Erick Swenson a great artist, look at that brilliant moustache!  Again I have had some time to scour the internet for more of my particular taste of art, and I tell you you are in for a treat in the upcoming weeks. There is plenty of bittersweet macabre coming your way. So without further adieu lets have a look at the work of this contemporary Texan sculptor.

Unfortunately I couldn't find a site belonging to Erick himself, just the galleries that represent him: Saatchi, and James Cohan Gallery . This is really disapointing because I don't really give a shit about where he was born or where he went to school I want to know about how he chooses him imagery and what it is about the stag that interests him? I am more interested in reading what he has to say about his work not what some gallery owner has interpreted on his behalf. I can't find a decent artist statement but maybe when you're famous you don't actually have to write those anymore.

Erick Swenson’s Ne Plus Ultra poses the decaying skull of a deer as a cryptic relic. Swenson captures every uncomfortable detail: white flesh peeled, exposing raw tissue and weathered bone. Cast in resin, Swenson’s sculpture doesn’t exude the expected revulsion of gore, but rather a beatific reverence. In its serene otherworldly aura Swenson’s perished beast evokes a more horrific haunting as a torn cheek reveals a row of carnivorous teeth, and flayed brow appears embossed with mysterious scrimshaw. Through attenuate craftsmanship, Swenson merges ideas of the romantic sublime with chilling surrealism, creating an object suggestive of dark fiction.

(Saatchi Gallery)