Poppy Fields - Zhang Huan

Art Forum

Vol 52 - 2013

Fine Art

Artist; Zhang Huan

Poppy Fields.

This extensive series by Zhang Huan, is a true representation of fine art, and how personal feeling and experience play a major role in the production of these detailed and inspiring paintings. 'Poppy Fields' is a series of  large scale oil on linen paintings, that have been created with the use of a thick oil technique that indulges its surface, combined with vivid colours that captivate the viewer.

From a distance each piece presents a mesmerising array of  wild colour and composition, where further investigation reveals the image of Tibetan dance masks emended within the colour.

From the year 2011 to present, Huan has been occupied with this series of work, which derived originally from a trip he made to Tibet. He became interested with the way in which Tibetan people live there lives, and began to see how each day they live is in preparation for the next life that awaits them. 

This was a concept that Huan had great admiration for, and explains how each mask is used to create a hallucinatory image,  representing  thousands of souls flowing freely, souls who have undergone the traditional tibetan 'Sky Burial Process'. 

The Deep meaning and conceptual manner of Huans art is what makes his work stand out from the rest, they withhold a story that he expresses over a vast amount of time and effort, each peice is a true representation of Zuan himself and his views towards the world we live in.

Colorfall - Ian Davenport

Art Forum

Vol 52 - 2013.

Fine Art.

Artist; Ian Davenport

Colorfall.

Ian Davenports colourfull creations where designed and produced to investigate the connections between colour, surface, movement and light, and how the alterations of one of these elements can depict the end result. Davenports first inspirations for this project came from the concept of converging historical events with modern technology. He says ''By following the colour sequences from another artist’s palette, I am able to explore and question my own choices of line and hue. Photoshop is also used to establish a framework, from which I introduce an element of chance'

His paintings produce continual lines of paint, of different chromatic weights, merging together to create a colourful rhythm of interweaving colours. Davenport produces each piece by the use of a large syringe, which he then uses to drip different colours and amounts of acrylic paint, onto unusual surfaces such as aluminium and steel panels. From there he lets chance direct the painting, gravity pulls the paint down the surface, allowing the liquid form of the paints to drip, flow and blend. 

Colour is very captivating to me, and I enjoy the continual linear effect created by the paint, followed by the deep and psychedelic merging of the paint as it reaches its final destination at the end of the surface. His concept and use of chance in his paintings is also a concept i find very thought provoking in art, and is an aspect I would like to bring into my own art practice in the future. 

Light Plexuses By Gabriel Dawe.

Textile Forum

Issue 3; 2013.

Artist: Gabriel Dawe

Light Plexuses.

Light Plexuses is a awe inspiring installation that takes the use of textile thread to a whole new dimension. Gabriel Dawe first came to create these elegant displays of colour while a student in Dallas, when a exhibition he was viewing, gave him the incentive to explore the intersections between architecture and fashion. 

Dawe creates complex structures of taut thread, in which the finely graded colours exquisitely reminisce rays of shining light, working perfectly together to create a rainbow of intersecting colours. However, these installations go deeper than the initial captivation of colour , Each Plexus, as Dawe explains, are created and named to represent the body's network of nerves within the human body, and there magnificent ability to work in complete harmony.

Each installation is as sumptuous as the next, ensnaring its surroundings like a spiders web, viewers become entranced by the ever changing gradient of colour as they make their way around the structure.  As if they where created as digital projections, the thread indulges the light created from its surroundings, making these semi transparent installations breathe a lease of life. 

When creating each structure, Dawe examines the particularity of the installation space , and then designs each piece to bring tranquillity to its surroundings. Painstaking detail and precision is put into each installation, which is created through repetition and colour management, using the concept of harmonious colours to create the dream like effect. Each single piece of thread is independent, which allows the structures to create curves and contours, allowing the pieces to inhabit the sense of effusion and movement.

As each installation is only temporary, Dawe must then dismantle the thread, until all that remains is a pile of vibrant wool. Its journey doesn't finish there though, Dawe then creates what he calls 'Plexi Relics', placing the wool in a clear box, giving the thread a second life.

This is by far my favourite collection of work I have reviewed so far, the passion, patience and drive that goes into making each installation is to be admired. As Dawe himself mentions in the video i have posted bellow, a sense of wonder is imposed on almost every person that views these structures, and this was certainly the case for me.

Link to video; http://vimeo.com/31383293

                Plexi Relics.                                                                                                   Plexus 5.        

Conrad Roset - Illustration.

Digital Arts.

Issued July 2013.

Artist; Conrad Roset

Feature; Showcase; this months freshest creatives.

Conrad Roset is a freelance illustrator and a modern master of the female nude, who is most famous for his illustrated watercolour creations. His work usually portrays the images of beautiful women, each exploding with emotion and sexuality, which he then combines with the radical use of colour, lavished within the drawing. 

Conrad's work is usually derived through the use of ink and watercolour, however other series of his creations also see the use of acrylics, gouache and pens. 

You can see from the image above, how the use of colour within the drawing really makes the illustration come alive, feelings of empathy, innocence and longing are drawn from the image, through the combination of the flowing ink and harsh applications of paint. Each of Conrad drawings contain these characteristics, making each an individual story of emotion.

Conrad's art creations have always been of interest  to me, and I have followed his work for some time, so i was very happy when I found his work in the pages of Digital Arts. I admire his ability to make emotion leap from the page and how he can capture the beauty of the female body with such simplcity and ease.

Beast - Gerwyn Davies.

British Journal of Photography.
Issue No: 104

Artist: Gerwyn Davies.

Beast.

'Beast' is a series of staged photographs created by Australian photographer Gerwyn Jones, that combine aspects of costume making with photography. His inspiration for the series derived from the concept of getting dressed, and the transformational properties this action witholds. Gerwyn stated ' We are able to build naratives on to our physical selves and fabricate the person we project, there are limitless oppertunities for reinvention and play, but generally we stick to the safety of the norm'.

After hearing these statements it is clear to see the message Gerwyn aims to acheive through these images, a challenge to the norm. His images are created through the use of everyday materials, from items such as; feathers, discoballs, paper and laminate flooring. Gerwyn uses these selected items in imaginative and eleborate ways, to explore the subject of representation and personality. 

Each image starts with the creation of the suit, followed by Gerwyn himself wearing the suit for a number of days, from there he lets the suit guide him through the rest of the process, letting tit develop its own personality, as if the suit was infact everyday wear. Even though a large amount of time is spent in the creation of the suits, the final aspect of photography is just as important, as this is where the intention and representational values of the suit are finally revealed.

Gerwyn's imaginative way of working, really brings these peices to life, creating costumes and images that enhance feelings of humour and irony as well as their deeper meanings of image and personality.