creating art with food

Some of you may remember that this summer I headed to Vermont for a live art installation at Wanderlust Festival.  During the four days of the yoga festival, I worked on a 14 ft. mandala piece using only seeds, dried fruit, beans, grains, and other natural food ingredients.

The mandala depicted the different stages and elements of a seed's life: roots, sprouts, rain, sun, and flowers. In the photo above, I was forming organic vanilla bean into raindrops.  The mandala was smelling so good!

The installment was part of the Kashi booth at Wanderlust, and the work was captured on film by a New York crew.  For the last couple of hours I thought it'd be fun to get the community involved.  So a number of folks jumped in to help finish the mandala piece, including a few children who had been watching the process from the start. 

After snapping pictures of the finished work, the mandala was dismantled.  The ingredients were then given to a local farmer to use as feed for his animals.

Here's a short video that Kashi put together of the art installment:

Summer dreaming

Eagle Creek Trail, Oregon

Summer is nearly here, and you can feel the excitement in the Portland air.  Folks are showing off their dazzling white legs, and there's talk of backyard barbeques, festivals, and adventure trips in the Pacific Northwest.  

Now that the kids are out of school, I look forward to day trips to the coast and mountains.  A couple of months ago, we hiked the Eagle Creek Trail in the gorge.  The water was a little too chilly for wading, but, come July,  I'll be ready for some creek walking!

My summer schedule is quickly filling up with family and work-related activities.  Next week, I'm headed to Vermont for an art installation using food! During the Wanderlust Festival at Stratton Mountain, I'll be creating a 15 ft. mandala for Kashi using only natural food ingredients, like seeds, grains, beans, and nuts.  

I love to cook, but this is the first time I've used food to create large scale art.  It's been fun playing around with the different ingredients on our dining room table, and the vanilla bean, coconut, and cinnamon sticks make the room smell so good!

If you want to follow the the progress of my mandala art at Wanderlust Festival, I'll be posting pictures on Instagram. 

Lately, I've also been busy creating new work for my online shops.  Phenomenon is my newest art print, and it's available in two sizes.  

I've been wanting to mesh my mountain painting and weaving worlds for a while now, and Azure Mountain is the result of that coming together. Created on a lap loom without a drawing, the weaving process was slow-going.  But I enjoyed "painting" with yarn and seeing the piece evolve. 

Azure Mountain is currently available in my big cartel shop, as well as the weavings below.  This weekend, I'm running a free shipping promotion.  Use code HELLOSUMMER, and receive free shipping on your order. 

Weavings: Laguna, Summer Dream, Sea Breeze, Native Land

things i'm fond of today

latest work by street artist tellas

left: beautiful piece on flickr by common elements;  right: graduation project by kirstie van noort, a student at design academy in eindhoven, netherlands

aunt by inca pan

this put a smile on my face today.  photo by artist sabine timm.

things i'm fond of today

The Obliteration Room.  Installation by Yuki Nakano.  Visitors help "obliterate" a white room by adhering colored dots on walls and furniture.  The top photo was taken on day one.  The bottom photo is seven weeks later.  The Obliteration Room is currently at the Gallery of Modern Art in Queensland, Australia. 

Furniture by Los Angeles-based designer Tanya Aguiniga.  Shown are Felt Chairs, Birch Bench, and Zinacantan (steel and wool yarn).

Cendrine Rovini.  I've been following Cendrine's art for awhile now.  This particular piece, La récolte d'oraisons, is one I'm particularly fond of.    It's part of her current solo exhibition "Liquid Vermeil" at the Da-End Gallery in Paris.  Cendrine talks about her latest works in this video.

Bags and slippers (linen and leather) by Tarco Nakazato.  I love the color combinations and graphic elements.

Cal Lane.  Lane describes her art as "pullling together industrial and domestic life." Above are two of my favorite works of hers: Plasma cut steel wheelbarrow (2007) and Dirt Lace installation at Purchase Collage, New York (2004).

  

I now know one Dutch word, woonwinkel

Woonwinkel (say that fast three times) means home shop in Dutch, and it's also the name of a local home store in downtown Portland.  Opening just eight months ago, Woonwinkel has joined the ranks of hip businesses (Ace Hotel, Frances May, and Canoe) in the West End neighborhood. Not to mention that it's across the street from the food carts!  Bubble tea and modern, minimal home design? Sounds like heaven to me. 

One of the first things I noticed in the bright and spacious shop was this tile mosaic of an owl on the floor.  It was discovered after the flooring was pulled up during the renovation.  An Owl Pharmacy had once occupied the space in the historic Pittock Building, which explains the symbols on the mortar bowl.  What a find!

The most fascinating piece in the shop was this collaborative work between Brooklyn designers Chen Chen and Kai Tsien Williams.  In the left photo, you can see what looks like a hodgepodge of everyday objects wrapped in a giant piece of pink taffy.  The found objects are actually bound in a mixture of epoxy, resin, and wax.  And then cross sections are cut to create these unique and stunning coasters.  Whoa.

Woonwinkel is a well-curated shop showcasing beautiful and clever designs by independent designers from Europe and the local region.  Lucky for all you who live outside of Portland, an online shop is in the works.  Now how do you say I want it all in Dutch?

Dazzling chandeliers made from discarded objects

Drop, 1800 plastic bottles, 2007.

According to British designer Stuart Haygarth, one man's trash is another man's treasure.  He collects thousands of discarded objects, mainly plastic items, and creates stunning chandeliers out of the found materials.   Drop (shown above) is a lighting structure made from the bases of 1800 plastic water bottles.  The pieces were tumbled in a cement mixer to give the plastic a frosted glass effect.

His lighting designs are as thought-provoking as they are beautiful.  Tide (shown below) is constructed with plastic debris and other manmade materials washed ashore along the Kent coastline.  Haygarth shaped the collected items into a moon-like structure, since the moon creates tides that wash up the discarded objects onto the shore. 

Tide, manmade objects washed ashore, 2004.

Spectacle, plastic framed spectacles, 2006.

Icon Experiment: Stuart Haygarth from Penelope Shaw on Vimeo.

Tail Light, vehicle light lenses, 2007.  [images courtesy of www.stuarthaygarth.com]

In addition to his creative lighting designs, Haygarth uses reclaimed objects in installations.  Here is a video of the 2010 installation Framed in the Victoria and Albert Museum (London).   Framed is comprised of hundreds of painted picture frame off-cuts.



FRAMED Stuart Haygarth/John Jones installation at the V&A from Stuart York on Vimeo.

Comparing art: Karen Margolis and Frocky Jack Morgan

[image source: www.karenmargolisart.com]

This stunning sculpture, Continuum, was created by artist Karen Margolis.  The clusters of pods and tulip-like shapes are made from maps and handmade papers.  If you look closely in the photos, you'll see the incredible textured effects of a soldering iron.  I have to say that those are the most beautiful burn holes I've ever seen!

The organic bunching of shapes and soft neutral tones in Continuum remind me of the fashion collection, Frocky Jack Morgan . . .

[image source: frockyjackmorgan.blogspot.com]

Designer Julia Barbee deconstructs clothing to create one-of-a-kind pieces, her specialty being wedding gowns.  It's no surprise that Barbee has a background in sculpture.  Like a potter, she handbuilds and molds, but with fabric remnants!

Like Margolis' paper sculpture, Barbee's wearable creations are delicate yet bold.  Lacey hems are unfinished or asymmetrical, and embellishments are never understated.  Although I tend to lean towards the "less is more" crowd,  I could never tire looking at the intricately layered works of Barbee and Margolis.

 

When craft becomes art

For the past week, I've been leisurely going through the book By Hand: The Use of Craft in Contemporary Art. The book features 32 artists and their collections of handmade works, from pillows to quilts to fashion to books.

Aritsts like Rowena Dring of The Netherlands creates "paintings" out of fabric.

I realized that I could make paintings that masquerade as quilts and quilts that masquerade as painting.

Shown above is a close-up of one of her appliqué works called Big Daisy (2004).  A large piece can involve 1200 hours to complete- and I can believe it!

These stunning chandeliers were made by Brooklyn-based artist Kristen Hassenfeld.  Like many artists who are part of the handmade movement, Kristen's works are a response to consumption and wealth.  Appearing jewel-like in the light, her chandeliers are actually comprised of "un-precious" materials.

I have handstitched a few quilts myself so I can appreciate the intricate work that Anna Von Mertens puts in each of her pieces.  I absolutely love the color blocks in this collection. 

By Hand showcases the artists' handiwork in beautiful photographs.  These large doily-like creations were made by London artist Shane Waltener.  You can see the exquisite craftsmanship of Shane's work in the detailed shot.

I thoroughly enjoyed looking through this book, but more than anything, I was so encouraged by the artist's stories and messages.  Living in a world that seems to demand faster technology and mass production, it's truly refreshing to read about artists who value manual work and tradition as well as ingenuity.

Transforming ordinary objects into incredible works of art

I love it when artists take something that is familiar and create a new experience for the viewer.  Take these beautiful woven pieces made by Canadian artist Brian Jungen.  Can you believe they were made from professional sports jerseys?

At first glance, Jungen's sculptural works look like a contemporary homage to Native American art.  But when you realize his art is fashioned from found objects, particularly sports paraphernalia, the meaning of his work becomes even that much more profound.  

In the photos above, one can clearly recognize totem poles and an indigenous mask, items that hold sacred significance in the Native American culture.  When you look closely though, you can see that Jungen uses golf bags to form the totems and Nike Air Jordans to create the mask.  It's a brilliant statement of today's professional sports culture and how it's become a ritualistic, almost spiritual tradition for the masses.

Baseball mitts were used to create this warrior-like gear, and on the right is an antler sculpture made from leather shoes. 

Jungen works with a variety of materials, including metal, fabric, wood, and plastic.  Here are two works of art created from plastic objects.  The igloo shaped piece is made from trash bins and the whale skeleton from plastic lawn chairs.  Amazing!

[images courtesy of the artist, Casey Kaplan Gallery, and Catriona Jeffries Gallery]

To listen to Jungen talk about some of these works, go here.

When drawing on walls with permanent marker is okay

I love these installations by German artist Heike Weber.  Equipped with only a permanent marker, Heike creates a sea of flowing lines on walls and floors of hotels, galleries, and historical buildings.

Heike also creates amazing kilim rug designs using only silicone.  See her latest installation works here.

Eye-catching Window Displays

[right photo image source: Lucky Magazine]

1000 paper airplanes.  That's how many the talented Katie Kulper folded and hung with string in our store windows. It was a magnificent sight, and people walking by would come into our shop just to marvel at the display. It's no surprise that Katie is now a window display designer for Anthropologie, famous for their creative window designs. Check out these Anthropologie displays using discarded books.

[image sources: casasugar.com, flickr]

I'm actually not much of a shopper, but I do enjoy seeing the creative mind at work dressing up a window.  Here are a few more favorite designs.

found styrofoam cup installation by Indo Projects

 Zoe Bradley

papercut dioramas