Joshua Allen Harris is another artist who finds ways to make art out of someone’s trash. Joshua makes sculptures – out of plastic bags! And it’s not just simply tying plastic bags to a frame (which is still cool). Josh tapes his sculptures to subway grates and – as air passes thru the grates – the sculptures inflate to reveal amazing animal sculptures! The first sculpture Joshua constructed was a small sculpture called the ‘Air Bear’, which went viral all over the internet. Then he continued on to make monkey’s, giraffes, and even a Minotaur like beast
Joshua was born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania where he studied graphic design and illustration. Later, Joshua moved to New York City in 2004 where he attend the School of Visual Arts to pursue a degree in Fine Art. Josh launched the ‘Air bear’ project in 2006, which received world wide attention. In 2012, he started going into photography.
Some say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. But in this case, one man’s trash is another’s work of art. Henrique Oliveira takes scrapped wood, and makes amazing pieces with it. These pieces are so large, you can even walk through one of them!
Henrique works and lives in São Paulo, Brazil. He graduated with a Fine Arts bachelors in painting at the School of Communication and Arts. University of São Paulo in 2004.
According to Henrique, he started doing what he does by looking at wood like it was a brush stroke. The lines that portray movement caught his eyes, something that is a major principle in art. This jumpstarted his ideas in making sculptures out of wood.
Paper has been the world’s method of communication since it was invented; whether religiously, or just a simple message to a neighbor. One artist takes the communicative power of paper and uses it in her art. We aren’t talking about the average uses of paper; Sue likes to make sculptures – out of books!
Su Blackwell is a British artist from London. She attended Royal College ofArt and earned a Masters Degree in Textiles. Su also received a Bachelor’s degree in Art & Design at Bradford College of Art & Design. Su Blackwell has gone on to do many exhibits around the world, including Tokyo, New York, and Montenegro.
Su uses old books, cuts them into many different shapes to form amazing pieces of art! Here is a video explaining how and what she does:
Su has also made many other cool creations besides her winter scene. Here are a few:
What do you think of Ms. Blackwell’s creations? What Elements of Art and Principles of Design do you see? How do her pieces make you feel?
Here’s a link to Su Blackwell’s official website if you want to see more of her work!
Artists draw their inspiration from many different sources. Some artists can even be inspired by the things that we throw away. Yong Ho Ji is a Korean artist who creates amazing sculptures using recycled tires. He was born in 1978 in Seoul, South Korea. After going to Hognik University in South Korea for a while, he moved to New York City to go to NYU for a masters degree in Fine Arts. Yong Ho Ji’s art is inspired by mythological animals and beasts. He makes the sculptures so realistic that people are easily awed and inspired.
Here is a youtube video showing Yong Ho Ji’s works:
Ji’s tire art is very large, impressive, and realistic, here are a few pictures to show you. My personal favorite is the shark.
Theo Jansen took simple materials and took sculptures to the next level. His creations, known as Strandbeest (meaning “beach animals” in Dutch), were incredible feats. By using his knowledge of things that are usually only known to architects, engineers, and physicians, he was able to create structures that walked across stretches of land by solely using the wind. This living legend who also did work in teaching and writing was born in 1948 in Scheveningen, Netherlands. He went on to study physics at Delft University of Technology before making multiple devices and his early Strandbeests.
Check out this video showcasing his work in action and the ideas behind them!
On his site (www.strandbeest.com), he describes his creations as living beings: “Since 1990 I have been occupied new forms of life.” Jansen, the father of Strandbeest, has treated them as much as he would his children. As he makes more and more, he crafts them in such a way so they will be sturdier and “survive the elements.” On the Strandbeest website, he declares his dream of putting them in herds on the beaches.
Jansen’s beasts have a technicality to them that make them even more lifelike. His creations come equipped with organ-like structures, devised limb systems, and sensory tactics that help them survive out on the shore. Thanks to a mathematical formula he developed, Strandbeests have a hypnotizing yet natural walk. On top of that, one of the most mind-blowing characteristics is that he uses simple recycled items like PVC pipes and plastic bottles. Jansen has taken on big jobs, collaborating with groups like de Volkskrant national daily newspaper, Rotterdam Central Station, the Royal Academy of Art, the Invention group, Stroom (HCBK), The Hague, and more! He makes appearances at multiple events. On top of that, he offers products like books and miniature versions of his walking beasts powered with fans or solar power.
Video showcasing some of his work traversing the shore:
“Many times people ask me, ‘Are you an artist? Are you a scientist?’ And I really don’t know. I’m just a human being, and with all human beings there is an artist and a scientist.”
Zaria Foreman is an amazing artist that paints beautiful, realistic landscapes using only her fingers! Born in South Natick, Massachusetts, Zaria currently works and resides in Brooklyn, New York. She studied at Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy and received a B.S. in Studio Art from Skidmore College. Watch the interview below:
Foreman gets her inspiration from her childhood and her political beliefs. She spent most of her early years traveling around the world with her mother, who dedicated her life to photographing the most remote regions of the Earth. The cold and isolated landscape of the Arctic consumed her interest from 2001 until her passing in 2011. Foreman is passionate about the environment, and she uses her art to show her love for the earth, and her desire to preserve it.
One of her mother’s photographs: Greenland #10, Rena Bass Foreman, 2007
Zaria Forman’s works have appeared in National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, the Wall Street Journal and The Huffington Post. Zaria was featured on Good Day New York and Fox News and was interviewed by Lucy Yang on ABC7 Eyewitness News. Her drawings have been used in the set design for the Netflix TV series House of Cards. See some examples of her work below:
” I developed an appreciation for the beauty and vastness of the ever-changing sky and sea. I loved watching a far-off storm on the western desert plains; the monsoon rains of southern India; and the cold arctic light illuminating Greenland’s waters. In my work I explore moments of transition, turbulence and tranquility in the landscape and their impact on the viewer. In this process I am reminded of how small we are when confronted with the powerful forces of nature. The act of drawing can be a meditation for me, and my hope is that the viewer can share this experience of tranquil escape when engaging the work.”
What do you think?
What elements and principles of art can you identify in these works?
Are you inspired by nature like Zaria? If do, how would you show it?
What kind of nature inspired art do you/would you create?
This past year we moved into our new West Regional Office in Monroeville, PA. We are so lucky to have a new space for our students for outings and testing! The building is almost perfect for everything that we need at PA Virtual. There was only one very serious flaw( Or at least very serious for an art teacher) The walls were white , blank and boring. We were in desperate need of some artistic pizazz. We needed color and inspiration
During Keystone testing, I got to meet and interact with some of my talented art students face to face. I started to tell a few of the teachers and staff at the office about the overwhelming amount of artistic talent at our school. It was Renea Klukaszewski (Site Manager at the West Regional Office) that had the brilliant idea. Why don’t we have an outing to add a little jazz and sparkle to these blank walls? We talked to Ms Amy, the FSC and started to plan. All of a sudden, the white walls were not boring! They were full of possibilities just like a blank canvas.
After brainstorming, researching canvas and acrylic paint prices and the exchanging several enthusiastic emails, we had nailed down a date and time.At the end of the school year, our walls would be improved with original paintings by some of our extremely talented students.
Art Outing Day: June 15th
The students we responsible for bringing themselves and their artistic creativity.We supplied the acrylic paint, brushes, and canvases. I gave an art history lesson about two different abstract artists: wasily Kandinsky and Jackson Pollock .I then gave the students an option to choose what they would like to paint. I also covered the difference between abstract and representational art.
#teacherface
Abstract art is not supposed to be anything or look like anything in particular. The artist communicates ONLY with shape, color, space, and line, etc.
Representational art is supposed to look like something. the artist uses shapes and color to communicate a specific subject.
Option 1: Abstract art: Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky. Composition VII. 1913
Photo Of Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky, Study for “Composition VII”, 1913, Watercolour, Indian ink
The first option was an abstract painting in the style of Wassily Kandinsky. Kandinsky (1866-1944) was an influential Russian painter and art theorist. He is known for painting one of the first purely abstract works and was a leader in the German Blue Rider Movement (or Der Blaue Reiter) before the outbreak of World War I. One type of painting that he was famous or creating was his abstract works that related to music. He liked to paint or try to represent the way that music sounded or felt in a visual way. He liked to call his paintings compositions or improvisations (just like music)
I told my students that they could paint something that looks like music, or they could represent something else that is hard to express in a picture, like an emotion. Several of my students chose this style of painting. I remember several abstract paintings with shape and color and some that represented emotions. I was very impressed with the results!
Teachers and staff participated too!
Option 2: Representational Art: School Theme
Some students do not prefer abstract art, and that’s Ok! The second option was to create a painting that represents PAVCS, such as a specific school subject or what it is like to learn at home. Some students picked science or math,and others painted what their houses looked like to them as they are learning every day.
Option 3: Abstract Art: Jackson Pollock
To finish out the day, We all went outside to make paintings In the style of Jackson Pollock. Jackson Pollock is the famous ” splatter paint” artist, that was considered an abstract expressionist, and was active in the earlier part of the 20th Century. One of his most famous works was Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist)1950, pictured below:
Number One, 1950 (Lavender Mist) embodies the artistic breakthrough Pollock reached between 1947 and 1950. It was painted in an old barn-turned-studio next to a small house on the East End of Long Island, where Pollock lived and worked from 1945 on. The property led directly to Accabonac Creek, where eelgrass marshes and gorgeous, watery light were a source of inspiration for him. Pollock’s method was based on his earlier experiments with dripping and splattering paint on ceramic, glass, and canvas on an easel. Now, he laid a large canvas on the floor of his studio barn, nearly covering the space. Using house paint, he dripped, poured, and flung pigment from loaded brushes and sticks while walking around it. He said that this was his way of being “in” his work, acting as a medium in the creative process. For Pollock, who admired the sand painting of the American Indians, summoning webs of color to his canvases and making them balanced, complete, and lyrical, was almost an act of ritual. Like an ancient cave painter, he “signed” Lavender Mist in the upper left corner and at the top of the canvas with his handprints. ( Jackson Pollock.org)
After talking about Mr. Pollock and the reason behind his work, My students and I went outside to the parking lot and splattered paint onto six different canvases. It was a lot of fun! The students loved watching the different colors fly through the air and hit the canvas.
Mid- Process. We made a BEAUTIFUL mess.My Example. The Students’ end results were SO much better!
Each student took turns grabbing a cup of watered-down acrylic paint. We had to take our shoes off so that we didn’t track paint through the building. We made sure to include a variety of colors and the different elements and principles of art. We particularly focused on Movement, Pattern, balance, color and harmony. I LOVED the end result!
They look amazing!
The students really added life to our regional office. We will be having an art gallery opening with an art activity on October 7. If you live in the greater Pittsburgh area and you would like to attend, the flyer to RSVP is here! We hope to do more outings like this in the future
Benjamin Shine is an amazing artist from the United Kingdom that studied fashion design at The Surrey Institute of Art and Design and Central St Martins in London. He opened a studio in 2003 and continues to experiment and develop his work. He works with a variety of media, but has recently been receiving buzz online with his work involving fabric and tulle ( the fabric used in tutus) . He uses tulle for a variety of projects, including full and partial portraits and installations. His work was recently featured in a collection by the Givenchy fashion company. see some examples of his work below:
Watch the video and pay attention to Mr. Shine’s explanations and inspiration. Would you ever consider using fabric in your artwork? Have you used fabric in the past? What do you think of this work? How does this relate to things we have learned in class?
Comment below!
You can view his official website here for a gallery of his work, bio and more.
PA VIRTUAL CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS 