Ain't that the truth! There was a period in my life (ahem, high school) when I actually thought I could be an artist - perhaps living in a loft above a bakery in Paris, perhaps something a bit more industrial off the beaten path in Barcelona or maybe a rustic farm in Tuscany. *Add dream sequence* With these romantic notions of I committed myself to visual arts in high school. The class trumped everything. I rushed to Gwartztein's on Spadina and Curry's on Yonge, spending hard earned (Welcome to the Gap) money on sketch books, watercolour palettes, markers, pencils... you name it, I bought it. My "work" was mainly abstract and modern art. *Let me clarify. I couldn't paint for shit. It had no choice but go under those categories* When we moved on to charcoal sketching, my limitations as an artist became crystal clear. It took me 3 weeks to capture an image of a hanging towel. Although my teacher killed my career ambitious as an artist, I continued to nurture the love of the arts at home. This love grew exponentially when Dollarama arrived in town. Sculpting (bad idea), painting (horrible), sketching (brutal). All thanks to the crafts section. I've packed up the supplies for now since I have come to appreciate that art should be left to the talented to create and to the inept to enjoy at galleries, museums and on Etsy. On that note, I wanted to share two awesome artists and their works will leave you inspired.
First, meet Yayoi Kusuma. I discovered her work through Marc Jacobs with whom she created a collection of Louis Vuitton goodies. Her signature: repetition. Calls herself, 'obsessive artist." Loves polka dots. Everywhere. In every size imaginable. Christies New York sold one of her works for $5.1 million - a record for a living female artist. Her latest installation, she invited thousands of kids to place polka dot stickers of all sizes and colours in a completely white room - her canvass. The results are incredible. How did I not think of this?
Add a few more...
Not bad but I think it needs a bit more....
Sensational right? Such a simple idea with incredible results.
The other artist hails from Azerbaijan. Name: Rashad Alakbarov. He creates shadow images using objects and lighting. He places random objects - such as water bottles, pipes, lighters in a way that when lit from behind, a shadow image is projected to the wall. Not your regular bird or rabbit hand puppets.
This is amazing.
Not impressed? How about this one? Created with water bottles.
Talent speaks for itself. If you're in London, Rashad is part of the Fly to Baku exhibition at Phillips de Pury & Company. So amazing and inspirational.
Perhaps the world needs another abstract artist... perhaps I need to pick up that brush again. Perhaps....
Enjoy!
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