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    Sound Waves from Contemporary Music Become Traditional Chinese Landscapes in Du Kun’s Scroll Paintings

    
    Art
    Music

    #audio
    #landscapes
    #painting

    July 7, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    Detail of “登楼 / Going Upstairs” (2021), scroll, ink and color on silk, 50 × 600 centimeters (painting), 51 × 836 centimeters (scroll), 62 × 11 × 12 centimeters (camphor wood box)
    “Playing music is my only hobby,” says artist Du Kun, who pairs his longtime passion for the auditory art form with the traditional Chinese landscapes his father taught him to paint as a child. This compilation takes shape in his sprawling, layered scenes that follow lush groves and steep rock formations across silk scrolls stretching nearly nine meters. Each one of the natural features is the artist’s translation of a sound wave, which turns an eccentric array of tracks into wide, serene landscapes.
    In a short video detailing his multi-faceted process, Du (previously) strums an acoustic guitar and taps percussive beats that he then digitally manipulates to form arched bridges or a whimsically rendered cloud that blows the length of the scroll. He combines multiple instruments and tracks for greater perspective and depth than a single recording would provide, rendering rich works that transform sung melodies into birds and clouds or the repetitive rhythms of electronic music into segmented architecture.

    “电音云龙图 (Cloud Dragon in Electronic Noise)” (2020), scroll, ink, and color on silk, 70 × 860 centimeters (painting), 75 × 1172 centimeters (scroll), 82 × 11 × 12 centimeters (camphor wood box)
    There’s an implied conversation between the visual and audio elements, Du says, describing how he uses “the mood of the painting as an initial guiding foundation to break away from the conventional routines of music arrangement.” Painting styles typically associated with the Song Dynasty and contemporary audio converge in the works in a seamless mix of time and sensory experiences, which he explains:
    By using painting to influence music, the elements of music are transformed into these landscape paintings, becoming a new kind of music score. This series of works bring traditional Chinese paintings and modern music together, where ‘static’ and ‘noise’ are simultaneously present in the works—causing mutual influence, interdependency, and translation with one another. Just like two people who speak different languages but find a special way to communicate with each other.
    The works shown here are part of Du’s solo exhibition titled Scores of Landscapes, which is on view in-person and virtually at Mizuma Gallery in Singapore through July 18.

    
    Detail of “登楼 / Going Upstairs” (2021), scroll, ink and color on silk, 50 × 600 centimeters (painting), 51 × 836 centimeters (scroll), 62 × 11 × 12 centimeters (camphor wood box)
    “临江听筝 (Listening to the Guzheng While Overlooking a River)” (2021), ink and color on silk, 27 × 150 centimeters (painting), 33 × 180 centimeters (silk), 39 × 186 × 5 centimeters (framed)
    Details of “三远即兴 (Sanyuan Improvisation)” (2021), ink and color on silk, 19 × 136 centimeters (painting), 25 × 180 centimeters (silk), 30 × 186 × 3 centimeters (framed)
    “三远即兴 (Sanyuan Improvisation)” (2021), ink and color on silk, 19 × 136 centimeters (painting), 25 × 180 centimeters (silk), 30 × 186 × 3 centimeters (framed)
    Detail of “登楼 / Going Upstairs” (2021), scroll, ink and color on silk, 50 × 600 centimeters (painting), 51 × 836 centimeters (scroll), 62 × 11 × 12 centimeters (camphor wood box)
    Detail of “临江听筝 (Listening to the Guzheng While Overlooking a River)” (2021), ink and color on silk, 27 × 150 centimeters (painting), 33 × 180 centimeters (silk), 39 × 186 × 5 centimeters (framed)
    “登楼 / Going Upstairs” (2021), scroll, ink and color on silk, 50 × 600 centimeters (painting), 51 × 836 centimeters (scroll), 62 × 11 × 12 centimeters (camphor wood box)

    #audio
    #landscapes
    #painting

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    Miniature Scenes, Cross-Stitch Flowers, and Works from Art History Nestle into Eva Krbdk’s Tiny Tattoos

    
    Art
    Illustration

    #animals
    #art history
    #cross-stitch
    #landscapes
    #nature
    #tattoos

    May 3, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Havva Karabudak, shared with permission
    Havva Karabudak, who works as Eva Krbdk, thrives on inking minuscule details. Focusing on innumerable lines and dot work, the Turkish tattoo artist (previously) illustrates textured florals in cross-stitch, realistic portraits of animals, and micro-paintings in the likes of van Gogh, Magritte, and Fornasetti. Many of the vivid renderings are small enough to fit into a perfectly round circle or a skinny stretch of a client’s upper arm.
    Karabudak’s background coalesces in her tattoos, including her formal education at the Fine Arts Academy of Ankara in Turkey and her love of textiles. “It’s pretty customary for young women to learn (embroidery) from their grandmothers in Turkey,” a statement about her work says. “As a result, tiny cross-stitch patterns were among the first tattooing styles that Eva embraced.”
    Karabudak just opened her studio Atelier Eva in Brooklyn, and although she’s currently booked, you can watch for openings on Instagram.

    #animals
    #art history
    #cross-stitch
    #landscapes
    #nature
    #tattoos

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    Glowing Geometric Light Paintings Dance Above Sparse Landscapes in Reuben Wu’s Audiovisual Works

    
    Art
    Photography

    #audio
    #drones
    #landscapes
    #light
    #light painting

    April 26, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    
    Paired with static, beeps, and soft melodic sequences, a series of glowing geometric shapes by Reuben Wu (previously) appear to emerge from the air in his new project, EX STASIS. Created in his signature otherworldly style, the Chicago-based photographer draws on both his Lux Noctis and Aeroglyph series, which use a combination of drones and light painting, to illuminate the rugged topographies with rings, tubes, and dots that spin and contort in hypnotic motion.
    For EX STASIS, Wu programmed a stick of 200 LED lights to shift in color and shape above the calm landscapes. He captured the mesmerizing movements in-camera, and through a combination of stills, timelapse, and real-time footage, produced four audiovisual works that juxtapose the natural scenery with the artificially produced light and electronic sounds. “As it gets dark, my surroundings cease to be an exterior experience and become a subliminal space, and that’s when I feel most connected and aware of my sense of being,” Wu says. “This dynamic terrestrial chiaroscuro synchronizes with my sound design and music to form singular looping pieces.”
    Find more of the photographer’s light-focused works on Instagram, Twitter, and Behance.

    A still from “EX STASIS I”
    A still from “EX STASIS III”
    A still from “EX STASIS II”
    A still from “EX STASIS IV”

    #audio
    #drones
    #landscapes
    #light
    #light painting

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    Light Casts a Magical Glow on the Residential Hills of Los Angeles in Paintings by Seth Armstrong

    
    Art

    #landscapes
    #Los Angeles
    #oil painting
    #painting

    April 6, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    “Purple Mountain” (2020), oil on wood panel, 48 x 36 inches. All images © Seth Armstrong, shared with permission
    “Color and light are basically all I think about when I’m painting,” says Seth Armstrong. Working with oil paints on wood, the Los Angeles-based artist renders the sloping hills of his native California county in bold, saturated tones. Depicting the staggered houses and vegetation in the glow of golden hour or just after sunrise, Armstrong balances both hyperrealism and more sweeping, gestural strokes. He includes the occasional candy-colored hue to veil the densely populated landscape—the artist notes that small details can be difficult to perceive when not viewing the works in person—with a layer of magic. “The paintings do become, for me, more than a depiction of light and color,” he writes. “But that’s a personal relationship we have.”
    A limited-edition print of “Purple Mountain” releases on April 12 through Unit Drops, and Armstrong will have a solo show at Unit London this fall. Check out his Instagram for a larger collection of his paintings and glimpses into his home studio, where he works alongside ceramicist Madeleine Pellegren. (via This Isn’t Happiness)

    “5:30,” oil on wood panel, 12 x 12 inches
    “Green House” (2020), oil on wood panel, 14.5 x 14.5 inches
    “Pink Moment” (2020), oil on wood panel, 12 x 12 inches
    “November” (2020), oil on wood panel, 19.75 x 27.5 inches
    “September” (2020), oil on wood panel, 18 x 18 inches
    “March” (2020), oil on wood panel, 36 x 36 inches

    #landscapes
    #Los Angeles
    #oil painting
    #painting

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    Lush Tufted Tapestries Document Ecological Changes in Argentina’s Landscapes

    
    Art
    Craft
    Design

    #Argentina
    #carpets
    #landscapes
    #rugs
    #tapestry
    #textiles

    March 25, 2021
    Anna Marks

    All images © Alexandra Kehayoglou, shared with permission
    Designer Alexandra Kehayoglou (previously) creates exquisite pieces of flowing textiles that reference the rugged landscapes of her homeland, Argentina. In the creation of each tapestry, Kehayoglou transforms surplus carpet fabric into natural elements that range from a spectrum of Earth-colored mosses to clusters of trees and serpentine rivers that cut through the heart of her weaves. Entwined within each piece are fragments of the artist’s own memories, including witnessing waterways slowly recede and the alterations to Argentina’s grasslands.
    Her latest works, a series called Prayer Rugs, depict animal footprints and small vegetative features of the Parana Wetlands located 50 kilometers from Buenos Aires. In recent years, the region’s biodiversity has been decimated by the wood and paper industries, which have facilitated the growth of non-native plant species that have since spread out of control. Additionally, human-made fires wreaked havoc during 2020, while livestock simultaneously trampled the once-luscious grassland.
    Kehayoglou’s pieces document the foliage that has survived after years of this widespread exploitation and how, over time, local fauna has started to reappear: thistles grow through cracks in the dry Earth, deer leave mud-splattered tracks, and chirping insects dance upon youthful leaves. The artworks narrate the wetland’s change and growth, reflecting the pain caused by capitalism while turning the need for change into tapestries that reference Argentinians’ hope. Kehayoglou says:
    Isolation made me think of my carpets as spaces where new forms of activism could be enacted. A type of activism that instead of focusing on paranoid conflict was silent, absorptive and, as I believe, more effective. My carpets, thus, became instruments for documenting ‘minor’ aspects of the land, which were otherwise overlooked as irrelevant. A focus on its micro-narratives that would open new doors for possible ecological futures.
    You can see more of the artist’s rich tapestries on her website and Instagram.

    #Argentina
    #carpets
    #landscapes
    #rugs
    #tapestry
    #textiles

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    Bold Brushstrokes Energize Abstract, Pixelated Landscapes by Artist Jason Anderson

    
    Art

    #abstract
    #cityscapes
    #landscapes
    #oil painting
    #painting

    January 4, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    “Uprising” (2020). All images © Jason Anderson, shared with permission
    Jason Anderson visualizes city skylines, swooping highway exchanges, and a range of urban landscapes through prismatic, impasto strokes of oil paint. The U.K.-based artist begins each painting with a black-and-white sketch before turning to the linen canvas and translating the lively works. In recent months, he’s incorporated more curved lines and saturated tones alongside the pastels he’s used previously, resulting in abstract scenes of horizons and city centers rendered through a mosaic of color.
    “I relish the often frantic nature of mixing and arranging the paint in thick impressionistic daubs and submitting to a process that creates its own detail and form,” the artist says in a statement. “This forces me to be bold and decisive; it also produces a kaleidoscope of shape and tone (reminiscent of stained-glass) which portrays the ever-present movement and energy found in nature.”
    Although all of Anderson’s works are currently sold out, you can follow updates on his commissions and new pieces on his site and view his finished paintings and sketches on Instagram.

    “Terminus” (2019)
    “Sheer” (2020)
    “Mistral” (2020)
    “Centrifuge” (2020)
    “Plaid” (2020)
    “Pulse” (2020)
    “Branch” (2020)
    “Hearth” (2020)

    #abstract
    #cityscapes
    #landscapes
    #oil painting
    #painting

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    A 70-Meter-Wide Installation by Artist Yang Yongliang Immerses Viewers in a Galactic Cityscape

    
    Art

    #black and white
    #installation
    #landscapes
    #light
    #stars
    #video

    July 24, 2020
    Grace Ebert

    
    Artist Yang Yongliang (previously) harmonizes human-generated light and naturally glowing stars in a celestial, 4K video installation. Set to an eerie, technological soundtrack, “Journey to the Dark II” winds through a mountainous city that spans 70 meters across. Movement in the immersive piece is confined mostly to the cars traveling across bridges and down streets, and the lights emit a constant glow among the modern architecture and landforms.
    Residing in Shanghai and New York, Yang often juxtaposes modern, industrial life and organic elements to produce dystopian environments that question human progress. “Ancient Chinese people painted landscapes to praise the greatness of nature; Yang’s works, on the other hand, lead towards a critical re-thinking of contemporary reality,” said a statement about a similarly foreboding project.
    To explore more of the artist’s digital work and follow his upcoming projects, check out his Instagram and Vimeo.

    “Journey to the Dark II” (2019), video installation, 12 × 70 meters, 12,600 × 2,160 pixels. All images © Yongliang Yang, shared with permission

    #black and white
    #installation
    #landscapes
    #light
    #stars
    #video

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    Embroidered Patches Redefine Vintage Postcards and Photographs by Fiber Artist Han Cao

    
    Art
    Craft
    Photography

    #birds
    #embroidery
    #found photographs
    #landscapes
    #trains

    July 24, 2020
    Grace Ebert

    “Nice hair.” All images © Han Cao, shared with permission
    Through densely laid cross-stitches and whorls of thread, Han Cao revitalizes discarded photographs and postcards. Similar to the artist’s previous projects, her latest series New Nostalgia strikes a balance between the original subjects and the fiber-based additions. Sometimes covering faces with sparse dandelion puffs or confetti-like burst, Cao redefines the vintage pieces and explores how narratives linger as she stitches plumes of train steam that trail beyond the initial photograph’s edges.
    Based in Palm Springs, the artist shares glimpses into her process on Instagram, and if you’re in Philadelphia, check out her embroidered pieces that are on view through August 22 at Paradigm Gallery. Cao also sells some of her mixed-media works in her shop.

    Left: “Golden Conjurer.” Right: “Wallflower-Yellow Pansy”
    “Mt Rainier”
    “Runaway train”
    “Runaway train”
    “Generations”
    Left: “A steady dissolution.” Right: “Sisters”
    “Plume”
    “Sister, sister”

    #birds
    #embroidery
    #found photographs
    #landscapes
    #trains

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