Butterflies are the new Pirates

Yes, indeed. There has been an undercurrent of butterflies fluttering through our culture for some time, and soon they will be as omnipresent as pirates. They appear in art, crafts, fashion. Tell me this installation by Japanese artist/designer/stylist Kiroshi Kuroda is not piratical?


or that the graphic impact of this black and white will not catch on:




Consider the hypnotic effect of French artist Phillipe Caillaud's spirals of butterflies;



Aurores 1 and detail

I love how he incorporates ephemera, including vintage photographs, playing cards and especially, maps. Some works are made of dragon or damsel flies, rather than butterflies. Full marks for elegance and simplicity of his web portfolio design! Flash-addicted artists, please take note.


Cramoisis


Vulcains


Mars (detail)


Piérides de la route (detail)

This reminds me of work of the previously-blogged Elsita (Elsa Moro). She had a show in 2007 which involved a lot of flying things. The work "One Hundred Butterflies" also involves a spiral of butterflies (& moths & dragonflies & damselflies). Each one represents a famous woman:




Interesting that there is a sub-theme of spirals of multimedia butterflies.

Speaking of multimedia butterflies, check out these knit papillons by Chevalier-Masson (Belgian duo Anne Masson & Eric Chevalier):


"Les deux font la paire" , 2006 (Galerie Les Drapiers, Liège). {The title means 'the two make a pair'}

Of course, there is the gorgeous work of British printmaker, book and multimedia artist John Dilnot, many of which feature butterflies or moths. His work captures the magic of the microcosm and the Wunderkammer.



Moths Collection (26 x 19x 7cm)


U.S. sculptor "Michelle Stitzlein creates found object art / sculpture from recycled materials, including piano keys, broken china, license plates, rusty tin cans, electrical wire, bottlecaps, and other miscellaneous items." These include enormous (check the dimensions!), amazing butterflies and moths.







I could go on....

{Though familiar with many of these artists, the archives at dear ada were a great resource for finding many of these butterflies in contemporary art.}

tapestry of colour, gems & floating heads

Creature Comforts featured the work of LA artist Sarajo Frieden. This is someone who knows about textures, lines and colour, has a good sense of humour, and a whimsical thing for the birds. See what she has to say about colour:



Some of her work incorporates embroidery, like this:


stitched bird 4 (7.5”w x 11”h framed: 11.5”w x 15”h)


lady leaving chair (7.5”w x 11”h framed: 11.5”w x 15”h)


pinktree (gouache, collage on paper 28 1/2″w x 22″h)


green journey 2 (gouache on paper 23 3/4″w x 15″h 2005)

Recurring images include the "mini me", birds, trees, people dressed as cats, mushrooms, water, silhouettes, ship and gems. Which leads me to ponder, what is it with all the crystals in contemporary art, anyway?


jewelled bush (gouache, collage on paper 22.25″w x 24.5″h 2007)

Crystals appear frequently in a stylized network of lines and explicitly as gems.

These are the work of NYC artist Ramblin Worker (Steve MacDonald), whom I first found years ago on www.craftster.org. He also combines drawing and painting and sewing. For the record, most of his work does not contain disembodied puma heads- I just happen to really like them. Beyond the multimedia, these artists have something in common in their exuberant colours, lines and nets, and layering of pattern (as well as boats and natures as subjects). Some of the tapestries (I can think of no better word) are incorporated into 3D sculptural pieces.

Going Postal

dear ada instroduced me to London-based Glaswegian designer and illustrator Harriet Russell. She has a lot of pretty, whimsical screenprints, design, book covers and illustration and more on her webpage. She can't resist a good pun.





Oh look, a magpie!

Her embellished envelop mailart is delightful. The Telegraph reports that she comes by this honestly;

Harriet Russell is only the latest in her family to seek to amaze and befuddle the men and women of the Royal Mail. Her great-great-great grandfather, Henry Ponsonby, was an eminent Victorian - a veteran of the Crimean War, private secretary to the Queen - who also had a hobby of embellishing the envelopes of the letters he sent with whimsical pictures. The addresses would appear as signposts in snowstorms or as huge envelopes shouldered by tiny people.

Obviously, this is a tradition too fabulous to neglect. Her collection of 130 letters, sent to herself, includes addresses in the form of anagrams, crosswords, tests for colour blindness, dot-to-dot puzzles, cartoon and mirror writing. It makes me happy that the Royal Mail appears to have appreciated the joke and risen to the challenge.

Invisible creatures of the deep...

Here is something new to worry about, especially if you happen to be a small fish.



Creepy camouflaged octopi and wonderous transparent fish!

Screenprinting the light fantastic

I have a lot of etsy favorites, and amongst these figure a large number of printmakers of a variety of media. There a few who make serigraphs/screenprints or even just work with the well-loved miniature Japanese gocco screenprinting devices, who have something in common. It's somewhat ineffable, but I have been trying to put my finger on it. It involves critters, no doubt, but it is also something about the line work, the colour choices and the surrealism. These four work in different countries, but they all happen to be women, and they all happen to have a touch of magic.

Consider London-based Ellie Curtis and her EllieCurtisDesings:

Josephine


Battle of Birlundula


Bird Emperor Cushion (pink), on calico

Why I haven't bought myself a pillow yet, I don't know. I think I'm simply having trouble deciding which one I need most.

While some of the work of Finnish Brooklyn-based artist animalsleep (with etsy shop here)is a little less abstract and mere fantastical, some strikes a similar vein:

extra terrestrial specimen collection 6 color silkscreen, 9" x 15"
2007, edition of 21
{This is a reminder folks: Butterflies are the new pirates!}


jefferson's frog suit 5 color silkscreen with spray paint, 8" x 10"
2007, edition of 30


dropping in to say hello *
4 color silkscreen, 7.5" x 14"
edition of 30


flamingo home
5 color silkscreen, 12" x 16"
2006, edition of 28
Now her work is on my wall.

I sense some sort of akin-ness to Madison, WI artist icebear (her blog):

our beloved sausage


Top Village



Game of Jacks

And, last but not least, one of my particular favorites, Lille, France-based Australian artist Emma Kidd, known as benconservato on etsy. Her work adorns my walls.


Zombie with a Thylacine


Sibiline {part of her book Erm Malley}


Black Fox

You must check out her work in other media as well.