Bunny rabbits

Some bunnies from some of my favorite artists & illustrators;

"Uprisings" by kozyndan (Kozy and Dan Kitchens). This is a screenprint in an edition of 200 signed an numbered prints. 5 metallic colors on Coventry Rag Vellum 320 gm/wt paper. The final paper size is 37 x 28 inches. (I have a version of this on my wall)


"Bunny" by Sarah McNeil


"The Tortoise and the Hare" by Elsita or Elsa Mora

"With the luck of a rabbit" by Elly McKay (aka theatreclouds)

"Revelation" 12x16" acrylic/charcoal/graphite painting on hardboard by Jennifer Davis

"Welcome Home" gouache on wood by APAK in 2009

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.}

Cutting Paper

Paper is the most amazing medium. I am obsessed with the stuff. I have made paper by hand. It is painstaking, but really, it is nothing more than plant fibre and water! From such humble materials anything can be made. It can be strong or flexible, opaque, colourful, patterned, or transparent, thin, and delicate. I love seeing all the art that can be made with nothing more than a trusted pair of scissors or a sharp, sharp knife. Paper cuts have a long history in many cultures including Chinese as well as the papel picado folk art of Mexico.




One of my favorite paper artists is Elsa Moro (main blog, paper cutting blog, etsy), or Elsita. She is a Cuban-born, LA-based artist, mother, avid blogger, and genuinely delightful person. She works in a variety of media, and her paper cut work blows me away.

Inner Thread


The Wound


Girl with Bird Mask

And the paper sculpture is incredible. Consider Girl Bird:


or Bee:


Everyone knows England's Mister Rob Ryan, but his work is so brilliant I will repeat it here:


How could I resist the incorporation of typography in paper-cut illustration!

New York-based, Hungarian artist Andrea Dezsö creates some spectacular illustration and book art. These works combine paper cut in layers with interactive LED lighting:

The Day We Changed Our Lives Forever /left: Mushroom Forest,
middle: Devil's Den, right: We Play.
Cut-out, hand sewn paper tunnel books with interactive LED lights. (LED engineering: Sandy Chen)

I could spend days exploring that portfolio!

Armed with nothing more than construction paper and n exacto knife, Miami artist Jen Stark became a bit of an internet phenomenon. Ubiquitous in the blogosphere, she gained a name in the art world, for her simple, geometric, but ebullient paper cuts or paper sculptures.





The sheer scale of Chris Natrop's work, as well as the interplay of light and shadow are staggering.

AND FURTHER THE DEWDROP FALLS

55 x 36 x 14 feet
cut paper with watercolor, glitter and magic string; cut acrylic sheet; HD video projection
2008

site-specific installation
MOCA Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL


INTO THE SILVER SEE
(LANDING NOWHERE ELSE)

20 x 20 x 14 feet

watercolor, iridescent medium, green tea, tape on cut paper with thread and nylon netting

2006

site-specific installation
Bank, Los Angeles, CA

Canadian artist Ed Pien, born in Taipei, combines eastern and western influences in his work. This piece shows life-sized figures crouching in a tree.




Nest
2008,
ink on 3M reflector and shoji paper cut,
137 x 183 cm

Check out Japanese artist Kako Ueda's Memento Mori style paper cuts.


Eros and Thanatos - detail
hand-cut black paper, site specific, 78 inches by 68 inches, 2008

or works somewhere between 2D silhouette and 3D sculpture like Totem - hand-cut red paper, thread, string, collage, bottles, coloured pencil (2008):