The paintings of Federico Infante make me think of an old world artist who has time traveled to the present. He creates each piece by layering up acrylics and then scratching off bits and pieces, repeating the process again and again.
In doing this I am able to express my unconscious mind, the part of me that has not been processed by logic. I then react to this abstract and expressive atmosphere, by searching for the elements that have emerged, possibly in pockets of light, or the foundations of a landscape. In this way each painting shows me its singular identity.
Ján Teplan is a Slovakian-born, London-based artist and architect who is often influenced by his surroundings and travel. His technical skills lend themselves well to the detail Ján incorporates into both his paintings and his illustrations. Isn’t it fantastic when one of our interests in life benefits another??
Femke Hiemstra uses thin layers of acrylics and water to create her surrealist paintings, sometimes adding colored pencil at the very end. Each painted stories takes creatures from the animal kingdom and places the in unexpectedly human situations.
I can get inspired by anything from music lyrics, a news item or someone’s weird nickname. I also get inspiration from animal behavior, nature, old packages with hand drawn typography, tattoo’s, old encyclopedias, firework wrappers, vintage toys, comics, Japanese woodblock prints, old Little Golden Books, (tin toy) collectables and the art of Max Ernst, Hieronymus Bosch and the engravings of J.G. Posada.
Claire Tabouret‘s Makeup series could easily be taken at face value, little girls playing dress up and experimenting with their mothers’ cosmetics and captured in the immediate aftermath. But the paintings also seem to have a bit of a sinister side – is that really makeup?
German-Vietnamese artist Nam Chau focuses on memory and heritage in her misty paintings of places she’s never actually been. Each piece takes on the look of an aged photograph that’s being recreated in the mind’s eye, while the lack of facial features adds to the mystery and intrigue.
Justin Duffus‘s paintings aren’t straight-up creepy like some of the other artists we’re featuring this month, but the lack of facial definition he favors leaves a lot to the imagination. The blurriness of each piece makes you wonder if you’re viewing them in a dream or after you’ve woken up from a nap.
John Kviar took his love of and experience with graffiti and followed a path that’s recently led to a career as a painter. In his oil paintings Kviar has freed himself from any distinctive human character traits, yet manages to fill each canvas with unique characters.
Daylight savings time is rolling up on us fast, and these nocturnal paintings by Christopher Burk are helping me get ready for it. What catches my attention most are the negative spaces captured by the darkness and the windows lit from within that call out like safe spaces.
The quest for something new, distinctive forms and compositions, found in our exterior environments are the themes that are consistently sought after as the major components to my work. The main emphasis focuses on transforming the often overlooked elements, for example, the poetry that happens in the sweeping utility lines along the backdrop of a morning or evening sky with the pinnacles of structures, treetops, telephone poles, and how each interacts with one another within the composition. Taking something so utilitarian for example, like that of a telephone pole with all of its components, on average would be, and usually are, looked upon as something that is less than visually desirable, yet when presented in a unique way this provides one with the tools needed to visually tune into not only their personal environments but also that of the world, therefore, giving viewers the capabilities to find beauty in the simplest of things.
Whether his subjects are turned away or buried under their own manes, Daniel Coves‘ paintings straddle the line between beautiful and mysterious exceptionally well. The Spanish artist draws much of his inspiration from cinema and I’d say that comes through most with the lighting he often depicts.
