Art

March 26, 2018

Artist Spends Hundreds of Hours Creating Portraits Entirely Out of Hand-Written Text

Sonora-based artist Phil Vance creates incredible typography portraits rendered entirely in hand-written text. Drawn to pattern, texture, and color, the artist describes his process as “cross hatching but with words.” From Einstein to Mark Twain, each portrait from the In Their Own Words series pays tribute to Vance’s favorite historical and artistic figures.

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March 22, 2018

Gigantic Crocheted Doilies Take Over Gallery Walls Like Beautiful Spider Webs

Since 2011, Californian artist Ashley V. Blalock has been creating site-specific installations filled with gigantic, hand-crocheted doilies. Back in 2014, Blalock’s ongoing Keeping Up Appearances installation series was sprawling across gallery walls, stairwells, ceilings, and floors. Today, the red cotton crochet doilies continue to grow in size, as they spread across indoor and outdoor locations. Resembling giant spider webs, Blalock’s textile installations sometimes reach as high as 15 feet.

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March 20, 2018

Felted Fungus Art “Growing” in Petri Dishes Shows the Unexpectedly Cute Side of Mold

Most people balk at mold, like the type that appears as spores on old loaves of bread. But not artist Elin Thomas; she pays homages to fuzzy fungus through her felt fiber art. Using techniques including crochet, needle felting, and embroidery, she creates one-of-a-kind petri dishes that really look like mold. The shallow vessels are filled to the brim with exquisite textures—including fuzzy, hair-like spores that invite you to touch, making them unexpectedly cute.

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March 18, 2018

Interview: “Maximalist” Painter Plays With Pattern and Texture to Create Feminist Art

Proving that “pretty can be powerful,”Australian artist Jessica Watts produces floral paintings with a feminist focus. In her series, Wallflower, Watts employs playful patterns and brightly-colored blooms to accentuate the strength and beauty of the self-possessed woman. Each expressive painting in this series features an anonymous female figure standing before a backdrop inspired by a real-life wallpaper pattern. In most depictions, the subject's nudity is concealed by bouquets bursting with textured blossoms.

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