Pensive Portraiture

Georgia-based Vietnamese artist/illustrator Tran Nguyen (pronounced “Tron”) takes both a cerebral and emotional approach to her work. With names like “Bedridden Mementos” and “Sleeping With Nostalgia,” they are not just oddly pretty pictures in acrylic and color pencil, but have a dream-like quality that suggests a much deeper impetus. Nguyen herself explains that she is “fascinated with creating visuals that can be used as a psycho-therapeutic support vehicle, exploring the mind’s dreamscape.” We love the concept, and Nguyen’s illustration skills are terrific.

Via mynameistran.com

Found In Nature

New York City-based photographer Barry Rosenthal has a thing for sorting. In his series “Found In Nature,” Rosenthal builds fascinating compositions from discarded items found along the beaches of New York Harbor. Rosenthal’s orderly masterpieces, comprised basically of abandoned junk, are sorted by type, color and/or theme, and each piece tells a unique story. In his own words, Rosenthal talks about his piece titled “Plastic Puzzle”: White plastic objects. The ‘beaches’ I walk are not the places that families go for sun and surf. They are overlooked wetlands. This composition came about from my experiments with perspective. My theme is simple; make a puzzle from the objects. This my first collection of objects post Hurricane Sandy. My usual hunting ground was not accessable. It had become a FEMA staging area for the Rockaways. I was forced to find new, fertile tidal areas to clean or glean a theme.

We are really fond of Rosenthal’s thoughtful and compelling compositions. And we, too, have a thing for organization and order; see previous posts on the subject here and here and here.

Via barryrosenthal.com

Ornate Paper Alphabet by Dan Hoopert

Young UK-based designer Dan Hoopert’s latest project epitomizes intricacy in design and execution. This personal project—partly handmade, partly digital—explores ornate three-dimensional forms within characters of the alphabet. Simply amazing. We cannot even imagine how many hours were spent on this. Beautiful. Hoopert is a promising young designer, for sure. More paper art here and here and here.

Via Behance

Back to the Future

The sheer mastery demonstrated in the retro-futurisitic style of Belgium illustrator/designer Laurent Durieux is hard to ignore. It’s not just the novelty of bucking recent design trends and appearing to be from another era (think 1960s pop culture) that makes Durieux’s work so special, but also the level of detail in his work. Durieux’s eye for composition, typography and color only enhance his brilliant work, which (no surprise) has been commissioned by none other than Mondo (see related posts here and here and here).

Via laurentdurieux.com

Food Maps

It’s no secret that we at Barbour are bunch of foodies of some degree or another, so we can’t resist food concepts that are really well executed. And this series, by New Zealand-born, Brooklyn-based photographer/artist Henry Hargreaves (see a previous post of his work here) is a perfect example. In his own words, Hargreaves explains: “In this series we have taken many of the iconic foods of countries and continents and turned them into physical maps. While we know that tomatoes originally came from the Andes in South America, Italy has become the tomato king. These maps show how food has traveled the globe—transforming and becoming a part of the cultural identity of that place. Who doesn’t know the saying “throw some shrimp on the barbie” and not think of Australia? Who goes to France without eating bread and cheese? And who makes a Brazilian caipirinha without a fistful of limes?” Hargreaves collaborated with food stylist Caitlin Levin and graphic designer Sarit Melmed to painstakingly create maps made out of foods that embody each location. We love the various textures, colors and cultural references. As well as the marriage of cartography, typography and gastronomy. Outstanding on many levels! Prints available here.

Via henryhargreaves.com and Facebook

The Sculpted Alphabet

German design studio FOREAL is responsible for this eye-opening alphabet. Built in Cinema 4D, this self-initiated set of letters pushes the envelope by dressing each letter to represent food, objects and even human body parts. The level of detail is really quite something. Not to mention the personality the folks at FOREAL bring to each character. Great marriage of technology and creativity! Be sure to check out the complete alphabet (as well as more of their fantastic work) at the link below and on their website.

Via Behance

Powerful Wire Mesh Portraiture

Korean sculptor Seung Mo Park is a bit of a perfectionist. His highly intricate work with wire mesh is breathtaking, and these photos probably don’t even do them justice. The videos convey the level of detail much better, but the process is best described as planes of wire mesh spaced several inches apart, over which Park superimposes a subject via a projector, then slowly prunes to reveal a stunning portrait. Beautiful and compelling work like nothing we’ve ever seen.

Via seungmopark.com and YouTube

)

Nomad Patterns: Melted Porcelain by Livia Marin

London-based artist and sculptor Livia Marin’s melted porcelain series, Nomad Patterns, looks like a first-class exercise in Photoshop. In reality, these intriguing sculptures are physical pieces that appear to be melting into puddles. What’s really special, though, is that the intricate decorations flow into the puddles as well. In her own words, Marin describes the concept behind this superb series: “In a culture increasingly dominated by habits of consuming and discarding, Nomad Patterns interrogates the boundaries between the attention given to precious or elite artifacts and the lack of thought afforded to the mass production of utilitarian objects.”

Via liviamarin.com and emmahilleagle.com

 

Military Songbirds

With spring almost upon us (hopefully), this series by Japanese artist Sato just sung to us. The series, called “Torigun”, features songbirds dressed in military garb. Love all the details (hats, vests, blazers, badges, shoes!) and personification Sato achieved in these masterful illustrations.

Via pixiv.net

Fresh Picked Typography

Sometimes you’ll find excellent examples of experimental typography in the most unexpected places. Take this terrific print ad from a Lithuanian grocer, for example. Under the art direction of Lithuanian designer Ignas Kozlovas by way of McCann Erickson, this typographic arrangement of real produce displays mastery in Photoshop, as well as an excellent eye for composition. Really well executed… would love to see the rest of the alphabet. Some other examples of produce in design here and here and here.

Via Behance