Here's a wonderful portfolio of some of today's most notable sculptors from around the world. Our friends at Artscape have just launched their new video documentary series and are working to bring you new inspirations from the world of sculpture, painting and mixed media.   We wish them a fruitful journey into the enthusiasm that encompasses the art circles here and abroad. In the meantime, enjoy this wonderful collection of works. ...

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Sculptures Are Getting More Stylized in 2016

From what I can see, a lot of artworks coming about in 2016 are getting more and more stylised. Many established artists, old friends and new alike, are developing their own personal styles to the optimum characteristics they can display. Originality seems to outweigh realism in much of today's artists' opinions.  This sculpture below was done by the studio of John Maisano from Austin, Texas, and is an exact example of the stylised direction that many artists seek to find in order to differentiate themselves today. His piece here shows a very prehistoric or ancient motif that takes advantages of the structural shapes that are part of his subject's anatomical design. He stresses these to compose a distinct yet bold rendering of his ideas. Jessica Drenk also creates her...

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The Rising Universe Sculpture

Also known as the Shelley Fountain, the "Rising Universe" sculpture isn't for the faint of heart. It's a towering mass of energy in the form of a spherical globe. I guess you could say that this sculpture could also be labeled as a form of kinetic art because of its interesting mechanical nature. The sphere is built to condense with more than 6 tons of pumped water from the artwork's base. Once the quota has been filled, the once-descending spherical mass then jets upward, pouring all the stored-up water out from below it. The fountain sculpture was made in 1992 to make way for the bicentenary of the birth of Percy Bysshe Shelley, a famous poet. The structure is located at Horsham, West Sussex, England for all to see and appreciate. The artwork was made by Angela Conner, a renowned sculptor....

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Layered Sculpture and The Glass Paintings of Our Time

When thinking about the growth of modern art today, China seems to be inching ahead of the rest because of their growing economy. In this age, artists like Xia Xiaowan incorporate new and exciting styles to dramatic genres in the hopes that people will stop and stare at something totally new. Xia creates very striking human-centered masterpieces that are set across several planes of glass. Each individual plane holds a part of her composed artwork. She creates using a structures system of hologram-like layers that combine through the eye and showcase a bold three-dimensional subject. Xia's "spatial paintings" as they are often called, are portraits of anatomical complexities. Her almost horror-like style appeals to many in today's contemporary Chinese market, and even her peers abroad....

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Marcus Levine and Painting with Nails

Usually we don't blog as much about painting, but in a sense, this is more like sculpting anyway. Marcus Levine is a true construction genius, implementing a knowledge of chiaroscuro into each and every one of his fantastic grayscale artworks. The catch here is the media that he makes use of. Marcus sculpts (or paints?) with nails. That's right, industrial grade nails that we normally use for hanging or shutting things around the house. This artist has turned an ordinary utility into an extraordinary possibility. The proximity of one nail in relation to the next gives the ability to create "shades" in every piece Marcus makes. As a contemporary artist, he joins the ranks as being an sculpture innovator for 2012 (at least in our book). In the second photo above, Marcus Levine is seen...

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Pearl Fryar's Topiary Sculptures: The Evolving Art of Garden Sculpting

Amongst our travels, we've yet to find more than a handful of noteworthy "living garden" sculptures as vibrant and as rich as the ones made by Pearl Fryar. A native to the South Carolina, Fryar combines the fine art of sculpture with his love and passion for horticulture and life. What's more astounding about Fryar's serene garden is that much of the actual "art" came from little seedlings that were rescued from piles that were disposed of by others around the land. This act of giving a future to these plants and creating in them an artistic splendor makes Fryar a a true "green" artist in our books. With all the environmental movements going around lately, let's take a lesson from this pioneering artist turned horticulturist and work green when creating our wonderful art concepts. Today,...

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Sculptors of Asia Pay Tribute To Japan's Recent History

It has been quite a while, but many still remember the event that swept Japan by storm only a few memories ago. The tsunamis and earthquakes that rocked the Asian community were those of magnitude that affected the lives of millions. Today we show art that remembers this past and allows us to look back and reminisce the significance it had on the world. Among the younger generation of artists, a Philippine sculptor, Kylo Chua created a contemporary piece entitled “Will We Just Watch?” The sculpted artwork reveals a tsunami figure (symbolizing mother nature perhaps) flowing wildly into an active society. The artwork shows a bold depth in symbolic power by composing itself of a collage-like medley of subjects. The “3D” glasses magnify the world’s helpless position during the reality...

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Stacy Levi's Ecological Patterns in Contemporary Art

It's a rare thing to chance upon an artist whose passionate about the ways of the natural world. With several nature-inspired works such as River Eyelash ( 3,000 painted buoys responding to wind force on a river), Stacy Levi is an ecology patron who's also a one of a kind sculptor. It's not enough to say that academic taught her all of what she knows about art, because just as many artists often find their true calling through spontaneous emotion and activity, Levi found hers through the environment's gravitating influence on humanity. Many of her works sit atop river streams or woodlands and depict a rendering of nature in an raw form of grace and power. Sculpture by Stacy Levi , Photography by Lionel Gruenberg Her sculpture project in Mineral Springs Park, Seattle, is called Cloud Stones....

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Experimental Sculpture Evolution : Yaacov Agam's Journey

Not many visual artists are known from the holy land, but Israeli sculptor Yaacov Agam stands out as one of the most influential experimental sculptors today. Agam began his life as Yaakov Gipstein on May 11, 1928. As a young boy, he was already fond of aesthetic elements regularly found everyday, such as the bright colors of cityscapes and building designs. He eventually grew up into a true-blue lover of the arts, studying at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. He also studied later on with Johanned Itten at the Kunstgewerbe Schule in Switzerland (where he moved to after his previous schooling). Currently Agam resides in Paris, where he has a daughter and two sons. Sculpture by Yaacov Agam - Photography by Sheynhertz-Unbayg At the beginning of his artistic career, Agam...

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Evolutionary Art and its Innovative Concepts

Let's take a break from discussing about our main blog theme for a while and take a look at a new artistic approach to science that's breaking headway into the mainstream of the intellectual community. Likened to the practice of Generative art, Evolutionary art is characterized by the usage of principles based on natural evolution and selection. It is actually a branch of the latter and has also evolved to the usage of silicon based-systems (in contrast to Bio-Art or Organic Art). The process of Evolutionary Art can be associated with the particular practice of modified evolution as well, where artificial or external factors are  introduced to several generations of reproductive species. Interactive evolution can also be observed when human beings alter the path of natural selection...

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Cleopatra's Wedge - Beverly Pepper's Scaled Creation

Of you ever take a stroll down the Burns Commons in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, you may notice the fast rising population of public art displays around the area. Some people think of these monumental creations as a form of "plop art" because of their unique contrast to the surroundings, others say that the art pieces actually accent the townscape pretty well, and make the scenery just a bit more colorful. In 1991, Beverly Pepper; a sculptor from Brooklyn, carved away at an abandoned freeway corridor and shaped it into a tool's contour. Critics say that it resembles a leftover tool of Paul Bunyon (the giant lumberjack in fables). The sculpture was entitled "Cleopatra's Wedge" and maintains a vibrant rustic tone because of its material (Cor-ten) Sculpture by Beverly Pepper - Photography Copyright...

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Masahiko Kimura and Bonsai as Living Sculpture

The term Living Sculpture can be applied to a number of categories such as Land Art, Environmental Art, and Bonsai. Today, we look into the life of the "Magical Technician of Kindai Shuppan"; Masahiko Kimura. Bonsai art is no easy task, people have to intensively twist and coil wires into young plants to inhibit or shape their growth, at the same time leaves and roots have to be trimmed for the tree to grow into miniaturized proportions. At the early age of 15, Kimura became the apprentice of bonsai master Motosuke Hamano of Toju-en Bonsai Garden. His great skill in conceptualizing the growth pattern of trees became his catalyst into the bonsai society's greatest. He was also able to swiftly move past critiques who said his works were widely controversial at first. In his early years though, ...

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Origami Bonsai Sculpture

A few weeks ago we posted an article about the sculptural potential of Origami and Kirigami. Today upon browsing through some art prints, we found that among the origami artists of Japan, some consider a few form to be a hybrid between two types of art. Bonsai Origami is a combination of the paperfoldding craft and the tree-shaping craft, both popular art hobbies in Japan. In this hybrid hobby, the technique uses tree branches from actual plants, and combines these elements with paper flowers, leaves and fruits. This interesting artform was actually introduced by a foreigner; John Coleman in 2010. Coleman wrote a book entitled Origami Bonsai during April of last year. Aside from his initial publication, Coleman still strives to improve the technique further. He developed a technique called...

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John Chamberlain's Rustic Beauty

These days, fine art is a broad concept unrestricted by classical standards unlike in the Greek and Victorian ages. Many sculptures believe that making use of scrap or found objects is a good way to help rebuild something by turning it into something else. John Chamberlain uses old automobile parts and crushed steel to create distorted compositions of rustic sculptures in pure abstract form. Chamberlain wen to the Art Institute of Chicago and Black Mountain College during his years of learning. He became quite famous for his unique style of painting into three dimensions and his usage of car parts. He works and resides at Shelter Island in New York and has been sculpting for over fifty years. Sculpture by John Chamberlain - Photography by Ser Amantio di Nicolao Chamberlain's sculptures...

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Bill Woodrow's Sculptures Combine and Create from a Degree of Metal Diversities

In the 1970's many new faces in the world of Britain's sculpture community emerged into popular society. Among the personalities, Bill Woodrow stood out as a contemporary sculptor of mixed media creations. Many of his very first sculptural pieces were works made from materials and objects found in scrap yards. He has a fondness for using metal wares and machinery that have been discarded and abandoned. Many of the artworks made by Woodrow actually retain a sense of their former elements. Woodrow alters a diversity of materials to present them to the public in a new context of understanding, but still creates a personal feel and narrative by which people can relate with. Sculpture by Bill Woodrow - Photography by John McCullough 2006 He started using bronze as a material for his creative...

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Jay Gubitz and his Stained Glass Sculptures

You've all seen the usual stained glass artworks at cathedrals or deco building windows, but did any of you know about the artist who pioneered the usage of stained glass for 3D sculpture? Jay Gubitz turned the industry into an artform by innovating a stereotypical 2D media into new heights. Jay was always interested in the process of design, but began his career as a marketing artist. Eventually though, he found his way into glass by enrolling at several workshop courses at the suggestion of his wife, Elaine Gubitz. Using a basic foundation of knowledge from his lessons, he then built on them using trial and error methods. Through his own self-taught art methodologies, he was able to free the stained glass medium of its flat limitations. Photography and Sculpture Artwork by Jay Gubitz Jay...

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The Art Practices of Sculptor John Bacon

A true blue British sculptor from Southwark, John Bacon was born in 1799 and was fascinated by sculpture at a very early age. He apprenticed at Lambeth; a porcelain manufacturer very famous at the time. Bacon was fourteen by the time he worked there as a painter and sculpture modeller. By getting accustomed to the process of high-fired porcelain, he was able to get a good learning foundation for the craft. Eventually during the course of his life, he made use of the technical and practical knowledge base to create his own unique and well-defined porcelain sculptures. Aside from working in porcelain, Bacon also mastered several other media, such as stone-working and marble-carving. He was able to improve an artificial stone sculpting process being used at the Coade Artificial Stone Manufactory. Sculpture...

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Kirigami, Sekkei and Comlex Origami Sculpture

Robert Lang, Meguro Toshiyuki and a few others developed a methodological system of origami paper folding called Technical Origami or Origami Sekkei. Unlike normal day-to-day origami folding, Sekkei Origami is more likened to an artform, specifically the artform of three dimensional sculpture. The creative output of Sekkei Origami can be characterized by complicated figures composed of well-formed details. Examples could include multi-jointed subjects with complex extremities such as toes, legs, tails and wings. Most of the usual patterns involved with this type of origami sculpting begins with something called the crease pattern, which is basically the overall layout of the creases needed to form the final model. Many origami sculptors develop their own compositions and designs by structural...

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Minimalism in Sculpture

For every complexity and detail observed in hyper-realism or naturalism, we can also see an opposite trait within the movement of minimalistic art. Whether sculpture or painting, photography or digital art, minimalism is a basic foundation that appeals to many in the community. Often thought over as elegant, avant-garde mannerisms of design, minimalism actually exhibits the trait of containing the strongest impact in the smallest of bodies. It portrays a certain type of aesthetic beauty that almost anyone can appreciate due to its simplicity in freeform and structure. Artists and theorists argued that minimalism conveyed every message that any other artform could, but through an extremist's definition of simplicity at work. Free Ride Sculpture by Tony Smith (Minimalism in Sculpture) The...

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Sculpting the Environment

The term environmental sculpture will often bring up an image of something green. It would make you thing of something that's alive, or biodegradable, or at the very least something organic. Despite these stereotypical ideas which are not entirely wrong, many environmental sculptures generate there impact and beauty by pooling together the things that surround them and creating an assemblage of sorts. Just like in the picture below, this man-made scenery is actually an example of "Site-Specific" sculpture that resembles a spiral whirlpool in the ocean. This movement of sculpture began from contemporary abstract sculpture, but was transformed by several artists including Robert Irwin, James Turrel and Richard Serra. Sculpture by Robert Smithson Photgraphy by Soren Harward Sometimes called...

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The Complexities and Risks of Mixed Media

Sculptures in the classical age were all created with stone, wood or precious metals. This signified the ability to last from generation to generation within family possessions. Today however, a popular trend defies this historical observation, the evoloution of mixed media. Mixed media is a term that people use when refering to works of art that contain two or more substantial or structural media within their main composition. The most popular forms of mixed media art include assemblage sculptures and hybridities between sculpture and other forms of art. The artist' ability to foresee the combinations of materials can be the reason why many mixed media works often draw a crowd's attention merely from the contrasting beauty of its substances. Combining glass and wood for example...

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Indigenous Art and The World of the Creator

When we take a look into the tribes of the remote areas in the Philippines, like the province of Ifugao for example, we will often see a culture as rich as our own, teeming with its own kind of traditional system, language and artistic preference. When you see the work of these local craftsmen, you'll be astonished by the level of design they are capable of conjuring. During visits to the rice terraces in Banawe, Ifugao, I came across curiosities that caught my attention in the purely visual sense at first. Little sculptures carved out of local wood depicted the daily lives of these indigenous tribes. There were portraits of mothers carrying their babies while harvesting grain, hunters with their long spears, and symbolical carvings that the locals referred to as anitos. It wasn't...

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Collecting Medallion-Relief Sculptures

We already know that coin sculptors have the extremely difficult task of creating relief sculptures on a very minimized canvas. These types of artists are but an example of who medallist sculptors are and what they do. To carve or cast a medallion, one would need a good sense of dexterity and a specific set of modelling tools, such as magnifying lenses and pin-type shaping instruments. Traditionally, wax or plaster models are used for the original design of cast medallions. Casting serves as the best way to mass-produce medallions to be made into a limited edition work. The usual media you can expect would be bronze, copper, silver, nickel or gold. New media such as palladium are also available as art medallions. Over time, these medallions usually become considered as antiques and are often...

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Approach at Glance : Gas Sculpture and Its Potential for Art Interactivity

What is gas sculpture? Have you ever heard of it? Today, people are slowly but surely conceiving new and innovative ways of creating art. Sculpture however, was founded on the basis of concrete and tangible substances. It was stretched many times with the emergence of water sculpture, sound sculpture and kinetic sculpture, however these days there are even stranger discoveries that the art world has got to look out for. Gas sculpture was first proposed by Joan Miro, but has extended itself to become a worldwide question- how can one sculpt gas? Photography by Black Squirrel At the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, there exists a prime example of the new media. A pond is surrounded by an array of tiny nozzles that can be switched on to produce a fine, billowing fog. Considered to...

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Lladro's Journey of Sculpture

Everyone is probably familiar with the worldwide luxury sculpture brand; Lladro. The porcelain company originated from Valencia, Spain and eventually grew to become an international leader of the art industry. If you or your siblings have not heard of it, then try asking your parents or grandparents if they have. Lladro's journey did not start within this generation's timeline. Their history began over sixty years ago when three young brothers left their day jobs as tile makers at a local factory to pursue their  artistic dream. Lladro is most famous for developing their own style, slip recipe and techniques in fine porcelain. Their sculptures often exhibit subtle blends of soft pastel ton...

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