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 with his work, "Tamas Study 4". The artwork contains 26,600 nails and is on sale for £26,500 at the Hammered exhibition at Gallery 27, in London.

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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 Makigami which uses rolled up newspapers in specific contours to substitute the real tree branches. Coleman's organic passion for origami has taken the practice to a different level of orientation. He has adapted his own style into an age-old art form and has gained a number of followers at the same time.

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