BEAUTY: Mixed Media Art--Michael Mapes

The mixed media boxes Michael Mapes creates are simply jaw-dropping. He approaches his creations like Victorian specimen boxes, using insect pins, vials, petri dishes, gelatin capsules, and assorted specimen containers to hold cut up pieces of photographs, human hair, crushed pigment, tea, cotton thread, spices, feathers, x-rays, dried plants, and costume jewelry. Once assembled, all these individual elements create a larger image. For his Dutch Masters series, each box is an homage to a Dutch portrait. Take a look at the detail images...it is stunning how much goes into each one.

21 yr Old Dutch Female

21 yr Old Dutch Female detail

Adriana Female

Adriana Female detail

Anonymous Young Woman

Anonymous Young Woman detail

Anonymous Young Woman detail

Dutch Female Specimen

Dutch Female Specimen detail

HdP-02

HdP-02 detail

Mapes has a section on his site of available work. Inquire for pricing!
http://www.room62.com/

BEAUTY: Painting For Winter-- Claudia Hammer

For the Holidays and the season of gift-giving, here is the charming work of artist Claudie Hammer who paints boxes or presents exquisitely wrapped and bowed.

http://www.claudiahammer.com/

BEAUTY: Painting--Kosuke Ajiro

Mystical. Mythical. Kosuke Ajiro's naïve works resemble story paintings from the early Medieval period, or the kind of visual narratives or records of important events one would see drawn on hides by Native Americans, or especially Mexican votive paintings offering thanks to saints. These narratives are oblique but entrancing.

Top to bottom: 3rd Day; A day's event of seeing a puppet show; Another Me; Falconer; Goat Dream; Kingdom; My Friends; sigh; Soul Transporter; Three Saviours

He takes this same narrative idea and translates it into 3D with dioramas and boxes filled with his paintings and original ceramic and fabric pieces!

This piece called Alaska opens and unfolds into something that feels like a chess board--but isn't.

And Reinette has a similar feeling within a framework of a Dark Ages fairy tale...

His piece Jessie Is Gone comes in two sections: the box with the "board" and a box that holds each of the "game" pieces...

And I just love these sweet little display boxes, Hymn and Puppet Show.

https://kosukeajiro.com/

"BOX"

I have posted other videos of projection mapping installations in the past (here), but this one is just incredible. It features projection mapping on moving surfaces with the interaction of a human being. Incredible.

Bot & Dolly, the production company responsible for this amazing feat says, "The short film documents a live performance, captured entirely in camera. Bot & Dolly produced this work to serve as both an artistic statement and technical demonstration. It is the culmination of multiple technologies, including large scale robotics, projection mapping, and software engineering. We believe this methodology has tremendous potential to radically transform theatrical presentations, and define new genres of expression."
I'll say.

And it concludes with one of my favorite quotes, by Arthur C. Clarke...

http://www.botndolly.com/box