Julie's Favorite Art

Hi there! It's Julie here this time to share 8 of my favorite entries from ArtPrize 8.

ANCIENT DIGNITY

The artist estimates 1,800 hours of cutting, pounding, welding, grinding, and polishing went into this 5 1/2 foot tall bison. 5000 feet of copper wire were used for his hair, and each hair was individually welded and styled. His Native American decorations are symbols of the Iroquois' "Great Law of Peace," the oral constitution that bound together the 6 nations of the Iroquois. When Mom saw (and petted) this big guy in person, it was getting dark out, and his hair was glinting gently in the landscaping lights. I think he's awesome. <3

Unlost

Normally I'm not a huge fan of black and white photos, but I made an exception for this one. What a perfect shot of this bridge! With this perspective and the dramatic zig zag lines of the beams, it looks like it could be a portal to another dimension.

Bright Maples

Big deal, a forest painting, you may be thinking. At first glance, that's what I thought too. But it's not a painting at all - it's textile and thread. The tree trunks are layered, hand stitched, hand-dyed silk, and the leaves are made up of tons of tiny french knots. Truly a masterpiece!

The Fire Cycle

Here's another gorgeous textile piece. This one was created using yarn and felt on canvas. Much of the background is made from tiny circles of felt punched with a hole punch, each one hand glued. It depicts animals fleeing the Duck Lake fire of 2012, a forest fire that burned over 21,000 acres in the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I love the texture on this, especially the shaggy moose in the foreground, but all the animals are beautifully done. Hopefully they made it to safety!

Coherency

This unorthodox rug is one piece that both the art critics and I appreciated, which rarely happens! It looks like the rug is turning to liquid or gel and oozing outward, and it's really cool what this does to the rug's design. The order-loving side of me is pleased that the artist still made sure to keep it symmetrical. 

The Pier to Everywhere

This is one of my all-time favorite paintings. Not only is it incredibly detailed, but the artist has merged reality (a Lake Michigan pier) with unreality seamlessly. I love the dream-like, magical way the pier, starry sky, and water meld into each other. Mom saw this painting twice during ArtPrize: once near the beginning and then again on the last day of ArtPrize, when two guys were carrying it unceremoniously across a parking lot to their car.

Pinnacle

Pinnacle is another Lake Michigan scene, this time from the perspective of a scenic overlook. It's made up of many layers of glass that have been assembled so that they overlap, which gives it a unique 3D effect. To give each layer of glass its amazing texture, the artist crushes glass, manipulates it with a torch, cuts it, layers it, and fuses it together. Her other method, presumably to create stuff like pine needles and grass, is to heat glass until it's molten in a kiln, then pull it into long strands. The end result of all this meticulous work sure is impressive! 

Imagine If

 

I know Lily already showed you a photo of this one earlier, but I thought I'd post two more photos of it (these two taken by Mom herself) because it was my favorite entry from this year. These four winged horses are made from small, silvery, reflective pieces dangling from the ceiling on clear strings. The artist has entered similar works in past years, including other mythical equines, a dragon, a griffin, and a tree with a quadrant representing each season. They've often ranked highly in the public vote but have never won any prizes. I'm glad the artist keeps entering anyway! The only thing I'd change would be to give these guys long, flowing tails instead of little nubs. XD

Thanks for reading! Felicity will round out these ArtPrize posts with her favorites soon. She also has some HI2 news, but I will leave that for her to share. =^)