Tuesday 18 June 2013

Recommended Artist: Calvin Nicholls

  Calvin Nicholls creates amazing art pieces using just sheets of paper and a scalpel. He cuts the component pieces to fit the final drawing and assembles the low relief artwork under studio lighting. When the sculpture is complete the lighting is adjusted to bring out the subtle form and texture. Finally, a large format camera is used to capture the detail on 8x10 film prior to scanning for print applications or art prints, and the results of this process can be seen below.










  There's no need for me to say this as I'm sure you can see that Calvin Nicholls's technique is superb. The clean cuts. The amount of details he puts into each pieces. The brilliant use of "out of the frame" method to give an illusion of depth. I'm also completely enthralled by how well he has portrayed fur and feathers.

As much as I'd like to talk about about how cute the hedgehog is, I'd rather focus on the last piece in this post- the one of the ship. Artists are well known for using symbols in their works, and sometimes, when you never intended for the art work to be "read into", some people still over-think your art work. It doesn't bother me when people do that. I rather enjoy it when people tell me what they see from my drawings and doodles. Perhaps Calvin Nicholls never intended for people to "read into" his beautiful portrayal of a ship at sea, but I did find myself linking symbolic meaning to the piece.

  In Christianity, the sea is often a symbol of the unconscious, and the ship one that represents the Self. Do the winds blow in your sails, or do the storms rock your ship? In life, you'll always face hardships, but it is the overcoming of these hardships that makes you stronger. People often say that the sunshine comes after the rain. Whatever you are facing at the moment, just remember to keep your chin up and keep on keeping on, because you'll get through this obstacle and in the process you'll learn something new.

 "May the sails of your soul always billow with fresh winds of wisdom."

  See more of his works via this link.

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