Nuala O Donovan - Fragile Nature

Nuala O Donovan, based in Cork, Ireland creates stunning sculptures made from sculpted unglazed porcelain.

I love how pure and delicate her pieces look and how incredibly intricate they are.
She finds inspiration for her work in the patterns and forms found in nature:

"I have used the characteristics of irregular/fractal patterns in nature as a system of constraints or guidelines when making decisions about the forms: The patterns are regularly irregular. The patterns and form are self-similar. The pattern records a response to random events during the making process. The result of using the characteristics of fractal geometry in making decisions regarding the form of the sculptural pieces, is that the form is resolved but retains a sense of potential change. The viewer engages with the piece by allowing their own visual experiences to influence their view of the outcome of the form and its future possibilities. I hope that this aspect of my work also evokes the transitory quality of living organisms, combining traces of history, the present and the future, in the patterns that make up their surfaces and forms."

Bunny Dee

I have a secret obsession with bunnies. I do and I am not ashamed to say it.  Lucky for me the artist Danielle Gundry-Monji seems to share the same love for those furry creatures and incorporates them frequently into her stunning work.

Although she grew up in a small town Gundry- Monji lives and works in San Francisco today where she went to art school but her love for bunnies started when she was just a baby: 

"When I was born the first stuffed animal I was ever given was a bunny. I think that imprinted on me from the very start. This lovely creature with long ears and smile that made me so happy. Even as I got older that love of rabbits never went away. I am still given stuffed rabbits and rabbit type things for birthdays and presents. I have come to identify with rabbits in many ways.When I moved to SF nearly 7 years ago I brought that rabbit, my first stuffed bunny that I attached too. He is always in my apartment. Several years ago when drawing animal characters for my family I drew myself as a rabbit and my brother started calling me Bunny Dee. I was given the chance to go to art school and I jumped right in. It really wasn't until my final two years at school that I found my voice in art. That was after many trials and a huge heartbreak. From that came what is now the style of my art. My art speaks from my experiences, emotions, dreams and history. I'm a day dreamer at heart so most things come from that realm."

                                          

I love the colors, the fantastic dreamlike shapes and of course... the bunnies.

Check out her etsy shop "Bunny Dee": http://www.etsy.com/shop/bunnydee

Opening today

Another Thursday I won't be able to attend one of my my favorite NYC activities: Gallery hopping in Chelsea. This is what I am missing tonight:

Marco Pinter, Reflections and Object Permanence

"Marco Pinter explores the fusion of physical movement with visualizations in the virtual world. He finds inspiration in dance and sculpture, but also in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and mathematics.  His work frequently has two manifestations: one in performance; and the second as an installation, where the public can interactively experience the piece.  This process becomes cyclical, wherein Pinter can observe participants creating new ways of interacting with the installation, which can later be integrated into the evolving piece. "

AC Institute

547 West 27th Street, 6th floor
Chelsea
January 12 - February 4, 2012
Opening: Thursday, January 12, 6 - 8 PM

Ai Weiwei, Wang Xingwei, and Ding Yi: Persona 3

"First exhibited in Beijing in 2004, Persona 3 is an audacious experiment in which the three artists agreed temporarily to exchange artistic profiles in a demonstration of their mutual admiration for the Chinese art scholar Hans van Dijk who had died in 2002. "

Chambers Fine Art
522 West 19th Street, 212-414-1169
Chelsea
January 12 - February 25, 2012
Opening: Thursday, January 12, 6 - 8 PM

Spacepod II

"The Spacepod is a chamber that projects auditory architecture around a listener.  Using an omnidirectional array of speakers, it produces a sensation of auditory surfaces using ambisonic localization, psychoacoustic cues, and parametric mapping. Effectively, one finds oneself navigating by ear a world in which every surface is covered in sound-emitting pores."

Eyebeam
540 West 21st Street, 718.222.3982
Chelsea
January 12 - February 4, 2012
Opening: Thursday, January 12, 6 - 8 PM

Aa

Today is a good day. A giant pack of papers, pictures and letters was sent to the USCIS. Now all we can do is wait...

2012

I hope everyone had a great start in the new year.  Happy 2012!
I have the feeling this is going to be a good one...

Back home (?)

I am back in Germany to celebrate Christmas with my family and New Years with my friends. It feels nice to see all those familiar faces but I still get the feeling of being torn between two completely separate lifes...
The weather is also not that great so I can't go running as much as I want and probably should if I want to run that half marathon next year. Oh well, here's hoping there'll be some beautiful sunny winter days in my near future.

Supernatural Supermarket

A great project by german artist Uli Westphal that critizises food marketing and the illusion of perfection communicated to the consumer:

“The industrialization of agriculture has led to a general detachment of society from the processes of food production.
The supermarket is for many the only remaining intersection with the world of agriculture.
The supernatural-series is giving oversight on how the agricultural system is portrayed within the supermarket: Three dioramas that are made entirely from nature depictions found on food packaging of the largest German supermarket chains Netto, Lidl and Aldi.
By utilizing the same methods as in standard packaging design, the individual landscape elements, animals and plants are isolated, multiplied, mirrored and rearranged into endless, ever repeating, utopian sceneries. The resulting imagery stands in harsh contrast to the actual makeup and workings of our industrialized food system.”

Check out more of his work on his official website: http://uliwestphal.de/overview.html