Talia Greene

Greene is another artist that incorporates insects into her work.  She is a mixed media artist that uses photography, digital printing, drawing, and sewing.  I am drawn to her work because she uses her work to draw attention to various tensions such as nature vs man's need to control it.

Here is a link to Halsey Institute which gives a brief bio about the artist and it shows several of her works:

http://halsey.cofc.edu/exhibitions/single_artist/talia-greene/



I like how she combines contrasting materials and creates cohesive pieces.  Additionally, I like ho weird her work is.  In the works above she used dead ants for each gentleman's hairdo.

Gregor Gaida

Gregor Gaida is a polish artist that creates sculptures made from wood, aluminum, cement, and resin.  The Yatzer article describes the basis of his work comes from photographs he finds in magazines, books, and other media.  "The focus of his interest lies on composition and the protagonists’ pose in the images, as well as the openness in interpreting their actions. A special meaning lies in the gesture that indicates cultural, social or political discrepancies. Thus isolated, the images’ original message collapses and turns into a different, or many different, possibilities of association. The found footage is often no more than an impulse that is no longer discernible in the further development of the shape. In the end, the result remains a translation of reality, equivalent to his inner point of view."

The work in this particular article shows Gaida's interest in the figure paired with the narrative.  In comparison my work, though I haven't ventured into making anatomically correct figures, I enjoy the skill it takes.  Within my own work my monsters are distorted emotional bodies.  I use elements such as fingers and toes, recognizable parts but I combine them with animal characteristics.  For instance on his website, selected works from 2011 and 2014 such as the Polygonal Horse, as seen below, I register with that aesthetic, taking recognizable forms and abstracting or changing the form visually and aesthetically.

http://www.yatzer.com/The-wooden-tales-of-Gregor-Gaida
http://www.gregor-gaida.de/index.php?page=start

 Gregor Gaida 2008
200 x 180 x 195 cm
polyester resin, wood
prayed lacquer, iron

Rafael Gomezbarros

I found this article which describes the work of Rafael Gomezbarros.  In the Saatchi Gallery 50 of his 20 inch ant sculptures engulf the gallery.  They are made of resin, fiberglass, and human skull casts.  The article states that the exhibit "depicts the plight of immigrant workers across the world."  In another article, in The City Paper goes on further to explain that "Gómezbarros uses ants to explore the negative issues that affect Colombia, such as displacement and migration.  As insects that are constantly on the move, “ants live displacement,” he says. It is unclear whether the ants are the invaders or the invaded, another “dual” aspect that appeals to the artist."

I like the idea of creating a swarm of creatures that engulf a space.  To me his metaphor makes sense.  For my work, my monsters, creatures, or as Lisa calls the, "bugs" symbolize my thoughts and how they invade every part of my mind, magnifying my personal problems. 

http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/21/5922231/the-saatchi-gallery-ants

http://thecitypaperbogota.com/culture/the-artist-and-the-ants/

Swarms, Flocks & Herds: Installations by Kristi Malakoff

I found this artist while researching installations  Similar to Claire Morgan, I enjoy her use of multiples, it creates presence without creating one large piece.  Unlike Claire, Malakoff doesn't use taxidermy animals, instead she replicates the silhouettes or visual references on paper, cardboard, etc.

I find her work fun with a hint of kitsch especially with the vibrant butterflies.

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/03/swarms-flocks-herds-installations-by-kristi-malakoff/

Claire Morgan- Froze Moments: Freaky, Funky Eco Art Installations

Along with researching the grotesqueand monsters, I have also been exploring installation work.  One artist that I found is Claire Morgan.  Morgan creates freeze frames that evoke life and death.  This is due to her materials, taxidermy animals and insects and decaying natural materials such as flowers and leaves.  Various animals are entwined in a geometric framework, engulfing a separate species.  The imagery is mesmerizing.  Her work shows how beautiful and fleeting the natural world is.  Maybe she is pointing out to the viewer that we should enjoy it.

I like her work because I enjoy the visual strength of numbers, something I want to explore in my work.  I feel that a large number of my monsters will help me get my concept across to the audience.

http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2010/02/06/frozen-moments-freaky-funky-eco-art-installations/

Jason Briggs

Jason Brigs is a ceramic artist that creates strange visceral objects made from altered, thrown porcelain, a traditional and highly revered clay body.  On his website he describes his works as objects that stir the desire to touch.  He tries to create things that have never existed before, drawing visual references from the human form, and sexuality while abstracted the form and creating something new, foreign, and forbidden yet tactile and attractive.

I love his work, the way he has change the traditional sense of porcelain creating strange creature-esque forms.  His work gave me the idea of introducing hair, human hair into my work.  This addition makes his work appear to be actual flesh and kind of gross, because it sort of looks like pubic hair.

Here are some examples of his work and a link to his website:"Pearl"   Porcelain, hair, nail polish. 12 x 8 x 7   (Base: satin.)  2011.
http://jasonbriggs.com/

 
"Pearl" Porcelain, hair, nail polish. 12 x 8 x 7   (Base: satin.)  2011.


"Angel"   Porcelain, hair, steel. 15 x 11 x 9   (Base: silk, panties.)  2011.

Andrea Hasler: A continuing exploration...

I decided to further explore Hasler's work.  I found her website where she has various documentation of installations that she does.  Her artist statement states:

"My work offers models of relational aesthetics that are undesirable at first glance in terms of the ideal tie between desire and the social sphere. It speaks of nature, which references existentialist moments within the repetitive scenario between power and struggle, consumed and consumer, subject and object, action and reaction in popular culture."

I enjoy Hasler's work because she questions boundaries and standards we live by.  I have come to realize that like Hasler's my work is about the emotional body, inspired by tumultuous thoughts that have escaped outside myself.  Looking through her work, it is obvious that she is able to talk about her work, while I am still trying to find my footing.

Below is a link to her personal website, enjoy!

http://www.andreahasler.com/

Here is an example of one of her works:



'full-fat or semi-skinned?' Installation shown at Next Level Projects/London 2010