Colossal | A blog about art and visual ingenuity.

The Fine Art of Barbie: Oil Paintings by Peihang Huang

Taipei-based painter Peihang Huang uses vibrant oil paints to create these dreamy, saccharine, and occasionally morbid portraits inspired by Barbie dolls. The paintings above are from two sets of work entitled Floral Funeral and
Mad World, and you can see much more of her work on Flickr. (via gaks)

Drawing with Fire

Drawing with Fire smoke portraits fire drawing

Artist Steven Spazuk began his career as many artists do, a gradual transition from sketching and drawing to watercolor and acrylic painting. In the 1980s he began using an airbrush and found himself fascinated by the smooth gradients created by the finely sprayed paint. Then, in 2001 an idea struck: what would happen if he exposed a canvas to fire and controlled the imprint of soot left on the surface? Spazuk has hardly left the medium since. Though he creates many smaller pieces that look like smokey gesture drawings, I really enjoy his wall-sized fragmentation paintings made from hundreds of smaller works, each the result of a canvas exposed to fire and then gently etched to reveal finers details. Watch the video above to see how he does it.

By Christopher on February 2, 2012 • drawing fire portraits smoke

Tree Leaves Made of Stitched and Knotted Human Hair

Tree Leaves Made of Stitched and Knotted Human Hair textiles leaves hair

Here’s one of the more unconventional use of materials you’ll ever see. Sculptor and installation artist Jenine Shereos creates these delicate, near weightless tree leaves by tying together individual strands of human hair. Via her website:

In this series, the intricacies of a leaf’s veining are recreated by wrapping, stitching, and knotting together strands of human hair. Inspired by the delicate and detailed venation of a leaf, I began stitching individual strands of hair by hand into a water- soluble backing material. At each point where one strand of hair intersected another, I stitched a tiny knot, so that when the backing was dissolved, the entire piece was able to hold its form. Creating this work was a very meditative process for me, as I found myself lost in the detail of the small, organic microcosms that began taking shape.

You can see much more of her sculptural and installation work in her portfolio. Photos above courtesy Robert Diamante.

This piece was submitted using Colossal’s new streamlined submission process. Know of an amazing art or design project? Get in touch.

By Christopher on February 1, 2012 • hair leaves textiles

Anatomical Cross-Sections Made with Quilled Paper by Lisa Nilsson

Anatomical Cross Sections Made with Quilled Paper by Lisa Nilsson quilling paper anatomy

For her Tissue Series, artist Lisa Nilsson constructs anatomical cross sections of the human body using rolled pieces of Japanese mulberry paper, a technique known as quilling or paper filigree. Each piece takes several weeks to assemble and begins with an actual photograph of a lateral or mid-sagittal cross section to which she begins pinning small rolls of paper. Depending on its function she rolls the paper on almost anything small and cylindrical including pins, needles, dowels, and drill bits (she even attempted using some of her husband’s 8mm film editing equipment but to no avail). Lastly she even builds the wooden boxes containing the cross-sections by hand. A graduate of RISD, Nilsson now lives and works in Massachusetts and you can learn more about her process in this pair of interviews on All Things Paper and ArtSake.

I want to thank both Lisa and photographer John Polak for providing the imagery late last night for this post. I can say with confidence that these pieces are among the most incredible artworks I’ve had the opportunity of sharing with you here on Colossal. (via laughing squid, and also thnx sarah!)

By Christopher on February 1, 2012 • anatomy paper quilling

Stunning Animal Portraits Drawn with a Bic Pen

Stunning Animal Portraits Drawn with a Bic Pen illustration drawing animals

Artist and photographer Sarah Esteje illustrates these wonderful portraits of animals using nothing more than a standard Bic pen. You can learn a bit more about the artist over on Beware and click through the drawings above to see some larger versions.

By Christopher on January 31, 2012 • animals drawing illustration

A Cathedral Made from 55,000 LED Lights

A Cathedral Made from 55,000 LED Lights light installation architecture

The Luminarie De Cagna is an imposing cathedral-like structure that was recently on display at the 2012 Light Festival in Ghent, Belgium. The festival was host to almost 30 exhibitions including plenty of 3D projection mapping, fields of luminous flowers, and a glowing phone booth aquarium, however with 55,000 LEDs and towering 28 meters high the Luminarie De Cagna seems to have stolen the show. ( via stijn coppens, sacha vanhecke, sector271)

By Christopher on January 31, 2012 • architecture installation light

Flying People in New York City

Flying People in New York City New York flight advertising

How fun is this? The marketing team behind the movie Chronicle built three RC planes in the shape of human beings and flew them around New York City to create the illusion of superheroes zooming around iconic landmarks. Say what you will about this being a viral marketing ploy, I would much rather watch this than a 60-second trailer on TV. Well done. And also, I want one. (via gizmodo)

By Christopher on January 30, 2012 • advertising flight New York

An Alaskan Electric Violinist Rocks the Streets of Spokane

An Alaskan Electric Violinist Rocks the Streets of Spokane violins video art

This is a fantastic clip of Anchorage-based violinist Bryson Andres playing his sampled and looped version of OneRepublic’s Secrets on the streets of Spokane, Washington. As somebody who played violin for close to nine years I’m in awe in what Andres has accomplished in just eight … I had difficulty keeping my instrument in tune, let alone, y’know, being able to produce things that sounded like music. (via the awesomer)