Tag Archives: miniature

An Alphabet of Animals Carved from Crayons and Other Miniature Pencil Works by Diem Chau

An Alphabet of Animals Carved from Crayons and Other Miniature Pencil Works by Diem Chau sculpture pencils miniature crayons animals abecedarian
Armadillo, Boy, Cat, Dove, Elephant, Frog

An Alphabet of Animals Carved from Crayons and Other Miniature Pencil Works by Diem Chau sculpture pencils miniature crayons animals abecedarian
Girl, Handstand, Iguana, Jellyfish, Koala, Ladybug

An Alphabet of Animals Carved from Crayons and Other Miniature Pencil Works by Diem Chau sculpture pencils miniature crayons animals abecedarian
Manatee, Nautilus, Owl, Penguin, Quail, Rabbit, Seahorse

An Alphabet of Animals Carved from Crayons and Other Miniature Pencil Works by Diem Chau sculpture pencils miniature crayons animals abecedarian
Tiger, Urchin, Viper, Wolf, Xiphosura (Horseshoecrab), Yoga, Zebra

An Alphabet of Animals Carved from Crayons and Other Miniature Pencil Works by Diem Chau sculpture pencils miniature crayons animals abecedarian

An artist’s medium is as varied as imagination allows and you’ll find hundreds, maybe even thousands of them here on Colossal. But occasionally a medium itself is altered to create an artwork, as is the case with Seattle artist Diem Chau (previously here and here) who works within the narrow confines of graphite pencil leads and colored crayons to carve her delicate sculptures of animals and people. A native of Vietnam, Chau and her family came to America as refugees in 1986 and would later receive a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts after which she began exhibiting her works in New York, Miami, Seattle and Los Angeles.

Luckily we’ll finally get a glimpse of Chau’s miniature carvings here in Chicago at Packer Schopf Gallery opening this Friday. Almost everything you see here will be on view and the artist will be giving a talk at 1pm the following day on April 6th, 2013. See more of her new A-Z series on Flickr and on her blog.

Extraordinarily Tiny Paintings of Istanbul by Hasan Kale

Extraordinarily Tiny Paintings of Istanbul by Hasan Kale painting miniature Istanbul insects

It would appear no object is too small for artist Hasan Kale to utilize as a canvas for his miniature paintings. The Turkish artist makes use of everything from fruit seeds to the wings of taxidermied insects as a backdrop for depictions of his native Istanbul. See much more here, and watch the videos above to see him work… love how he uses his finger as a palette. (via bhakta)

By Christopher on April 1, 2013 • insects Istanbul miniature painting

A Raven and Elephant Carved from Graphite Pencil Tips by Diem Chau

A Raven and Elephant Carved from Graphite Pencil Tips by Diem Chau sculpture pencils miniature animals

Artist Diem Chau (previously) just posted these two wonderful sculptures of an elephant and raven carved from the tips of a carpenter pencils. Love the detail of the elephant’s shadow. You can see many more of Chau’s pencil and crayon carvings on her blog and on Flickr. (via super punch)

By Christopher on July 26, 2012 • animals miniature pencils sculpture

Big Appetites: Miniature People Living in a World of Giant Food by Christopher Boffoli

Big Appetites: Miniature People Living in a World of Giant Food by Christopher Boffoli miniature food

The miniature people inhabiting the fine art photographs of Christopher Boffoli live in a world of enormous food. A place where towering ice cream cones are turned into camping tents, where a field of peppercorns becomes a soccer match, and a savage crawfish threatens a group of men. The photos are as absurd as they are delightful. Based in Seattle, Boffoli says his work comments not only on our fascination with miniature things, but on “the American enthusiasm for excess, especially in the realm of food.” To view more of his photos you can simply scroll through his website, and to see them in person you can check out his Edible Worlds exhibition at Winston Wächter Fine Art in New York through August 24th. All images courtesy the artist.

By Christopher on July 26, 2012 • food miniature

Incredible Miniature Food Sculptures

Incredible Miniature Food Sculptures sculpture miniature food

Tel Aviv-based artist Shay Aaron constructs incredible miniaturized food sculptures at 1:12 scale that look almost completely edible. You can see hundreds more photos on Flickr and he also makes miniature food jewelry which is available over on Etsy. (via flavorwire)

By Christopher on April 15, 2012 • food miniature sculpture

Bonsai Tree Houses by Takanori Aiba

Bonsai Tree Houses by Takanori Aiba trees sculpture miniature architecture

For nearly a decade since the late 1970s artist Takanori Aiba worked as a maze illustrator for Japanese fashion magazine POPYE. The following decade he worked as an architect and finally in 2003 decided to merge the two crafts—the design of physical space and the drawing of labyrinths—into these incredibly detailed tiny worlds. Using craft paper, plastic, plaster, acrylic resin, paint and other materials Aiba constructs sprawling miniature communities that wrap around bonsai trees, lighthouses, and amongst the cliffs of nearly vertical islands. I would love to visit every single one of these places, if only I was 6 feet shorter. See more of Aiba’s work here. (via design you trust)

By Christopher on February 14, 2012 • architecture miniature sculpture trees

The Miniature LEGO Realism of Bruce Lowell

I am in awe of these fantastic LEGO sculptures by Bruce Lowell, who frequently models his miniature creations off actual household objects and foods. From a killer KitchenAid Tilt-Head Stand Mixer to simple paint roller everything you see is tiny LEGO bricks. I can’t imagine the amount of time it takes to determine if the needed pieces even exist, let alone putting them all together. Too much fun.

By Christopher on January 27, 2012 • Lego miniature sculpture

Fictional Landscapes

Fictional Landscapes sculpture paper miniature dioramas books

Colossal has seen its fair share of commendable book and paper work the last few weeks, but this was too good to pass up. UK-based artist Kyle Kirkpatrick constructs these wonderfully tiny dioramas using the topographies of carved books. Via the artist:

My practice is primarily concerned with the notion of the imagined landscape. I present man-made objects and natural materials simultaneously to form carefully and meticulously composed installation works. I capitalize on intrigue taking objects out of context reinventing their use, pushing the viewer to see beyond what I present before them, a glass could be interpreted as a lake or a metal bracket a cliff.

I don’t know about you but given the right disposable book (blasphemy!) I’d love to try making something like this. The first image and the vertical stack are photos by the artist, the rest are by Leo Reynolds and you can see even more work over on Saatchi Online. (via i want your lungs to stop working without me)