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Art Illustration

Through Otherworldly Graphite-and-Ink, Juliet Schrekinger Advocates for Protecting Endangered Species

Photography has an impulse for preservation, of cloistering the fleeting and saving it for future recollection. Artist Juliet Schrekinger references this act of protection in her ink-and-graphite works that evoke the grainy qualities of black-and-white film through a distinctly surreal vision.

Throughout her childhood, Schrekinger witnessed her mother taking countless photos of family events and happenings that were then displayed. “I continually saw the greatest moments I shared with my loved ones framed in our home, colorless time capsules that I would turn to for years to come,” the artist says. “I began to feel a deep desire to recreate these sorts of time capsules in my work but wanted to incorporate scenes that did not occur in this world.”

Mimicking the lighting and tonal contrasts of her mother’s images, Schrekinger’s renderings fuse the anatomically accurate with the otherworldly. While many of her scenes are unearthly—a pangolin wraps its long, scaly tail around the torso of a fox, sea birds perch upon a squid’s sinuous arms, and a band of hares appears to float through the sky—the animals are depicted in exacting detail, and the likeness of their fur, feathers, and tentacles is the result of extensive research. “I have traveled up and down both the east and west coast of the U.S., taking my own reference photos of birds, aquatic life, ocean environments, trees, and so much more that all ends up being used as a starting point in my work,” she tells Colossal, noting that when it’s impossible to use her own images, she collates five to ten photos to create a specific form.

 

Most of the animals featured in Schrekinger’s work are endangered or vulnerable, and she’s concerned with environmental destruction, loss of habitat, and the threat many species face as the world warms and the climate changes. Pangolins, for example, are thought to be the most-trafficked non-human mammal, while the North Atlantic Right Whale is one of the most endangered species, with fewer than 350 left worldwide. “Above all else, I feel the most important aspect of what I do is raising awareness for endangered and vulnerable species,” she says. “I feel it is my duty to use my art to promote a consciousness in our society of the serious problems facing those who have no voice.” In recent years, she’s collaborated with numerous conservation organizations like the Pangeaseed and Surfrider foundations, to create works advocating for greater protection.

Schrekinger, whose studio is in Amityville, New York, is involved in several group exhibitions in the coming months, including Existential on view through May 21 at Antler Gallery in Portland and upcoming shows with Modern Eden Gallery, Stranger Factory Gallery, and Nucleus Portland. She’s also preparing for a solo exhibition opening in October at Arch Enemy Arts. You can find originals and prints on her site, and follow her latest works on Instagram. (via Beautiful Bizarre)

 

Art

Max Naylor’s Ethereal Landscapes in Ink and Oil Paint Defy Nature’s Rules

Working in vivid washes of ink and oil paint, artist Max Naylor renders impressionistic dreamscapes that emerge from nostalgic recollections and imagined spaces. Focusing on natural textures like gilled mushrooms scaling a tree trunk  or the soft ripples of water, Naylor creates what he calls a “parallel universe, a microcosm that is similar to our world but free from the shackles of reality.” The scenes often veer toward the unnatural, favoring otherworldly color palettes and unlikely lighting. “In these spaces, it can be night and day simultaneously,” he says. “You can stare up at the sky whilst noticing the plants flowering at your feet.”

The ethereal qualities of Naylor’s works echo his process, which involves letting the fluid materials dictate the contours of the compositions and allowing the landscapes to “well up from my subconscious and spill onto the surface…The works in ink are made quickly. At the same time, I’m working on larger oil paintings that take much longer. Working at these different tempos keeps things fresh and exciting for me, with the works in ink continually informing the works in oil.”

Based in Bristol, Naylor has a studio at Spike Island and currently teaches at London’s Royal Drawing School. You can find more of his landscapes on Instagram.

 

Art Illustration

Rain Szeto Renders Imaginative Scenarios in Intricately Detailed Ink and Watercolor Illustrations

In Rain Szeto’s intricately rendered fictional universe, people partake in work and pastimes surrounded by stacks of books, snacks, merchandise, and mementos. Her detailed illustrations (previously) portray the organized chaos of everyday activities in domestic spaces and in shops, cafes, and outdoor areas. Typically centered around a single character like a baker behind a counter or a figure carrying a pot of flowers, the scenes are filled with with quotidian objects, providing a lived-in feeling that brims with colorful energy.

Based in San Francisco, Szeto began working in comics during art school, which cemented her interest in narrative drawings. Specific details like the design of food packaging, an elaborate audio mixer setup, or pastries in a glass case suggest individual hobbies, jobs, and personalities distinctive enough that they could be mistaken for real places. Many of her recent pieces also feature feline friends that stride by confidently or curl up on cushions, including an orange tabby that could just as well be making the rounds to all of the inviting spaces.

Most of these works are on view through April 26 in Szeto’s solo exhibition Idle Moments Too at Giant Robot’s GR2 location in Los Angeles. Find more of her work on Instagram.

 

Animation Illustration

Virginia Mori Twists Everyday Anxieties into Dreamlike Illustrations

Through pen and ink renderings, Virginia Mori continues her elegant and surreal interpretations of the prosaic. The Italian illustrator and animator (previously) gravitates toward the everyday and turns moments of relative simplicity into strange otherworldly scenes. Plucking a book off of a shelf reveals a figure lurking behind the volumes, for example, while an enormous detached head plummets to the earth where a team awaits with a cushion for a safe landing. Often featuring minimal palettes of pastel colors, the introspective works meld relatable feelings of anxiety, hesitation, and fear with dreamlike inventions.

Currently, Mori has works on view in a group exhibition through May 7 at the Seoul Museum and is preparing for another opening in September at Jiro Miura Gallery in Tokyo. Shop prints of her illustrations at Librera di Fursaglia and stay-hop, which also sells t-shirts, cards, and her latest book Feeling Bed. You can follow her projects and collaborations on Instagram.

 

Art

In ‘Fragmented,’ Expansive Scenes Rendered in Ink by Robert Strati Emanate from Shattered Porcelain Plates

When an heirloom plate crashed to the floor, rather than trying to glue the pieces back together, Robert Strati had a more creative idea to preserve the spirit of the object. He arranged the shards on a two-dimensional surface, mimicking the way the pieces scattered when the plate fell, and began to render intricate ink drawings that extended from the original design. The chance occurrence spurred an ongoing series called Fragmented, which explores “the possibilities of things broken and the stories that can evolve from them,” he says.

Utilizing ink that matches the original, monochrome colors of antique plates, Strati continues lines and patterns into dreamlike scenarios. Brimming with figures, ships, and animals, bucolic landscapes expand into vast vistas and surreal scenes sprout from decorative edges.

See more of Strati’s work on his website and Instagram. (via Kottke)

 

Art Craft Documentary

A Book and New Documentary Explore the Possibilities of Ink-Making in Urban Environments

Jason Logan’s entry into ink-making started with a black walnut tree he encountered while biking through a local Toronto park. After gathering the fallen seeds and bringing them home, he boiled the green nuts until they produced a rich brown pigment. Now nearly ten years ago, this moment became the catalyst for what’s grown into an expansive network of projects exploring the possibilities of color and foraging in the most unlikely spaces.

Logan founded The Toronto Ink Company in 2014 and began to create pigments from materials gathered around the Canadian city, including the aforementioned black walnut but also street detritus like cigarette butts, soot, and rust. The idea was to create more environmentally conscious products and extend foraging into urban environments. “You start seeking out hopeful green spaces under a highway overpass or in a back alley,” Logan said in an interview. “A rusty nail becomes a possible ink or a penny with greenish oxidation on it.”

These discoveries led to Make Ink, his 2018 guidebook for scavenging with recipes and tips on creating pigments at home. Organized by color, the 192-page volume encompasses history and science and focuses on the alchemy behind his work. The book is also the predecessor to the artist’s latest project, a feature-length documentary that delves into his harvesting and production process.

Currently screening in Canada, The Colour of Ink follows Logan as he gathers organic and human-made substances and transforms them into usable goods. Featuring artists and writers like Margaret Atwood, Kōji Kakinuma, and Heidi Gustafson (previously), the film highlights the connection to the earth and emphasizes the lively qualities of the material. “The ink I make is unpredictable. It’s fugitive. It’s on the run,” Logan says in the trailer.” “What I’m hoping to do is draw people’s attention to minute differences.”

Pick up a copy of Make Ink on Bookshop, and follow Logan on Instagram for updates on additional documentary screenings, which are likely to happen in Tel Aviv, Hong Kong, and throughout the U.S. in the coming months.