Common Thread: Modern Embroidery of Victoria Villasana

The Royal Family is all the rage lately, and we recently came across some intriguing artwork of Queen Elizabeth… beautifully woven colorful thread over a simple black and white photo. Upon further investigation, we discovered a treasure trove of incredible works by Mexican textile artist Victoria Villasana. The unexpected can be powerful in art, and…

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CANLOVE: Upcycled Spray Paint Can Art

Love is in the air on this Valentine’s Day, but Los Angeles-based artists DJ Neff and Paul Ramirez promote a different kind of love. Started in 2011, this collaboration has blossomed into a full-fledged non-profit organization, CANLOVE, whose mission is to upcycle otherwise discarded or abandoned spray paint cans. Over the years, they have saved…

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Earthquake Lamp

The artist who brought us the Political Lamp (here) has another intriguing and unsettling creation: the Earthquake Lamp. Much like his work on the Political Lamp, French artist known only as ParseError explores art, design, technology, and science through this fascinating object. Linked to data from IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology), the Earthquake Lamp…

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Alt Disney by Tom Ward

Just as the title of this intriguing series (and cleverly named… “Alt Disney”) implies, UK artist/illustrator/designer Tom Ward brings some beloved Disney characters into an alternative view. Ward’s depictions are a bit askew, transporting familiar faces that have been with us for some 70 years into the present. We find it particularly interesting how the…

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Palette Knife Precision

For most artists, the palette knife is used for mixing paint, and in conjunction with brushes for applying paint. Tehran-based artist Salman Khoshroo eliminates brushes altogether. He applies thick layers of oil paint to his (massive) canvases with an arsenal of palette knives with such deliberate precision. Not only does Khoshroo have a deep visual…

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HI-RES

In his latest project, HI-RES, Madrid-based artist Rómulo Celdrán explores the convergence of digital art and fine art through sculpture. Celdrán’s analytical curiosity is especially intriguing for designers like us, who are constantly analyzing, consciously or subconsciously, the visual qualities of otherwise mundane objects all around us. These large-scale, visually arresting creations are really something.…

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Airportraits: Airplane Photography Like You’ve Never Seen

Architectural photographer and (self-described) “aviation dork” Mike Kelley has found a new and intriguing way to capture commercial airliners. If you’ve seen one YouTube video of airplanes taking off and landing (yes, that’s a thing… proof here, with over 2 MILLION views), you’ve seen them all. But Los Angeles-based Kelley documents these aircraft in a…

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Totally Screwed

We’ve featured California-based contemporary artist Andrew Myers before (here), but his awesome work deserves a revisit. Myers amalgamates sculpture and portraiture in some really intriguing ways. Whether intentional or not, on some level Myers’ work bears some resemblance (at least conceptually) to that of the great Chuck Close. Rather than splotchy “pixels” of paint, Myers’…

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Lego Masters

Legos and art have been crossing paths for years now (here and here and here). These colorful bricks that come in a vast spectrum of colors inspire not only young children, but also creative-thinking adults the world over. We are in awe of this brilliant ad campaign for Lego from a few years back, featuring highly…

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Whimsical Folk Art of Jaime Molina

Denver-based artist Jaime Molina has a very specific aesthetic. Clearly influenced by folk art, Molina’s work seems to be part of a larger narrative, complete with characters and such. We love it all, but are really taken with his 3D sculpture work, which has a whimsical, yet rustic feel. We particularly love how Molina uses…

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