BIG BANG BIG BOOM - the new wall-painted animation by BLU

I am in complete awe of this artist's work. This is his most recent animated graffiti. Get ready to have your mind blown.

Feeling like a Matador

Matador newspaper cut-out

Did this newspaper cut-out today. Been pondering about this one for a while... Thinking of a dear friend in Spain... Warring felines (one black, one white - symbolic much?) currently dividing my apartment... Fighting and thinking... Entertaining and winning. Harnessing thoughts with dramatic flare. 

A Work in Progress...

Untitled (Barcelona Horizon), hand-cut paper, 9 layers, 25 x 19 inches, 2012

This has been my most ambitious piece yet, as it has 9 layers, but I don't feel that it is quite resolved. I tried to stay true to the colours from the photograph that I took while in Barcelona, but I feel that the beige parts aren't that effective. I need to experiment with this piece a bit more, perhaps with more shades of blue?

As I try to push myself by adding more layers and tones, I find it more difficult to incorporate finer details... maybe I should take a step back?

Outside Forbidden City

Outside Forbidden City, hand-cut paper, 3 layers, 25x19 inches, 2009

This was exhibited in a group show at LE Gallery in 2009. It was sold from the show to the Canadian Counselling Association.

This piece was based on a photograph that I took of police cadets in training outside of the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Waiting for another Eureka!

Good-bye, hand-cut paper, 3 layers, 20x16 inches, 2007

I'm stuck at home on a lovely Sunday afternoon playing mediator between my cat and my parents' cat. Not going so well... Anywho, back to art... so, as I am trapped here to make sure no eyes are lost and no urine puddles will corrupt my apartment, I shall update my blog with work which I've been meaning to post. 

This was the first piece in which I created in this layered cut-out style. I took this photograph when I lived in London, England in 2000. I did a photo series documenting my time there, and I re-evaluated the photographs years later, pondering ways to bring the images to life in a different way. This cut-out hangs on a wall in my studio and I am reminded of that Eureka! moment every time I look at it. 

Volcano 1

Volcano 1, hand-cut paper, 5 layers, 19 x 13 inches, 2011

I never did post the full image of the piece in the header, did I? Here it is. I was only reminded of that fact since selling it on Monday. Sad to see it go, but happy that it's going to a fine home.

Fingerprint Variations, The Beaver, July 2011

Blindfold, hand-cut paper, 2 layers, diptych, 38x25 inches, 2008

Beatings, hand-cut paper, 2 layers, triptych, 40x19 inches, 2008

Les Messieurs du Port-Au-Prince, hand-cut paper, 2 layers,  25x19 inches, 2008

These are older works that show my progression with cutting technique. I was working with decorative papers at the time, but then found that I was unable to get too detailed on patterned papers, as the incisions would become lost in the designs. I moved onto gray paper, as my subject matter remained political and I wanted to suggest the look of a newspaper. 

These three pieces are all based on photographs I found in newspapers or in news magazines. The paper is cut in such a manner so that the image emanates from a central swirl. This was intended to implicate the look and the concepts that surround a fingerprint. "Beatings" is an image of an anti-government protester in Rawalpindi, Pakistan being beaten by police. Such images are rarely shown in their local press. "Blindfold" shows 3 blindfolded men who are about to be executed in Karaj, Iran. "Les Messieurs du Port-au-Prince" is an image of UN peacekeepers crossing a flooded river in Haiti. The title makes reference to Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon," and connects the brothel scene in Picasso's piece to rape accusations that have been associated with UN peacekeepers. (This piece was also exhibited at Gallery 44's Photorama in 2008)