Santiago Calatrava

While not entirely, but somewhat unrelated, the works of Santiago Calatrava have always amazed me. The Spanish architect began designing when he was just a teenager. Born in 1952, in Valencia, Spain, Calatrava had a passion for the arts and architecture for the beginning. What I love about his work is that he creates something so organic with materials that are so opposite of that. 

Quadracci Pavillion

Milwaukee Art Museum 

2001

Lyon-Satola Airport-Railway Station

Lyon, France

1994

Tenerife Concert Hall

Canary Islands, Spain

2003

I feel like Calatrava's work relates to my own sculpture in that he is taking these manmade objects to create something so fluid, beautiful and natural.

Traffic Light Tree

Traffic Light Tree

Pierre Vivant

London Docklands- Canary Wharf

8 meters tall

1998

"The sculpture imitates the natural landscape of the adjacent London Plane Trees, while the changing pattern of the lights reveals and reflects the never ending rhythm of the surrounding domestic, financial and commercial activities."- Vivant

When I saw the Traffic Light Tree I was immediately intrigued. The idea of taking something so ordinary and transforming it into a new language was really interesting. Something so industrial, like a traffic light creates such a bold statement when translating it into something so organic as a tree. The mimicking shape of the surrounding trees in the area makes you want to see its natural qualities, as little as they are.

This piece relates to my own piece in the sense that the artist is taking something completely out of the natural world and working to form it into it's own organic shape, given it's surroundings. 

The lights on the traffic tree also add to that idea in that they are constantly changing, just as the world around them changes, and the trees with leaves and time.

"There's nothing like a tree"- G.W. Sanders

After traveling to Asheville this weekend, (only to get the flu), I explored downtown and went in and out of the many galleries. One of the galleries that I went into I came across an artist named Gerald Wayne Sanders who works with wire, creating trees and other organic items that otherwise would be out of their element in this material. I really liked this idea, because it streamed so closely with my own idea of taking something that is very manmade and unnatural and breathing life into it.

Gold Weeping Willow

Wire

G.W. Sanders

(no specified date) 

"There's nothing like a tree. An inspiration for all seasons, it is especially enchanting in winter, when, stripped down to majestic bareness, it stands a mighty, beautiful reminder of nature's ever-changing face. When leaves and sap and snow and temperatures all have fallen, the tree's form and color rise toward skies brilliant blue or hunkered-down gray. They are the bones of the landscape, outlining the natural world in strokes as simple and elegant as a few well-spaced lines in a fine ink drawing. At the same time, those bones and what they say can be complicated and distinctly personal. Everyone in their life has experienced a close relationship to a tree, whether they played in a tire swing, or planted a tree in remembrance of a loved one. Stand in the bright, angular light of a winter day, and look at a colony of black oaks spread across a field of winter white. You cannot but feel a surge of awe that only could come from the electrifying power of trees."- G.W. Sanders

Joanne Macko

Joanne Macko

Orange Portal

20"x 24"

Acrylic on canvas

These paintings are done by an artist name Joanne Macko, a friend of my mothers. Joanne is an internationally known artist, spiritual coach, and author. However, her real passion is to share her art in attempts to help others realize their own true gifts and meaning and purpose of life. I feel that these works connect into our discussion of translation in that they act as portals, engulfing us in the layers and light. 

Portals act as a way to see into the unseen world and as mirrors gazing back at us.

Translations are in a sense the unveiling of something that has gone through a transformation, just as portals offer the viewer a new view into themselves, which ultimately leads to a transformation in self. 

Erwin Olaf

My single favorite photographer in the entire world is a man by the name of Erwin Olaf. His art consists of many layers, literately and physically. His use of color and connecting to the audience is incredible. Each photo is specifically designed with a color palette in mind and all of the elements work together to create this bigger picture.

The Milkmaid

Oil on canvas

1658

17" x 16"

The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Johannes Vermeer

1632 to 1675

Dutch

I found this artist online after searching for artists who use color to communicate,

Composition 8
Painting- oil on canvas
July 1923
55 X 79
Guggenheim

Wassily Kandinsky
1866 to 1944
Russian