Skip to main content

Remembering Amber

"We never truly get over a loss, but we can move forward and evolve from it."—Elizabeth Berrien

My good friend Amber was into visual arts. She died twenty years ago. If she was alive, she would be a huge fan of Kara Walker, Vanessa Teodoro and Allison Torneros. Men still dominate today's art scene, but a lot of female artists are forcing a change in the way the world sees women in art. In honor of Amber, I made a list of six works by six female contemporary artists (6 was Amber's favorite number) that we would buy if we had a lot of money, or steal if we intended a reenactment of The Thomas Crown Affair.


This trippy self portrait by Erina Matsui. Does she take psychedelics? I mean, look at her work. Born in Okayama, Erina often exaggerates and distorts her features. She sometimes becomes an enigmatic figure among planets and stars or a mythical being emerging from a cloud of shrooms.


This piece by Eugenia Alcaide. Ginny is an artist from the Philippines known for her layered silkscreens. Though created with thread, the lines look like intricate drawings with three-dimensional feel. Delicate but captivating.


The Discovery by Helena Hauss. The Parisian illustrator uses ballpoint pens to create large drawings with incredible detail. I really like the vivid and contrasted colors of her compositions, which depict teenage lust and other mischief.



Wedding by Zoey Frank. Artfully arranged and crafted, I could stare at this for hours. Born in Boulder, Colorado, Zoey completed four years of classical atelier training under Juliette Aristides at Gage Academy of Art in Seattle, and obtained an MFA in painting from Laguna College of Art and Design. She has received numerous awards and has exhibited in galleries across the United States and Europe.


This Darth Vader sculpture by Freya Jobbins. The Australian artist specializes in making dismembered toys into treasures, and this beautiful piece is constructed from hundreds of Barbie hands, ears and other doll trimmings.


Crowded by Lui Gonzales. Sometimes I like to see illustrations that interweave and overlap all over each other. But this is something different. Lui creates fascinating art pieces by drawing, layering and eventually tearing them. The result is a riotous, visual feast.

I miss you, Amber. You may be gone, but you'll never be forgotten.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Italy's True Movie Poster King

What you see here is the hand-crafted magic of Renato Casaro, the late Italian designer who practically defined an era of cinematic cool. His work wasn't just advertising; it was art. Casaro's journey into becoming one of the most recognizable poster artists wasn't by chance; it was a pure obsession. As a kid, he was fascinated by billboards, trying to mimic the styles of Norman Rockwell and Angelo Cesselon. Think of a teen so determined that he was drawing right onto the walls of a local cinema just to snag a few free tickets. Casaro created posters for a lot of Spaghetti Westerns. His big break came with A Fistful of Dollars in 1964. The movie starred Clint Eastwood and was directed by Sergio Leone. The poster didn’t just promote the film; it helped make it a global hit. Naturally, Leone came calling again, commissioning posters for My Name Is Nobody (1973) and the epic crime saga, Once Upon a Time in America (1984). A Casaro poster is easy to spot because of his uniqu...

The Adorable Sculptures of Yen Yen Lo

These images are from a series of wall sculptures created by Yen Yen Lo . Here you can see her intricately textured ceramic pieces, looking downright adorable. Yen Yen Lo's eye for the unique and whimsical is delightful. Apparently they are not intended for kids under 16. Fifteen-year-olds cannot be trusted with fragile stuff. Get them a Funko Pop instead.

The Art of Nicola Samori

Does Nicola Samori ever underwhelm? The Italian painter and sculptor caught my attention some two years ago, when I stumbled upon his work on Artsy . Samori creates dark, Baroque-inspired oil paintings by layering and fusing images on canvas, wood or other objects. His work stems from fear, and his process involves "skinning" his painted figures with a palette knife or thinner and painting over the surfaces multiple times to achieve deep-seated results. "Peeling off the faces make it possible for all the neglected parts of a representation to come to light and, as far as I am concerned, they all work even better without any kind of control," Samori explained in a  2012 interview . "I don't know what it is that gives a person their identity, it's such complex matter. I definitely don't think a portrait can eventually give it back because you can always perceive its author behind its eyes; well, maybe others' portraits (even their removal,...