Niharika Hukku

September 8, 2017 12:03 AM \

These incredibly delicate paintings on paper and porcelain are the work of Sydney-based artist Niharika Hukku. Her love of nature is apparent in her amazing work creating natural scenes that range from fluffy white clouds to schools of swimming fish. She tells us a bit about herself on an interview on Lost at E Minor:

“I have a degree in fine arts specialising in painting. I fell into a career in illustration very early on and continued to work for over a decade before I shifted my focus to ceramics. Though I enjoyed my job as a commercial artist, I felt the need to do something personal and organic and also wanted to spend more time with clay.”

“My most treasured experience would be my first time on a potter’s wheel. It was exciting and I was impatient to make tall beautiful forms immediately. I still have the first piece I threw on the wheel. While it was small and imperfect, I think it beautiful for it reminds me of all the hope I had for myself in learning something new.”

You can find the artist on her website, Facebook and Instagram.

Images: Courtesy of Niharika Hukku.

Posted in: Ceramics, Illustration \ Tagged: , , , ,

Kasia Jacquot

September 6, 2017 12:03 AM \

Polish born Kasia Jacquot is a Sydney-based textile artist and surface pattern designer. She is known for her embroidery work often mixing embroidery and silk screen printing in her designs. The artist is greatly influenced by traditional Polish and Eastern European folk arts and folk costumes. She gives us an insight into her work on an interview with Dragonfly Toys:

“My designs nearly always begin with some kind of flower. A center and several petals coming off in different directions. I am always pulled towards symmetry so whatever I draw on the left will be repeated on the right. Constant repetition of leaves, flowers, stems, swirly lines and circles. This kind of drawing is very meditative for me and what I find as I draw is that my eye moves between the detail and the overall design and I am always pulled to the place on the page where balance is required. So I guess for me it is about achieving visual balance through the use of floral patterns. I am also greatly inspired by construction, I studied architecture and briefly worked as a draftsperson. The aspect of order and symmetry, and objects belonging in certain places is part of my process.”

“In Poland paper cutting is everywhere. We used to do it as kids and it featured heavily in common folk art, such as a wall decoration in someone’s home. During religious festivals paper cutting was also used to decorate walls of homes or to make decorations for Christmas trees. It’s been part of my life since I can remember and I really enjoy the quietness of the process and also the joyful surprise I get when I open the folded up and cut up paper to reveal a beautiful design full of (of course) symmetry!”

You can view more of her work on her website, Facebook and Instagram.

Images: Courtesy of Kasia Jacquot.

Posted in: Drawings, Embroidery, Folk Art \ Tagged: ,

Jonas Wood

September 1, 2017 12:03 AM \

Admiring the bold graphic paintings of Los Angeles-based artist, Jonas Wood. Wood cites as his inspiration artists from David Hockney to Alex Katz and Lucien Freud. While distinctly contemporary, Wood pays direct homage to artists from Matisse to Picasso in his compositions. On an interview with UCLA blog Hammer he shares some insights into his work:

“I first started painting plants after grad school as a means to paint from life. When I moved to LA I was really taken with the plant life (succulents mostly) and started painting plants more and more.”

“I make paintings from drawings. I make collages and make paintings and drawings from them. Making studies gives me a blue print for how I want to make a painting. With these new plants, most were made from drawings. I made hundreds of drawings of these new plants. In those drawings I was working out the kinks and trying to locate what felt right. I made some paintings of these new plants that were terrible. I cut them up and glued pieces to new canvases and made new configurations. Then I made paintings of these collages. “

“Color is something that I am really into. I guess everyone is into color in some way. Color is a balancing act. I see these new plant paintings as just an exercise in shape and color balance. Using local color is just a tool like perspective. You can see it and maybe you can use it to your advantage in some way, but it actually is pretty boring. When color challenges you, and tells you a plant is blue not green, then maybe color can ask you new questions about what you are seeing.”

You can view more of his work on Google images, David Kordansky Gallery and Anton Kern Gallery.

Images: Courtesy of Jonas Wood.

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Posted in: Crochet \ Tagged:
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