Gothic Art in Spotlight: sculptor Heli Ryhänen

I know I said I'd present a gloomy artist next time and this might not be that gloomy but I wanted to show you a Finnish artist called Heli Ryhänen because I recently stumbled to a website of an art gallery and was disappointed to notice that her exhibition had ended only few weeks ago. I started to google Ryhänen and found out she has marvelous public works, which might not be that gothic but are a bit disturbing, really funny and witty. The links are to the artists homepage which is in English too.

Ryhänen uses many materials to make her sculptors, including light, which I think is often overlooked. I love it when the artist has completed the statue, installation etc. with light and at the same time with shadows, that make the atmosphere different and sometimes alienated of the rest of the exhibition room.

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What I like about this installation is the atmosphere, which is instantly transformed with the name of the work; "Evil Shepherd". Something maleficent is lurking in the face of the big person on the camp fire. I love how the faces of these creatures are so detailed but the feet are turning into almost sketches. They are not as finished and I think that makes the installation even creepier, as if the Evil Shepherd is luring others to dissolve their humanity and their feet are already gone.

Ryhänen uses fabric as a material for the sculptures, which distinguishes her from many other artists. She was recently nominated as the Artist of the Year at the he exhibition I missed. That exhibition was called 'Species of People' and I sure would have loved to see this beauty in real life:

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The name of this work is 'Reviiri' which means territory or personal space. In Finnish this word usually refers to animals and their territories and living areas but it is used of humans too. It highlights that delightful idea of a contrast between human and animal, since this flying creature is something between those two. I love how her legs are cute and puffy but her face is Yoda-like old and slightly mean-looking or just sour.

Thanks for reading and once again, back in two weeks with another Gothic Art in Spotlight!

CorpGoth's Mid-Month Status Report: Work space

It is the middle of the month so Trystan From This Is CorpGoth has asked people to show how they goth up their work place, cubicle or other. Unfortunately my 'work place' is in my home because I am studying and you can't really go and decorate a computer in the university's computer class or anything. So I do not have that need to decorate and make myself and my personality visible at some other place like in the office. My personal stuff is all around me every second. :)

This framed postcard used to be at the work table, now it's next to bed.

I still wanted to participate with my status report. My work area is actually not that goth-y because I am terribly untidy when I am studying and there is no room. Everywhere lay books and old coffee cups and since I do not have an area to put my make up stuff, they are also crowding on the table! Still here is a small sneak a peek of the gothier things.

Above you can see my old jewelery box and on top of that is the old march hare whose skull I cleaned a year and a bit ago.

Le Fanu's famous horror stories. I have not yet started to read them but I am planning to start them today. Underneath are some dictionaries and other stuff.

Here you can see how after the 'work area' there is just bunch of stuff. The Asian ladies are my small travel make up bag I got from my mother. Behind them peeks a coffee cup from the morning.

Thanks for reading and do check Trystan's and other participants' posts too!

Gothic Art in Spotlight: Jean-Michel Fauquet

Once again this post is about to begin with the words 'when I was in Paris', since it is vital for the post. I went there to Maison européenne de la photographie, where there were works of several artists on display. One of them almost took my breath away.

This exhibition has unfortunately ended, but in the bottom floor were the works of Jean-Michel Fauquet. I am not trying to undermine photography as art when I say that those works of art were not just photographs. It was clear the artist had used other things too, other techniques and other instruments to make those works of art. All information about the pieces were in French and unfortunately my vocabulary is not that grand when it comes to a specific field of methods of making art. Of coarse I could have googled all words but honestly, I was too busy just admiring those photos / paintings / installations.

Fauquet has used many different techniques to make his art works the way they are. Many of the works resemble more an oil painting than a photo. I fell in love with the eerie atmosphere of the exhibition and the paintings / photos. I think these works of art are gloomy, bleak, sad and extraordinarily beautiful. I especially adored this grand collage.

I found some information at the web page of Gallerie VU' about Fauquet and his works and photos of some photo-paintings I had not seen at the exhibition. Those were really interesting works and the analyze of Fauquet's works and their style is spot on why I consider them rather gothic.

Back in two weeks with another gloomy artist!