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Ian Ingram’s Enigmatic Charcoal Drawings

New York-based artist Ian Ingram uses primarily charcoal and pastels to render rich self-portraits filled with details normally almost invisible to the human eye. Ingram focuses his energy on the copious details in the skin, rendering the texture of each pore and pockmark. He uses primarily dark tones for his work, allowing the skin's texture to glisten as if reflecting the sun's rays at its lowest point just before it sets. While some of the portraits focus on the poignancy of the facial expression, others include surreal details such as embroidered geometric patterns. By way of subtle cues, Ingram's drawings communicate the nuances of our emotions and imaginations.

New York-based artist Ian Ingram uses primarily charcoal and pastels to render rich self-portraits filled with details normally almost invisible to the human eye. Ingram focuses his energy on the copious details in the skin, rendering the texture of each pore and pockmark. He uses primarily dark tones for his work, allowing the skin’s texture to glisten as if reflecting the sun’s rays at its lowest point just before it sets. While some of the portraits focus on the poignancy of the facial expression, others include surreal details such as embroidered geometric patterns. By way of subtle cues, Ingram’s drawings communicate the nuances of our emotions and imaginations.

Topics

drawing, Ian Ingram, self-portrait

drawing, gold leaf, installation, Sarah A. Smith, sculpture

September 2, 2014

Sarah A. Smith has a particular set of drawings that merit notice for their expressive qualities. Her subject is the natural world. The compositions are dynamic and fluid, coiled in mid-strike. If you didn’t know they were drawings, you might think they were dioramas. Subject matter includes eagles and wolves, trees and shrubs. Sometimes there’s a drawing of an eagle, sometimes there’s one of a wolf. Sometimes the two are locked in combat though, as in Eagle Vs. Wolf, you can only see the wolf responding to the eagle overhead. The work is dynamic. The shapes are sharp and angular. They look like lightning bolts. If you could rub the head of the eagle or the wolf, you’d feel its coarse texture. Likewise with the bark of the trees: rub it and you’d get splinters. The scenes offer voyeuristic views of the natural world in its rawest element. It’s a perilous, zero sum world. Its narrow color palette suggests bleakness.

Alessandro Ripane’s Humorously Grotesque Illustrations

Alessandro Ripane, digital art, drawing, illustration

September 10, 2014

All that should look solid melts right off in the compositions of Alessandro Ripane. Many of his characters have a mass of dripping liquid with plants protruding in all directions in lieu of real faces. Other figures sprout plants from their limbs while their gleaming white bones peek through. Yet these morbid compositions manage to keep a whimsical twist; in some, giant pink ice cream cones drip heavily. Genoa-born Ripane remembers collecting comic books and volumes on wild animals, a habit that definitely informs his strange imagery. Each vignette gives the sensation that the viewer is walking in on the strange characters. A couple cuddling becomes a strange mass of plants, melting parts and mangled flesh. But not all is lost: Ripane makes sure to let one of the figures keep his socks and shoes on. Part Surrealism, part satire and all visceral, Ripane's works leave few parts intact but offer plenty of visual gems.

Hongmin Lee Mutates Pop Characters

drawing, Hongmin Lee, painting

July 23, 2018

Hongmin Lee's paintings and drawings carry notes of manga and other pop influences, yet mutate and distort those familiar forms into something more monstrous. At one time, the artist was an active member of art collective Goo For Brothers, yet has since developed his own fine art career with these bold creations. Lee was last featured on HiFructose.com here.

Exclusive Interview: Zaria Forman Discusses the Changing Tides

drawing, Landscape, pastel, Zaria Forman

October 16, 2014

Working from her Brooklyn, NY studio, artist Zaria Forman creates pastel landscapes inspired by the beauty and vastness of the sky and the sea. Hers is an art created for facilitating a deeper understanding of a world in crisis. She is fascinated by the constantly-changing nature of water and inspired by the challenges of her medium.

Ian Ingram’s Enigmatic Charcoal Drawings

Sarah A. Smith Pushes the Possibilities of Gold Leaf with Drawings and Installations

Alessandro Ripane’s Humorously Grotesque Illustrations

Hongmin Lee Mutates Pop Characters

Exclusive Interview: Zaria Forman Discusses the Changing Tides

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