Levi van Levuw cultivates a sense of mystery and foreboding with his chiaroscuro charcoal drawings, which feature inanimate objects scattered in empty rooms that appear devoid of a human presence. Whether drawing palm trees, bookshelves, drawers, or stairs, Levuw's presentation of these items is highly stylized and architectural. He appears interested in studying their formal qualities and creating new patterns with objects his viewers would normally consider mundane.
Levi van Levuw cultivates a sense of mystery and foreboding with his chiaroscuro charcoal drawings, which feature inanimate objects scattered in empty rooms that appear devoid of a human presence. Whether drawing palm trees, bookshelves, drawers, or stairs, Levuw’s presentation of these items is highly stylized and architectural. He appears interested in studying their formal qualities and creating new patterns with objects his viewers would normally consider mundane.
On scraps on paper, the drawings of Turkish artist Razi Razavi seem to apparate in a ghostly manner, the artist’s sparse details having both uneasy and captivating effects. Each visage carries its own, private narrative, yet many stare directly into the viewer’s eyes. As you’lll see below, the artist’s practice also extends to painting, yet maintains similar qualities.
London art space Atomica Gallery is gearing up for the debut solo show of Australian artist and illustrator Nick Sheehy, opening June 12. Sheehy's new series of graphite and watercolor works on paper is dubbed "Metamorphosis," a reference not only to the yarn-like shapes that appear to represent a state of flux in his work, but to the transition between life and death and what lies in between. Skeleton characters are Sheehy's focus, though they take on a humorous and even personable appearance through the artist's caricature-like style. Skulls are exaggerated while the limbs remain an afterthought. Though Sheehy's line work is clean and sophisticated, the proportions of the characters add something childlike to the work. His skeletal beings appear to be experiencing a physical transformation. With fungus and plants springing from their eye sockets, they remind us that death is a part of life.
Jenna Andersen, an artist/illustrator based in Williamsburg, Va., creates immersive, hyperdetailed scenes, often with surreal overtones. The artist often injects only pops of color into her personal work, rendering natural backdrops in intricate linework, with her animal and human subjects as the pieces’ points of entry. In other works, these typically monochromatic settings are given lush, gouache hues.
Ozabu only uses pencil and graphite in her startling figurative works on paper, using elegant linework and subtle iconography in mysterious minimalist pieces. The Japanese artist is self-taught, and the artist’s long fascination with birds comes through in how figures are accompanied by and are overtaken by winged creatures.
