Martin C. Herbst's “Spheres” are transforming, painted faces on stainless steel spheres, seemingly shifting expressions as viewers move the pieces or their perspectives. The artist was inspired by Parmigianino’s 1500s painting “Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror," known for its distorted effect. Herbst was last mentioned on HiFructose.com here.
Vienna, Austria based artist Martin C. Herbst embraces distortion in his paintings, spanning from flat, wavy, and convex surfaces to the rounded shapes of stainless steel spheres. In his ongoing series on folded aluminum, Herbst presents classical portraiture in a new and unconventional way. This body of work is in part inspired by Mannerism, specifically the work of Mannerist painter Parmigianino, whose style emphasized elongated proportions and highly stylized poses with no clear perspective.