When my creativity hits a wall, I look for inspiration in the work of the artists I love. For years, every time I see something that grabs my attention online, I right-click on the image and "Save As" into an ever-growing folder titled INSPIRATION. Now, as a means of keeping all of our creative juices flowing, I will randomly select ten images from my folder every week and share them here with you. I encourage you to follow the links to see more of each artist's work - there is always much more inspiration to be discovered!
Photographs of twins printed on jigsaw puzzles and intermixed | 2017
^ Alma Haser ^
Path of sun burned into gelatin silver paper negative | 2013
^ Chris McCaw ^
Hand sewn archival ink jet print | 2013
^ Diane Meyer ^
Korean ink on Korean paper | 2014
^ Moonassi ^
Art direction, photograph
^ Andrew B. Myers ^
Paint on translucent fabric, wooden bed | 2014
^ Uttaporn Nimmalaikaew ^
Young tree carved out of older tree | 2012
^ Giuseppe Penone ^
For an article in L'Hebdo, Switzerland | 2016
^ Stephanie F. Scholz ^
Graphite on paper on aluminum | 1999
^ Serse ^
Concrete cast of staircase | 2001
^ Rachel Whiteread ^
To "Save" a file implies keeping it as you found it. To "Save As" is to change it, to re-make it, to find something new that wasn't there before. There is an important distinction between plagiarizing someone else's work, and using it to unlock something in your own mind. In this section I will use the above images to unlock my creativity and see what comes out.
Every week, I will challenge myself to fill an entire page of my sketchbook with stream-of-consciousness ideas inspired by the images above. I challenge you to do the same! Feel free to share your thoughts and sketches in the comments below. My sketches will be quick and messy, and mostly futile, but every once in a while I hope a new and exciting idea finds its way onto the page.
This week I was most inspired by Giuseppe Penone's sculpture The Hidden Life Within. This sculpture has stuck in my mind for years since I first came across Penone's work. Every time I see an old tree I think about the younger sapling that is still in there, hiding behind the many layers of growth. I tried to apply this concept to a new gazebo design. I was also inspired by Rachel Whiteread's Untitled (Stairs). I love the idea of taking a void and turning it into a solid. Not only does she reverse void and solid, she also rotates the staircase onto its side, a series of transformations which turn the mundane and familiar into a beautiful modern sculpture.
If there's an artist/architect/designer whose work you find particularly inspiring, feel free to share their work in the comments below for consideration in future posts. Please do not share your own work, only the work of people who inspire you. Thanks for reading this edition of Save/As! Please resteem to share this resource with your fellow creative Steemians.
#001 | #002 | #003 | #004 | #005 | #006
