Alex Ingram

Being that Alex Ingram is a real good friend of mine, I have had the opportunity to work with him in the past. A numerous amount of his work circles around the use of people to demonstrate the use of contrast as well as other elements seen in modern photography. With regards to the amount of work he has done in order to get into graduate school, he has prepared himself diligently through out the years. One of his main goals were to produce a portfolio that is themed and has a certain focus encompassed in his work.

Words Art And Life

Online Artist #5-Marita Redondo

Marita Redondo's work focuses on the combination of fine art skills with digital art layouts. Her use of her painting skills, coupled with the use of excellent sense of spatial organization, has fostered a unique style that has seldom been seen in previous years of the art world. Her use of complimentary colors added to the overall wellness of the juxtaposition of the piece itself. A lot of her work is centered around nature in general. The way she depicts the world around her using the medium of art is quite extraordinary. The simplicity adds to the overall theme of her work, and that is to encompass the idea that less is more. As you see in the pictures above, the color in her work does not distract the audience from the main theme of the book. It is often the main emphasis that a numerous amount of artists overlook in their own work, that Redondo clearly makes as an integral part of her artwork.

Online Artist #4-Doug and Mike Starn

Doug and Mike Starn's work is very simple, yet profoundly groundbreaking in the sense that it captivates the common audience with simple aesthetics. In their exhibition, titled "Absorption+Transmission" is something that I have not seen in the past. The simple pictures of the branches of trees seen in some of their work exemplifies the element of contrast that is obviously an integral part of the piece itself. The simplicity seen in the pictures posted on their online gallery encompass a lot natural elements, and it seems like nature is a big inspiration for their work. In the Gravity of Life exhibit, they use the unlikely subject of light as the main inspiration to produce some of their work. It is this type of thinking that sets them apart from the rest in terms of using a combination of shadows and light to produce a different perception on how light can be used in the art world. A numerous amount of contemporary artists forget to establish the idea that truly makes them artists, and that is the unique, one of a kind element that sets them apart from the rest. I believe Doug and Mike Starn carry this element in their work and it truly showcases their talent as artists

Online Artist #3-Karen Hatzigeorgiou

Karen Hatzigeorgiou's work is incredible in the confines of fine art on an altered book piece. Her pages represent mini-masterpieces. A numerous amount of her design work and constant integration of different geometric designs and overlays equates to a collaboration of various elements, producing a work that is unique and incomparable to what is the international standard for an altered book design. Perhaps the best aspect of her work is the simplicity she tries to implement in her work. Its unique in the sense that the simpleness of her designs only add to the content she tries to provide. She also cuts a numerous amount of different material to make one complete work. She stays very consistent within the confines of her work and this is one element that is lacking in the art world.

I really admire her use of cutting up certain objects and placing them almost randomly on the book page. It goes along with the specific things I want to do with my book and I gain inspiration from some of her designs.

For a Look at Karen Hatzigeorgiou's work CLICK HERE

Online Artist #2-Jeanne Minnix

Jeanne Mix is a famous altered book artist that uses typography and beautiful imagery by means of using an abundant amount of mediums to compose her work. It is centered around the idea of combining two unlike elements to make one complete and whole piece. It is definitely a new and unique way to blend certain materials. She also uses a lot of color mixture along with the typography in a very random and almost by chance to create what looks like a grudge sort of style. She has done a lot of work by various companies, such as Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau, New Mexico Popejoy Hall, Sky City Casino, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Bank first and Suntrust Bank. Her work is focused around a lot of separation that is clear an evident. The messages in her work are clear and concise, and allows the viewer of her work to discern some of the underlying meanings in her work.

I can gain some inspiration from her work with regards to the incorporation of typography into the overall design of my book. Mix's use of the certain juxtapositions of some of her work only adds to the overall dynamics of her work. This element is something I definitely want to emulate but never duplicate.

Her work can be seen by CLICKING HERE

Famous Online Artist #1 Linda Zacks

Linda Zacks is a famous online artist who is also responsible for the development of numerous mainstream websites. She left her imprint in the electronic design world by developing web pages for companies such as Nickelodeon, Spike TV, Fila, eBay, and VH1. These websites were the first of their kind and many have imitated or replicated these very same designs that Linda Zacks originated herself during the website boom in years passed. Zacks was revolutionary in her attempt to collaborate both form and function through an electronic outlet. Her designs helped bring about a technical revolution, one that used electronic media as a means of communication aesthetically along with form and function. Therefore, combining a form of marketing that was visually appealing to her audience, all the while creating a new genre of art that was ready for mass consumption at the dawn of the new century.

With regards to her influence on some of the work I am doing is represented by the random placement of certain integral elements represented in the work. I believe in doing so, creating what some would presume to be a collage of random parts would actually make a new form of aesthetic.

For samples Linda Zacks Work Click Here

Artist Reflection: Katherine Westerhoust

Katherine's photos circulating around the idea of taking old, abandoned, and deteriorating buildings gives new insight on what society may define as beauty. To the average individual, if someone were to describe to them how an old broken down prison could transform into something so beautiful they would probably think you are insane. However, Katherine Westerhoust's work defines that in every way, shape or form. Her photos tell a different tale, one in depicting old rotten buildings as the new form of aesthetic. It is very revolutionary with regards to the altering of how civilization as a collective whole has defined what is aesthetically pleasing and what is not. It breaks down the boundaries that circumscribe what the "norm" should be and emphasizes that being original and uniquely different from the rest can bring forth major positives. 

Artist Reflection: Edward Burtynsky

Edward Burtynsky's work consisted of a montage of industrial waste depicting how biological and electrical waste has damaged the earth. He was mainly in China, photographing electronic waste that has developed over the years. Overtime, this waste has contaminated the waters surrounding the area. Therefore, the affected community has to have their water imported. Along with the pictures of industrial waste, Burtynsky also took pictures of used oil tankers that were being torn down. The pictures he took gives the audience the lonely and desolate look. Altogether, his pictures definitely exposed the fact that humanity is tearing this planet apart and if we do not do anything soon, then we will eventually destroy it. 

Poster #3- The world is yours

Art is for the Heart Poster #2

Money is the root of ALL evil: poster 1

Artist Book #1 thoughts and recollections

Initially, I did not have a premise or background on where I should start with this book. The idea of creating a book themed on the roll of art in my life and how it is an outlet for many people to express their inner most feelings that may be positive or negative came to mind. Since art for many people varies, I used the idea of producing a book with a montage of differing mediums, from collage to stencils to using paint itself, the overall ideology of the book comes from adding all of these different elements to combine as one cohesive whole. I used the thought of torn pages from a various amount of magazines as "paint" to disguise the front. I especially liked the picture of someone's mouth on the cover shouting as if to say this is my way to reveal suppressed feelings of art and how it can be seen by means of artistic expression. The contents of the book, in page by page form, reveals the different ways that art can be indeed for the heart, in a form of therapy, passion or just an overall past time for anyone to cherish.

Artist Book Picture Contents

artist Book Picture Contents

Artist Book Picture Contents

Artist Book Picture Back

Artist Book Picture Front

2-page spread 03/02/2010

Mark Bradford-Artist in Review

Mark Bradford is an artist residing in Los Angeles California that graduated from Cal-Arts. He does most of his work in the practice of collage work. What makes his work unique is the use of adding and subtracting certain materials to give his work a distinction from the orthodox perception of traditional collage work. An extensive use of calligraphy within his work creates a different outlook altogether. He gains his inspiration from previous writings provided by well known artists in the past. Amongst his use of collage, he also incoporates the use of random merchant posters which also gives a new perception of advertising in general, giving it true artistic value. His intentions were to implement the societal view of political views on race, politics, and religion by showing video clips of the Martin Luther King Jr. parade in Los Angeles and how it was overly patrolled by police officers versus the video clip of the Muslim-only market in Egypt. His work is often detailed, labor intensive because he feels as if it provokes hidden ideas. He also created a video of him playing basketball wearing an antebellum skirt to make it harder to make a basket, which was also a metaphor for the racial, political, and economical barriers that some individuals may have.

Graffiti Artists Barry McGee and Margaret Kilgallen

Both Barry McGee and Margaret Kilgallen were both graffiti artists that did their work on trains and other urban infrastructure. Graffiti art has always been perceived by the general public as a very unconventional and often unappealing form of art. It has never really been embraced by purists of the art world and is often ridiculed in the mainstream aspect of things. However, both McGee and Kilgallen were both commissioned artists that were very determined to practice this type of urban art. Both were influenced by folk art from traditional American to foreign types such as Indian folk art work. There tagging of trains and viewing of other work done by other individuals on trains were very influential and were perceived as a sort of timeline. Though they were graffiti artists, they were also gallery artists, and were thought of by the graffiti world as "sell-outs" to the underground scene.  

Linda Zacks-Artist In review January 27th 2010

Linda Zacks implements a numerous amount of grunge elements within her work. It seems like she likes the look of randomness and makes it possible for her work to gain aesthetic value from it. Her use of crazy colors only adds to the variety of her work which also makes it very interesting from a conceptual point of view. It makes one wonder whether an unconventional, an almost urban-style graffiti themed piece of work can be made into mainstream media, and apparently Linda Zack's work is an excellent source for an example. It almost seems like she is targeting the younger demographic but her work also carries great artistic weight. For instance, her design of eBay's 10th anniversary logo involves many connotative and denotative meanings that surely implement the common message  of opportunity, community, and global trade. In an essence, she is very quintessential in mainstream graphic design, and her blending of different elements to create a unique juxtaposition has given way to a new way graphic design can be taken commercially. 

1,000 Journals

The concept behind releasing 1,000 blank journals into the world by the graphic designer named someguy was truly groundbreaking in the sense that it gave the average person a voice to share their inner most thoughts. During 2000, someguy released the journals into the streets of San Francisco, not knowing what will happen to them. He derived the original premise from the idea of showcasing random bathroom graffiti which would be then implemented into the book itself. The whole plan took approximately two years to complete due to financial constraints. The content of the journals were of various sorts because someguy did not place a limit pertaining to the content represented in the making of the book itself. As a result, hundreds of individuals in over 35 countries wrote some kind of content into the blank journals. In an essence, releasing 1,000 blank journals connected everyone who wrote in them by means of the commonality shared by means of sharing their thoughts in the blank pages provided. Therefore, unifying individuals from all over the world with various backgrounds a voice to be heard via their personal journal entry.