Though undetectable from afar, Bryan Valenzuela‘s drawn forms are actually crafted from thousands of small letters and words. These collections of words are a script tailored to each work, whether on the page or adorning a public wall. The artist also works in textiles, acrylic paint, and collage into his practice.
“Building images with the written word is my primary visual focus,” the artist says. “Paragraphs, sentences, phrases, and fragments are all the foundations of my work, acting as both form and content. As form, the text delineates figures and subjects layer upon layer as shading. Words varying in size and density from the minuscule and virtually unreadable, to large and bold are used in a manner similar to crosshatching. They carve out shadow and light with pen, ink, or acrylic marker in a handwritten drawing technique. As content, the language provides a sense of the inherent information and associations, metaphors and meanings embedded in everyday existence.”
See more of the artist’s work below.
Dasha Pliska's pencil drawings carry drama and ghostly grace. The Ukraine illustrator works primarily in monochromatic modes, elegantly moving between skin tones and billowing forms moving across the page. And recent personal projects, such as "repletion," show the artist's knack for utilizing negative space.
The solitary figurative sculptures of Frode Bolhuis are untethered to any one specific culture or frame of mind, existing at the convergence of generations and experiences. His use of textiles brings a more visceral connections to each of the subjects, and the vibrancy within each extends past the artist’s chosen hues.
