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Illusions of Life Painting has always been used to mimic our surroundings. Whether it was used be Ancient civilizations on wall frescoes, or whether it hung in the grand palaces of Renaissance nobles, natural motifs such as plants and wildlife were studied in order to paint the most lifelike rendition. Now, art is freer, with many movements happening at once. Realism seems to have been pushed back, with artists now focusing on the expression of their work, and how it stirs emotions. This is why artists, who focus on realism in their art, are finding new ways of making it relevant to today’s tastes. Artists Riusuke Fukahori and Keng Lye use layers of resin to bring their aquatic creatures to life, in a visually stunning display of three-dimensional optical illusions. Instead of using a flat canvas, painting on water, and then the creatures, these artists pour resin into jars, bowls or boxes, and paint their fish and turtles, one layer at a time, with more resin poured in between each coat of paint. The process is like that of a 3-D printer, a new technology that many artists are using in their contemporary works. Through the mimicking of this new art process, their realist style of art is able to join the ranks of contemporary artists.-Anna Paluch

Illusions of Life

Painting has always been used to mimic our surroundings. Whether it was used be Ancient civilizations on wall frescoes, or whether it hung in the grand palaces of Renaissance nobles, natural motifs such as plants and wildlife were studied in order to paint the most lifelike rendition.

Now, art is freer, with many movements happening at once. Realism seems to have been pushed back, with artists now focusing on the expression of their work, and how it stirs emotions. This is why artists, who focus on realism in their art, are finding new ways of making it relevant to today’s tastes. Artists Riusuke Fukahori and Keng Lye use layers of resin to bring their aquatic creatures to life, in a visually stunning display of three-dimensional optical illusions. Instead of using a flat canvas, painting on water, and then the creatures, these artists pour resin into jars, bowls or boxes, and paint their fish and turtles, one layer at a time, with more resin poured in between each coat of paint. The process is like that of a 3-D printer, a new technology that many artists are using in their contemporary works.

Through the mimicking of this new art process, their realist style of art is able to join the ranks of contemporary artists.

-Anna Paluch

(Source: artandsciencejournal.com)

painting nature art resin art and science art and science journal science riusuke fukahori ken lye anna paluch
Paper Reefs Some artists use materials related to the subjects they paint when creating art pieces, but artist Amy Eisenfeld Genser doesn’t pick up found object at her local beach when she creates her reef pieces. She takes pieces of coloured paper, rolls them up, and positions them in a way that the final outcome looks like a natural formation of barnacles or sea sponge. Her pieces are visually mesmerizing, with a hint of something magical! It is like entering into a new world when you look at her work. The mosaic of shapes and colours created by the rolled paper, juxtaposed onto an already painted canvas, stimulates the senses. The artist herself claims her work is both irregular and ordered, using texture to mimic natural motifs. It is amazing how paper, a material traditionally made from trees, can be manipulated to recreate the basic structures of a reef, which to some, may be considered a tree of the sea. Nature once again creates a connection within itself through art practices. -Anna Paluch
Paper Reefs Some artists use materials related to the subjects they paint when creating art pieces, but artist Amy Eisenfeld Genser doesn’t pick up found object at her local beach when she creates her reef pieces. She takes pieces of coloured paper, rolls them up, and positions them in a way that the final outcome looks like a natural formation of barnacles or sea sponge. Her pieces are visually mesmerizing, with a hint of something magical! It is like entering into a new world when you look at her work. The mosaic of shapes and colours created by the rolled paper, juxtaposed onto an already painted canvas, stimulates the senses. The artist herself claims her work is both irregular and ordered, using texture to mimic natural motifs. It is amazing how paper, a material traditionally made from trees, can be manipulated to recreate the basic structures of a reef, which to some, may be considered a tree of the sea. Nature once again creates a connection within itself through art practices. -Anna Paluch

Paper Reefs

Some artists use materials related to the subjects they paint when creating art pieces, but artist Amy Eisenfeld Genser doesn’t pick up found object at her local beach when she creates her reef pieces. She takes pieces of coloured paper, rolls them up, and positions them in a way that the final outcome looks like a natural formation of barnacles or sea sponge.

Her pieces are visually mesmerizing, with a hint of something magical! It is like entering into a new world when you look at her work. The mosaic of shapes and colours created by the rolled paper, juxtaposed onto an already painted canvas, stimulates the senses. The artist herself claims her work is both irregular and ordered, using texture to mimic natural motifs.

It is amazing how paper, a material traditionally made from trees, can be manipulated to recreate the basic structures of a reef, which to some, may be considered a tree of the sea. Nature once again creates a connection within itself through art practices.

-Anna Paluch

(Source: artandsciencejournal.com)

2 Photos
/ Amy Eisenfeld Genser reefs coral reef quilling paper nature art science art and science journal painting mixed media
Amy Schissel Ottawa area artist Amy Schissel recently showed her piece Cyberfields (2012) from her series “Systems Fever” at the Volta Art Fair in New York City illustrating another sense of connection from the advancements of science and technology to (landscape) art. Her work featured here consists of fine lines meant to mirror the seemingly invisible connections from person to person on the digital landscape, otherwise known as an Internet Map, as visualized by The Dimes Project. By exploring the question of the digital landscape in her mixed media art, Schissel seems to beg the question of where we exist (geographically, at least) when using our tech (smart phones, twitter, texting, facebook, etc.). Are the messages we send invisible, a means of communication, or do they signify something more? Are the places we send our digital messages or notes from/to representative of us—what can our digital landscapes tell us about ourselves and this brave new world we live in? So much can be understood from the connections we make every day, even those we cannot physically see. By turning the visualization of the Internet Map into a art form of physical, tactile painting, Schissel has already, like the lines on the map, forged a connection from the digital to the traditional.  - Rose Ekins

Amy Schissel

Ottawa area artist Amy Schissel recently showed her piece Cyberfields (2012) from her series “Systems Fever” at the Volta Art Fair in New York City illustrating another sense of connection from the advancements of science and technology to (landscape) art.

Her work featured here consists of fine lines meant to mirror the seemingly invisible connections from person to person on the digital landscape, otherwise known as an Internet Map, as visualized by The Dimes Project. By exploring the question of the digital landscape in her mixed media art, Schissel seems to beg the question of where we exist (geographically, at least) when using our tech (smart phones, twitter, texting, facebook, etc.). Are the messages we send invisible, a means of communication, or do they signify something more? Are the places we send our digital messages or notes from/to representative of us—what can our digital landscapes tell us about ourselves and this brave new world we live in? So much can be understood from the connections we make every day, even those we cannot physically see.

By turning the visualization of the Internet Map into a art form of physical, tactile painting, Schissel has already, like the lines on the map, forged a connection from the digital to the traditional. 

- Rose Ekins

art science art and science journal amy schissel rose ekins lee jones dimes project digital map internet map internet art painting landscape
Come a Little Closer, And You Shall See… The parallels between artistic strategies and natural occurrences are many. Where Neo-Impressionistic masters, such as Paul Signac or Georges Seurat created divisionistic works, mimicking the separation of colour from light that our eyes mesh together to create an optical illusion of blended colour, now, with the endless possibilities of science, we can see similar ‘special effects’ in microbiology. Upon first observation, Dr. Daniela Malide’s photograph of connective tissue cells looks like a close-up of a painting by the aforementioned Signac or Seurat. Yet these connective tissues have been co-transduced with fluorescent proteins, giving off the vibrant colours seen in the image. The cells begin to connect with each other, sometimes meshing colours, but they are still reminiscent of the technique of painting with colour and light of the Neo-Impressionists. It’s just another, funny little coincidence, of science and art, coming together to both make something beautiful, and teach us about the world around us.   -Anna Paluch

Come a Little Closer, And You Shall See…


The parallels between artistic strategies and natural occurrences are many. Where Neo-Impressionistic masters, such as Paul Signac or Georges Seurat created divisionistic works, mimicking the separation of colour from light that our eyes mesh together to create an optical illusion of blended colour, now, with the endless possibilities of science, we can see similar ‘special effects’ in microbiology.

Upon first observation, Dr. Daniela Malide’s photograph of connective tissue cells looks like a close-up of a painting by the aforementioned Signac or Seurat. Yet these connective tissues have been co-transduced with fluorescent proteins, giving off the vibrant colours seen in the image. The cells begin to connect with each other, sometimes meshing colours, but they are still reminiscent of the technique of painting with colour and light of the Neo-Impressionists.

It’s just another, funny little coincidence, of science and art, coming together to both make something beautiful, and teach us about the world around us.  

-Anna Paluch

(Source: artandsciencejournal.com)

Paul Signac Georges Seurat Dr. Daniela Mlide photography painting neo-impressionist microscopic microbiology colour and light optical illusion divisionism anna paluch art science
Leo de Freyne These geometric, stylized iceberg paintings by Dublin artist and writer Leo de Freyne capture the architecture of these natural structures and the poetry of their colossal presence. But the iceberg is of course more than an aesthetic object; this pristine, natural sculpture has also become a symbol for those other losses incurred due to climate change. And at a time when climate change threatens the environment perhaps more than ever, one worries that the inspiration for such paintings will soon become mere memory.  See more of de Freyne’s artwork here. Also check out photographer Camille Seaman’s Last Iceberg Series. - Erin Saunders
Leo de Freyne These geometric, stylized iceberg paintings by Dublin artist and writer Leo de Freyne capture the architecture of these natural structures and the poetry of their colossal presence. But the iceberg is of course more than an aesthetic object; this pristine, natural sculpture has also become a symbol for those other losses incurred due to climate change. And at a time when climate change threatens the environment perhaps more than ever, one worries that the inspiration for such paintings will soon become mere memory.  See more of de Freyne’s artwork here. Also check out photographer Camille Seaman’s Last Iceberg Series. - Erin Saunders
Leo de Freyne These geometric, stylized iceberg paintings by Dublin artist and writer Leo de Freyne capture the architecture of these natural structures and the poetry of their colossal presence. But the iceberg is of course more than an aesthetic object; this pristine, natural sculpture has also become a symbol for those other losses incurred due to climate change. And at a time when climate change threatens the environment perhaps more than ever, one worries that the inspiration for such paintings will soon become mere memory.  See more of de Freyne’s artwork here. Also check out photographer Camille Seaman’s Last Iceberg Series. - Erin Saunders
Leo de Freyne These geometric, stylized iceberg paintings by Dublin artist and writer Leo de Freyne capture the architecture of these natural structures and the poetry of their colossal presence. But the iceberg is of course more than an aesthetic object; this pristine, natural sculpture has also become a symbol for those other losses incurred due to climate change. And at a time when climate change threatens the environment perhaps more than ever, one worries that the inspiration for such paintings will soon become mere memory.  See more of de Freyne’s artwork here. Also check out photographer Camille Seaman’s Last Iceberg Series. - Erin Saunders
Leo de Freyne These geometric, stylized iceberg paintings by Dublin artist and writer Leo de Freyne capture the architecture of these natural structures and the poetry of their colossal presence. But the iceberg is of course more than an aesthetic object; this pristine, natural sculpture has also become a symbol for those other losses incurred due to climate change. And at a time when climate change threatens the environment perhaps more than ever, one worries that the inspiration for such paintings will soon become mere memory.  See more of de Freyne’s artwork here. Also check out photographer Camille Seaman’s Last Iceberg Series. - Erin Saunders
Leo de Freyne These geometric, stylized iceberg paintings by Dublin artist and writer Leo de Freyne capture the architecture of these natural structures and the poetry of their colossal presence. But the iceberg is of course more than an aesthetic object; this pristine, natural sculpture has also become a symbol for those other losses incurred due to climate change. And at a time when climate change threatens the environment perhaps more than ever, one worries that the inspiration for such paintings will soon become mere memory.  See more of de Freyne’s artwork here. Also check out photographer Camille Seaman’s Last Iceberg Series. - Erin Saunders

Leo de Freyne

These geometric, stylized iceberg paintings by Dublin artist and writer Leo de Freyne capture the architecture of these natural structures and the poetry of their colossal presence. But the iceberg is of course more than an aesthetic object; this pristine, natural sculpture has also become a symbol for those other losses incurred due to climate change. And at a time when climate change threatens the environment perhaps more than ever, one worries that the inspiration for such paintings will soon become mere memory. 

See more of de Freyne’s artwork here. Also check out photographer Camille Seaman’s Last Iceberg Series.

- Erin Saunders

(Source: artandsciencejournal.com)

6 Photos
/ art geometry icebergs leo de freyne nature painting science erin saunders
Crystal Beshara Cystal Beshara from Ottawa makes works that are based in flora, fauna and architecture. As the artist states, “I like to tell a story with my work; to create a new perspective and invite the viewer to come up close - to see a memory that they recall, a place or feeling that strikes a chord emotionally, or a world that perhaps they’ve never seen. Sometimes this is done by creating mood through colour, other times it is the angle at which the subject is presented, through composition and cropping.” Currently, Beshara is working on a solo show of mostly oils, to be exhibited in January 2013 at Orange Gallery. She is also working on some anatomical images for a new Television series called Hard Rock MEdical being filmed in Northern Ontario, which follows a group of  med school students.  For more of Beshara’s work, click here.  - Lee Jones
Crystal Beshara Cystal Beshara from Ottawa makes works that are based in flora, fauna and architecture. As the artist states, “I like to tell a story with my work; to create a new perspective and invite the viewer to come up close - to see a memory that they recall, a place or feeling that strikes a chord emotionally, or a world that perhaps they’ve never seen. Sometimes this is done by creating mood through colour, other times it is the angle at which the subject is presented, through composition and cropping.” Currently, Beshara is working on a solo show of mostly oils, to be exhibited in January 2013 at Orange Gallery. She is also working on some anatomical images for a new Television series called Hard Rock MEdical being filmed in Northern Ontario, which follows a group of  med school students.  For more of Beshara’s work, click here.  - Lee Jones
Crystal Beshara Cystal Beshara from Ottawa makes works that are based in flora, fauna and architecture. As the artist states, “I like to tell a story with my work; to create a new perspective and invite the viewer to come up close - to see a memory that they recall, a place or feeling that strikes a chord emotionally, or a world that perhaps they’ve never seen. Sometimes this is done by creating mood through colour, other times it is the angle at which the subject is presented, through composition and cropping.” Currently, Beshara is working on a solo show of mostly oils, to be exhibited in January 2013 at Orange Gallery. She is also working on some anatomical images for a new Television series called Hard Rock MEdical being filmed in Northern Ontario, which follows a group of  med school students.  For more of Beshara’s work, click here.  - Lee Jones

Crystal Beshara

Cystal Beshara from Ottawa makes works that are based in flora, fauna and architecture. As the artist states,

“I like to tell a story with my work; to create a new perspective and invite the viewer to come up close - to see a memory that they recall, a place or feeling that strikes a chord emotionally, or a world that perhaps they’ve never seen. Sometimes this is done by creating mood through colour, other times it is the angle at which the subject is presented, through composition and cropping.”

Currently, Beshara is working on a solo show of mostly oils, to be exhibited in January 2013 at Orange Gallery. She is also working on some anatomical images for a new Television series called Hard Rock MEdical being filmed in Northern Ontario, which follows a group of  med school students.  For more of Beshara’s work, click here. 

- Lee Jones

(Source: artandsciencejournal.com)

3 Photos
/ art nature painting crystal beshara lee jones ottawa
Charlotte Caron In this series of portraits, Charlotte Caron focuses on the complexity of human nature. We are one part civilized and one part wild. As Caron cites the theories by Antoine Spire, we are attracted to human similarities in animals, and we are also attracted to the idea of the bestial human.  The idea of using mixed media for a portrait is also a rather unique combination. As Caron describes these works, “The goal is to ultimately create an osmosis between the two mediums [painting and photography], similar to that between the animal and the human.” Or as Marshall McLuhan would say, “the medium is the message.” For more on Charlotte Caron, click here.  - Lee Jones
Charlotte Caron In this series of portraits, Charlotte Caron focuses on the complexity of human nature. We are one part civilized and one part wild. As Caron cites the theories by Antoine Spire, we are attracted to human similarities in animals, and we are also attracted to the idea of the bestial human.  The idea of using mixed media for a portrait is also a rather unique combination. As Caron describes these works, “The goal is to ultimately create an osmosis between the two mediums [painting and photography], similar to that between the animal and the human.” Or as Marshall McLuhan would say, “the medium is the message.” For more on Charlotte Caron, click here.  - Lee Jones
Charlotte Caron In this series of portraits, Charlotte Caron focuses on the complexity of human nature. We are one part civilized and one part wild. As Caron cites the theories by Antoine Spire, we are attracted to human similarities in animals, and we are also attracted to the idea of the bestial human.  The idea of using mixed media for a portrait is also a rather unique combination. As Caron describes these works, “The goal is to ultimately create an osmosis between the two mediums [painting and photography], similar to that between the animal and the human.” Or as Marshall McLuhan would say, “the medium is the message.” For more on Charlotte Caron, click here.  - Lee Jones
Charlotte Caron In this series of portraits, Charlotte Caron focuses on the complexity of human nature. We are one part civilized and one part wild. As Caron cites the theories by Antoine Spire, we are attracted to human similarities in animals, and we are also attracted to the idea of the bestial human.  The idea of using mixed media for a portrait is also a rather unique combination. As Caron describes these works, “The goal is to ultimately create an osmosis between the two mediums [painting and photography], similar to that between the animal and the human.” Or as Marshall McLuhan would say, “the medium is the message.” For more on Charlotte Caron, click here.  - Lee Jones
Charlotte Caron In this series of portraits, Charlotte Caron focuses on the complexity of human nature. We are one part civilized and one part wild. As Caron cites the theories by Antoine Spire, we are attracted to human similarities in animals, and we are also attracted to the idea of the bestial human.  The idea of using mixed media for a portrait is also a rather unique combination. As Caron describes these works, “The goal is to ultimately create an osmosis between the two mediums [painting and photography], similar to that between the animal and the human.” Or as Marshall McLuhan would say, “the medium is the message.” For more on Charlotte Caron, click here.  - Lee Jones
Charlotte Caron In this series of portraits, Charlotte Caron focuses on the complexity of human nature. We are one part civilized and one part wild. As Caron cites the theories by Antoine Spire, we are attracted to human similarities in animals, and we are also attracted to the idea of the bestial human.  The idea of using mixed media for a portrait is also a rather unique combination. As Caron describes these works, “The goal is to ultimately create an osmosis between the two mediums [painting and photography], similar to that between the animal and the human.” Or as Marshall McLuhan would say, “the medium is the message.” For more on Charlotte Caron, click here.  - Lee Jones
Charlotte Caron In this series of portraits, Charlotte Caron focuses on the complexity of human nature. We are one part civilized and one part wild. As Caron cites the theories by Antoine Spire, we are attracted to human similarities in animals, and we are also attracted to the idea of the bestial human.  The idea of using mixed media for a portrait is also a rather unique combination. As Caron describes these works, “The goal is to ultimately create an osmosis between the two mediums [painting and photography], similar to that between the animal and the human.” Or as Marshall McLuhan would say, “the medium is the message.” For more on Charlotte Caron, click here.  - Lee Jones
Charlotte Caron In this series of portraits, Charlotte Caron focuses on the complexity of human nature. We are one part civilized and one part wild. As Caron cites the theories by Antoine Spire, we are attracted to human similarities in animals, and we are also attracted to the idea of the bestial human.  The idea of using mixed media for a portrait is also a rather unique combination. As Caron describes these works, “The goal is to ultimately create an osmosis between the two mediums [painting and photography], similar to that between the animal and the human.” Or as Marshall McLuhan would say, “the medium is the message.” For more on Charlotte Caron, click here.  - Lee Jones

Charlotte Caron

In this series of portraits, Charlotte Caron focuses on the complexity of human nature. We are one part civilized and one part wild. As Caron cites the theories by Antoine Spire, we are attracted to human similarities in animals, and we are also attracted to the idea of the bestial human. 

The idea of using mixed media for a portrait is also a rather unique combination. As Caron describes these works,

“The goal is to ultimately create an osmosis between the two mediums [painting and photography], similar to that between the animal and the human.”

Or as Marshall McLuhan would say, “the medium is the message.” For more on Charlotte Caron, click here. 

- Lee Jones

(Source: artandsciencejournal.com)

8 Photos
/ art science artscience nature charlotte caron portraiture painting animals lee jones
Helen Gregory Helen Gregory is the current artist-in-residence at the Canadian Museum of Nature here in Ottawa. Her solo exhibition, Unrequited Death, questions museological practices and looks at the art of the collection. Gregory is inspired by real collections of specimens found in various natural history museums (including those from the Canadian Musem of Nature’s own collections) and she juxtaposes representations of biological specimens with richly colourful backgrounds reminiscent of Victorian fabric patterns. The result is an intriguing look at how natural historical collections capture our imaginations and our interests.  Unrequited Death is open at the Canadian Museum of Nature until September 3, 2012. More information about the show can be found here.  - Victoria Nolte 
Helen Gregory Helen Gregory is the current artist-in-residence at the Canadian Museum of Nature here in Ottawa. Her solo exhibition, Unrequited Death, questions museological practices and looks at the art of the collection. Gregory is inspired by real collections of specimens found in various natural history museums (including those from the Canadian Musem of Nature’s own collections) and she juxtaposes representations of biological specimens with richly colourful backgrounds reminiscent of Victorian fabric patterns. The result is an intriguing look at how natural historical collections capture our imaginations and our interests.  Unrequited Death is open at the Canadian Museum of Nature until September 3, 2012. More information about the show can be found here.  - Victoria Nolte 
Helen Gregory Helen Gregory is the current artist-in-residence at the Canadian Museum of Nature here in Ottawa. Her solo exhibition, Unrequited Death, questions museological practices and looks at the art of the collection. Gregory is inspired by real collections of specimens found in various natural history museums (including those from the Canadian Musem of Nature’s own collections) and she juxtaposes representations of biological specimens with richly colourful backgrounds reminiscent of Victorian fabric patterns. The result is an intriguing look at how natural historical collections capture our imaginations and our interests.  Unrequited Death is open at the Canadian Museum of Nature until September 3, 2012. More information about the show can be found here.  - Victoria Nolte 

Helen Gregory

Helen Gregory is the current artist-in-residence at the Canadian Museum of Nature here in Ottawa. Her solo exhibition, Unrequited Death, questions museological practices and looks at the art of the collection. Gregory is inspired by real collections of specimens found in various natural history museums (including those from the Canadian Musem of Nature’s own collections) and she juxtaposes representations of biological specimens with richly colourful backgrounds reminiscent of Victorian fabric patterns. The result is an intriguing look at how natural historical collections capture our imaginations and our interests. 

Unrequited Death is open at the Canadian Museum of Nature until September 3, 2012. More information about the show can be found here. 

- Victoria Nolte 

(Source: artandsciencejournal.com)

3 Photos
/ art artscience canadian museum of nature collections helen gregory natural history painting victoria nolte

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