Hump Day Art

Though there are many skilled artists who work with light and shadows, such as British artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster or Dutch artist Diet Wiegman, Japanese artist Kumi Yamashita (above) is the only one whose complete artwork is comprised of both the material she uses and the immaterial she creates. Solid objects like carved wood or aluminum numbers are hit by a single light source to reveal an inner being, a person patiently waiting to be revealed on the other side. Yamashita is also skilled at creating portraits using a single, unbroken piece of thread or by utilizing unexpected materials like a credit card or a shoe. A master of light and dark, this New York-based artist has exhibited all over the world, no doubt casting her magical spell on everyone who comes across her work.


 

Like Brian Dettmer, Guy Laramee (above) has a fascination with books. Using a sandblaster, the Montreal-based artist carefully carves out huge chunks of both covers and pages until he creates undulating landscapes. Mountains, caves and waves slowly emerge as old books, like dictionaries and encyclopedias, take on new lives. Always one to push his own creative boundaries, Laramee's sculptural works always excite, as the viewer is left wondering just what type of natural landscape he'll take on next.

As far as contemporary land artists go, there seems to be one who stands out from all the rest. German-based Cornelia Konrads (above) creates gravity-defying works using natural materials surrounding her like rocks and branches. Whether she's suspending a pile of stones in front of a cave in Korea or creating a passageway of floating branches in Germany, Konrads can conjure up magic all around her. Amongst a series of work she calls Piles, Konrads created Pile of Wishes, a conical accumulation of stones that lift up, break free from the group and fly high in the air.