February's Theme is LAYERS
Our theme for February is LAYERS. It was chosen by our Lausanne chapter in Switzerland and illustrated by Catherine Olivia Pearson.
Simplicity provides clarity, but layers give our work a richer complexity and depth.
Musicians fuse melodies, harmonies, and rhythms to create more dynamic compositions. While other artists use a juxtaposition of colors, textures, images or materials for greater visual impact. The creative magic happens when those choices conjure different interpretations and emotions.
Because people have layers too. Just like a collage is created by overlapping layers of found materials, we pile up experiences that form our beliefs and reactions.
The clichĂ© âbeauty is only skin deepâ means that a pleasant appearance does not guarantee a virtuous character. We are a mess of competing emotions and personality traits. So how we act to the outside world doesnât always reflect how we feel inside. We make polite chit chat when it takes vulnerable conversations to form meaningful connections.
Surface level pleasantries and superficial decoration have their place. But it is the layers that give life meaning. We must peel them away to discover our deeper truths.
INSPIRATION FROM OUR COMMUNITY:
Each month, we ask the readers of our Weekly Highlights newsletter to submit creative work inspired by our global theme.
Here are this month’s featured works.
Undercover by Martina Vianovi in Turin, Italy.
Watercolor and ink, saying we all have something we do not show everybody.
You can see more work on Martina’s instagram.
Urban Layers by Nathan Bolster in Atlanta, Georgia.
Photograph for Client. As a photographer, layers=depth and draw the viewer in. This one shot for a running brand client does just that - foreground, subject, shadow, background x 4. I love the layers of a city and putting colorful runners in the middle of those grey layers just holds the eye. Nobody likes flat!
You can see more work on Nathanâs site.
donât stop (me) now by Clarissa de Oliveira in New York.
You can see more work on Clarissa’s instagram.
The inspiration for this vector illustration came from a scene I saw while taking a walk, a young couple leaving the beach, he with his hand on her chest, as if he was checking her heart… but the gesture had the double interpretation that he was stopping her from going on. At the same time, it made me think of how many times I had repeated that same gesture, to myself, checking my heart in episodes of anxiety, and while that same gesture prevented me from carrying on.
CHOCOLATE PAINTING: Layer Upon Layer by Quest in Toronto, Canada.
Cocoa butter on milk chocolate canvas. My job as a chocolate designer often requires that I be super resourceful. In a bind while teaching students a particular painting technique, I grabbed a chocolate painting that I’d previously done and decided to paint over it. The inadvertent result was multiple layers that came together as one to create an entirely new art piece. And it was delicious!
Split by Makayla Hughes in Harlem, New York.
Revisited a character from my sketchbook and it evolved into something of its own. The concept of this artwork explores the duality of the human spirit. How one being can embody two, or more, separate identities at once. The layered shapes, vibrant colors, and character’s details on each side of its face represents the complexity of the human psyche.
You can see more work on Makayla’s site.
Layer Cake by Jodie Bass in Singapore.
It’s a thought piece about the hiring process in the job market and the narrow view taken by prospective employers when hiring creative individuals.
Read the rest on Jodie’s site.
Weâre all a delicately crafted, personalised multi layered cake to be celebrated and savoured, not a carbon cookie cutter factory homogenised copy of each other.
Framings layers by Alena Aichlmanova in Prague, the Czech Republic.
This aquarelle paining represents layers of concepts that we bear in mind when we look at something. Sometimes these layers are barriers to recognize the simplicity of subjects and situations in front of us, and also to see the whole context of the story.
Drop by Drop by Justin Goh in Chicago, Illinois.
The work is a Cyanotype layered over hand-pulled Suminasgashi paper. The curvilinear forms are inspired by organic shapes and the concept of waste.
Future Filmmakers of America by pĂĄnne ally in Kansas City.
Mixed Media (acrylic paint, paper, ephemera). This work is part of a series, Blackboard Jungle, inspired by a controversial film of that time, of the same name. It was feared it would enourage juvenile delinqueny, an innocent film by today’s standard. It made me think of the layers of experience, of history, that support the changes we enjoy now or fear for the future. The painting features a blackboard obviously created by reellious students and which I reasoned forecast their future as filmmakers by virtue of the creativity demonstrated.
You can see more work on pĂĄnneâs site.
Linde World of Material Handling Teaser Trailer by Christiane Schrempp in Magdala, Germany.
We orientate thematically and graphically on the key visual âSimplexityâ. It perfectly visualizes the transition from chaos to order, from complexity to simplicity, from imprecise to concrete with the help of many layers that represent the different fields of expertise and services Linde offers. The agency was Fine Arts and the producer was Ute Prillip.
You can see more work on Christiane’s site.
Light Rain Dance: Infinite Waves of Astro Blues by Viii Dorsey in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
This is an A/V collage & poem/melodic mix. The physical mixed-media collage is ~5 square feet containing original paintings, prints, photos, and a variety of other source materials such as broken record pieces and magazine cutouts. The collage image and corresponding poem were featured in a collaborative collage & poetry zine by the collective “A Few Black Femmes” at the 2024 Pittsburgh Zine Fair. This piece is a multidimensional representation of the rhythmic chaos of my mind inspired by the I SPY books I loved as a child. The zine spread contains poetic riddles of concepts and objects to identify within the collage. The background music in the video features a remix of Gianni Brezzo’s original song Filigrani. The collage bibliography can be found with other contributing artist details in these image corresponding slide notes.
You can also watch a video of the collage and poem.
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