January 27, 2013

EAST MEETS WEST #2 | EXPRESSIONISM + KOLORIT



EAST MEETS WEST features a unique juxtaposition between the Eastern (Asian) and Western (American/European) experience. This is a showcase for photographers and artists across the globe, shedding insights in to what makes us human. Taking inspiration from the sun's daily trajectory, this feature hopes to discover the parallels between these two hemispheres.




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This week's theme is abstraction and expressionism, using unconventional methods and subjects. What do a four-year-old girl and an ancient Hindu ritual have in common? In both cases, it is up to the observer to extract meaning.



Cosmos 3 - Aelita Andre
Cosmos 3

Island Princess - Aelita Andre
Island Princess

Stars, Nebulas, Angels & Rainbows Bottle - Aelita Andre
Stars, Nebulas, Angels & Bottle

Eagle Nebula - Aelita Andre
Eagle Nebula

Super Nova - Aelita Andre
Super Nova

Gold Bug - Aelita Andre
Gold Bug
All paintings and photographs by Aelita Andre



All videos by Aelita Andre via Youtube

"Painting is really beautiful, I don't know how to actually describe it. It's almost like...the breath has gone out of your mouth. But the best thing is just paint and watch the sun rise in your own way." - Aelita Andre, 4

I can't remember how I stumbled across Aelita Andre, but I sure am glad I did. She painted those works of art above when she was four. These jaw-dropping pieces are absolutely gorgeous and I would love to have my own private gallery of her work. There is something so remarkable about abstract art that I never understood before - the ability to find meaning and see something of yourself in a painting is akin to cloud-watching. Some of these are so BRILLIANT it is actually physically painful to look at them and realize that some little girl was just splashing paint around. Island Princess looks like a rat samurai, Gold Bug has incredible texture, and Super Nova belongs on a folding shoji screen in my house, like now.

It is one thing to gaze at her stunning paintings, but another thing entirely to watch her paint. I just had to marvel at the amazing parents who set up a studio for her, buy her a million and one acrylic paint sets, and let her run wild. She obviously loves it, but is serious at the same time! I can't make up my mind whether she is happy or unhappy, a genius or simply a kid. Can you imagine following your creative pursuits with intuition, passion, and unrestricted confidence in yourself to make mistakes and try new things? Ugh. She is brutally fascinating. 

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Holi3  - Katrin Korfmann

Holi4  - Katrin Korfmann

Holi5  - Katrin Korfmann
All photographs by Katrin Korfmann

"The photographs register a Hindu ritual which entail the use of colour pigments and water. Here, Korfmann is not searching for a monochrome background, which reduces the space to a neutral point, yet the human figures themselves form the material which the colour field is created, resulting in an abstract image which has a remarkable likeness to a painting." - Katrin Korfmann

I urge you to visit Korfmann's website to play around with these images - you can zoom in and drag the view around to inspect every minute detail or zoom all the way out to see the image as a whole. Stunning. I am very drawn to abstract photography. 
                

2 comments:

  1. I can not get over how amazing that young girl is. Completely blows my mind every time I see a piece of her work. Thank you for telling me about her!

    I am so glad you shared the videos of her too -- was such an honor to watch her work process. That little girl is quite special, that is for certain. :)

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    1. I know, right!? She is a genius and I really want to watch the documentary about her that is supposed to be in the works. I picked my favorites to showcase above but I can imagine that you thought some of her other pieces were more amazing. There is something for everyone! Thanks for commenting!

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