Plasticine Paintings by Svitlana Karelina

Ukrainian artist Svitlana Karelina recreates iconic paintings using plasticine which sometimes take as long as two months to complete.



"My work is monotonous and hard. Once, about 9 years ago, while I was playing with my kids (I have 2 daughters) I found that plasticine really helped me to forget about my problems. I touched it, started to create something and, during this process, felt myself becoming calm. So then I started to make more and more figures from plasticine and place them in to a single picture. The result was unexpectedly successful, so I continued to create pictures on childish theme for my daughters."



"After couple of years I became divorced and fell into a heavy depression…my older daughter Kate recommended that I turn my negative emotions into producing recreations. We have a huge book with paintings by famous artists, so we looked through it and my first work was ‘The last day of Pompei’ by Karl Brullov."



"You know, when I create I forget about food or sleep. I can do it all night long, and honestly at that time of my divorce creating really helped me cope. Right now I am okay to be alone, and I create my works with a big smile."



“My doors are open for all those who want to see it, but honestly nobody knows about me and my plasticine for several reasons. I really don’t have friends who understand the beauty of it.”



“The only people who inspire me and buy plasticine for me again and again are my daughters. They say they believe in my talent, but I think they just say it to support me. Three years ago, we were trying to put together an exhibition, but sadly this idea failed as nobody expressed interest. I was just standing at my spot with pictures, nobody liked it.”



Source: lostateminor

Soot Paintings by Steven Spazuk

French Canadian artist Steven Spazuk (previously here) creates unique paintings using soot, feathers and paint brushes.













Check his website: http://www.spazuk.net/

Geometric Currency Sculptures by Kristi Malakoff

Canadian visual artist Kristi Malakoff created these series of sculptures made of paper money from around the world, titled' Money Pieces'.















Check her website: www.kristimalakoff.com

Street Art Illusions by Pejac

Spanish street artist Pejac (previously here) created these street art illusions on his trip to Istanbul, Turkey, using brushes, acrylic paint, and sandpaper.



He created three new trompe-l’œil pieces in the district of Üsküdar, titled 'Lock, Poster, and Shutters'.



“I have painted these Trompe l’oeil in the same zone of Üsküdar [on the Asian side of Istanbul], very close from one to another in order to establish a physical bond between them. ‘Trompe l’oeil’ literally translates from French to ‘eye trap.’ In the case of these three windows, the trap works in both directions: From outside to inside and from inside to outside.”













Check his website: http://pejac.es/

The Imaginary Museum by Vik Muniz

Brazilian artist Vik Muniz displayed his amazing works of art in an exhibition 'The Imaginary Museum', in the Lambert Collection museum, Hôtel de Caumont and Église des Célestins in Avignon, southeastern France.



For his 'Sugar Children' series, he used a tiny vacuum apparatus, cotton swabs with glue, tweezers, and brushes to rearrange and build density, highlight, and shadow out of bits of wood pulp and soil. Granules of sugar are transported one by one.



This 'Diamond Divas' series is a collection of five Hollywood’s screen legends portraits (Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlene Dietrich, Princess Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe) made with more than 3,000 (550 carats) Kwiat diamonds.



“I love the way the diamonds play with the light. This promises to be one of my most successful series ever. People are asking to buy the images sight unseen because they are so fascinated by diamonds.”



Vincent Van Gogh 'The Sower', made with dried flower pods, sprigs of lavender, straw, dried seeds, and sticks.



Van Gogh's portrait, made with dried flower pods, lavender, straw, dried seeds, and sticks.



'Double Mona Lisa', made with peanut butter and jam.



'Che (Sopa de Frijoles negros)', made with black bean soup.



As for his 'Pictures of Chocolate' series, the image was drawn with chocoloate syrup and photographed quickly.



“Working with materials sometimes means working with the very essence of what a material has to offer. … The work defines the material and the material defines the work. … My work process has always been about this paradigmatic bind between the materiality and the concept in a work of art.”



Check his website: vikmuniz.net/

The Principles of Design by Efil Türk

Turkish graphic designer Efil Türk created these paper crafted posters series entitled 'The Principles of Design' that illustrated 10 principles (balance, hierarchy, pattern, rhythm, space, proportion, emphasis, movement, contrast, and unity) for her senior thesis at the Dokuz Eylul University of Fine Arts.



"I wanted to question what are the fundamental elements of design besides creativity."



“My technique is to merge the typographic explanation that I design digitally and the handmade paper composition. I usually preferred to use paper as a material in my projects in college.”