The Arcimboldo Series by Klaus Enrique Gerdes

New York City photographer Klaus Enrique Gerdes, inspired by Italian painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo, created a series of portraits made from vegetables, fruits and flowers.



”While I was photographing a human eye that was peeking out amongst hundreds of leaves, it occurred to me that I could actually utilize leaves to construct portraits or masks.”



"I researched what other artists had created along these lines and discovered that, as usual, someone somewhere had already done something similar. In this case it was the artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who made paintings with this concept in mind over 400 years ago."



"I decided to recreate Arcimboldo's work, and eventually to create my own images with his paintings as inspiration. Making each sculpture takes about three days, and is a bit of an emotional roller coaster."



"In the beginning, I start to see everything take shape, and it is very encouraging. However, once the work gets further along and start comparing it to the original painting, I'll notice some inconsistencies."



"Much has been said about how the subjects in Arcimboldo's paintings are proportionally correct; but every single one of those items is imaginary, and I think he stretched them beyond reality in some instances."



"For example, in one of the paintings the nose is a small, yet perfectly shaped pear. When we were unable to find a suitable match, I decided to substitute the pear for a small sweet potato."



"After I make these types of changes, little by little the sculpture starts coming together. Days later when it finally resembles Arcimboldo's original, it's incredibly rewarding."



"Although most recognize the images immediately as portraits, there are many people who do not."



"At first they only see the individual parts of the image: the fruits, flowers, and vegetables. But after looking at it for a while, they realize that it's a portrait of a person."



"To see that thought process being played out in real time is very satisfying to me because it mimics the thinking behind the art: that simple organic objects come together to create something more meaningful than the sum of the parts."





Check his website: http://www.klausenrique.com/

Source: dailymail

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
 

Design in CSS by TemplateWorld and sponsored by SmashingMagazine
Blogger Template created by Deluxe Templates