2016 was a banner year for me in meeting and getting to know artists from a wide variety of different genres including but not limited to film-making, performance art, music, multi-media art, painting, graphic arts and fashion. So, I’ve decided that it’s about darn time that I do posts about them and share why I love their works. First up in my Favorite Artist Spotlight is Philadelphia based artist Alex Kuhn, who’s amazing art practice centers on nature-related works and pyrography.
I “discovered” Alex Kuhn and his work back in 2015 at the inaugural launch of the Superfine! Miami Art Fair during Art Basel Miami Beach Week. From taking a look at their line-up online, I knew Superfine! would be full of new and exciting works, so I had great expectations when I walked in. I was not disappointed especially when I walked around one of the corners of the venue and saw this artist working his pyrographic magic on an image of a huge leopard!
Pyrography is the art of burning designs into wood or other materials using a heated metal tip. This technique has been documented as far back as Ancient Egypt and is believed to have been practiced even before recorded history. By using this technique, Alex Kuhn’s hyper-realistic works effectively capture the “nature” of the nature-related subjects of his pieces.
In addition to his pyrographic works, he also does illustrations and photography – his latest set of images using an USB microscope show that super-magnified objects are pretty darn interesting and cool!
Make sure to check out this genius artist’s site, Facebook and Instagram!