Richard Falle’s work Phalaenopsis Momento Mori pushes preconceived ideas of vector-based imagery and the recording of still life works within virtual space. Here the allusions to photo-realism and hyperrealism are prominent although momentarily acknowledged once one learns that the image has been described by observing the real object. Subsequently the 2D print resonates between traditional drawing methods for still life recording and the resulting depiction of form and space through virtual tools.
The work was initiated through discussions between the artist and myself - so to give you a bit of background here are some words from the artist about the making and conception of Phalaenopsis Momento Mori.
Making:
The image Phalaenopsis Momento Mori was created in Adobe Illustrator using a plethora of blends, meshes, transparency masks and brushes layered one on another and contained within clipping masks to create depth, texture and lighting effects. The image was drawn from observation rather than having traced over photograph or using the Livetrace function. Not an efficient method of generating this kind of image, I estimate it took at least 30hrs to produce, the challenge of working within the limitations of Adobe Illustrator makes the result all the more satisfying.
Conception:
How often have you posed the question, “What if…?”
For me, it’s been a vice, a pleasure and a muse since I was very young. An unrepentant daydreamer, the images I create are a product of attempting to visualise the props of those unlikely “What if?” scenarios, combined with an ongoing exercise in pushing the limits of what can be achieved using purely vector graphics. The limitations of vector art, creates images that seem to hover between photorealism and illustration and gives the subjects an uncanniness that accentuates their eccentricity.
Phalaenopsis Momento Mori by Richard Falle is a printed edition by CFPR Editions at the Centre for Fine Print Research.
Arthur Buxton is an artist who has recently been invited by CFPR Editions to produce a limited edition print at the Centre for Fine Print Research in Bristol, UK. Buxton's work engages with data visualisation methods that use colour extraction tools to explore trends in the natural world, painting and print media. Using open source software he extracts colours from photographs to create charts and timelines that typically display the five most common colours in each image as a percentage. In this instance, the removal of figurative and formal elements from an image present a series of colour harmonies and trends, alluding to sampling methods, information graphics, automation technologies, and objective forms of re-presentation.
The artist explains his most recent work produced with CFPR Editions; 'As the worlds most influential fashion magazine, Vogue acts as an ideal barometer for colour trends. Making use of British Vogue's own online online cover archive I use free software to extract the five commonest colours from each cover and chart them, in Illustrator, by percentage. Arranging these charts into a timeline we begin to see trends emerge - seasonal variations and also in the longer term, a gradual fashion for lighter hues. In my thirty years of British Vogue covers visualisation each column is a year beginning with September (the start of the fashion year) at the top and working backwards to October at the bottom. 1981 is on the right and the timeline runs through to 2011 on the left'.
