First up - Audrey Kawasaki.
The themes in Audrey Kawasaki's work are contradictions within themselves. Her work is both innocent and erotic. Each subject is attractive yet disturbing. Audrey's precise technical style is at once influenced by both manga comics and Art Nouveau. Her sharp graphic imagery is combined with the natural grain of the wood panels she paints on, bringing an unexpected warmth to enigmatic subject matter.~from her website
The figures she paints are seductive and contain an air of melancholy. They exist in their own sensually esoteric realm, yet at the same time present a sense of accessibility that draws the observer to them. These mysterious young women captivate with the direct stare of their bedroom eyes.
I find her work captivating - at first glance it's ethereal (I use that word a lot apparently) and sweet, and it's not until you've moved on that you realise there was something slightly disturbing, something not quite sitting right, and I love that.
And then there is Courney Brims. I discovered her on a very recent trip to the Entrance with the boy - she had done a collaboration with clothing label Element, and I happened upon one of her singlets while looking for a pair of thongs for said boy. I was instantly enamoured and have been ever since.
Courtney Brims is a self-taught artist based in Brisbane, Australia. She loves all things unusual and is inspired by fairytales, Victorian illustration, memories and dreams.~From her website
Courtney's work is just as fantastical as Audrey's, but with a little more focus on the sweet and less on the slightly disturbing. Her work is amazingly soft yet realistic, inspired by fairytales and looking every bit like one in itself. I have The Little Mermaid print (the one with red hair and incidently the one I first saw for Element) and I adore it.
Makes me wish I could paint or even draw with any kind of talent, alas all my art is much too surreal to be this good.
All Images via Audrey Kawasaki and Courtney Brims
