While many jigsaws are best solved by first working on the edges, our second piece- Modern Magic might be best approached by starting in the center.
Modern Magic was created by Vitaly Alexius, who currently lives in Toronto Canada, where he is finishing up his education at the Ontario College of Art and Design.
Vitaly was born in Siberia in 1984, and remebers his earliest drawings being tiny starships at the age of 4. For most of his childhood, he was raised in a remote forest covered ’science community’ district.
Over the past few years, he has been commissioned to work on CD and book covers, background matte painting for movies, web design, concept art, as well as computer game art/level design.
You can see more of his outstanding work here.
I got to 2 trains and thought it was hard!
Wow. Vitaly is QUITE an artist! I enjoyed looking through his gallery very much. The “traditional art” is very good, but it’s the digital art and his photography that blows me away. An armchair psychologist would try to relate an upbringing in a remote Russian wilderness to his interposed themes of beauty amid destruction, calm power amid chaos, and a general feeling of being out of place and unable to control the unnaturally strong current of events, themes that seem to be at the center of most of his work, particularly the digital art.
“Seasonscape” is a beautiful drawing that I think will be hanging in my home soon. The photograph “War” is also a fantastic piece. Is the destruction the result of human-made war, or is it a reflection on the war of attrition that nature wages against man-made objects? Maybe both.
Thank you, RK, for including the link to Vitaly’s website along with the puzzle. I find his work fascinating, as I have always been drawn to contrast in art. I think that I am envious that he has discovered such a breathtaking way of expressing his emotions, rather than repressing them as so many of us do.
Great observation Shawn. Went back and looked more carefully at the digital art, and your description of the contrasts at play-in light of his upbringing- are keen and spot on.
If you ever get tired of your day job, have a bunch of patients who could really use a good shrink
“Seasonscape” is beautiful, and reminded me of something I’ve had tucked away in an images folder for 2 years now, you may also like:
http://www.smart-kit.com/wp-co.....5/life.jpg
Very nice pictures! And well done puzzle and flash program. Congratulations for the 2nd jigsaw!
Much Thanks, Peter!
Your picture-link gave me goosebumps. Sometimes it seems that the older I get, the easier the goosebumps come. In 20 years, will the hair on my arms be perpetually raised?
I like the way that, in the last frame, new life is springing from the old stump; looks like the cycle will continue after all! But in the same frame, I’m not sure what is signified by the kite tied to the tree. Any thoughts?
I remember the 1st time I saw the illustration- it struck a chord of very deep sadness…
Not sure about the kite either…it could represent those things in the world that are constant, that don’t cycle. The non-living. Its presence in the picture serving to highlight and make even more striking the fleeting essence of our lives? Or, maybe it represents the residual impression/legacy that each of us leaves behind? what do you think?
A good artist allows for open-ended interpretation.
When I see the kite, the first thing that strikes me is that the kite would not fly if tied to a tree. A hand providing tension and slack at just the right times is necessary to take advantage of wind currents and keep the kite aloft, so what is keeping the kite in the air? I think it might be a religious comment, the unseen hand of god remaining at work in the world through life and death, maybe watching over the deceased? Or a symbol of the man’s spirit rising to the heavens, but in that case I suppose the kite should be untethered.
I like your legacy idea. The kite is the essence of the little boy. After he grows old and dies, his essence remains in the world to be relived by others. Humans may die, but the human spirit persists.
Didn’t even occur to me, but very true, the kite shouldn’t be flying.
Like that concept of the unseen hand of god