David Kracov was commissioned to create an award to be given in honor of, and named for, Rabbi Yossi Raichik, the beloved director of Chabad’s Children of Chernobyl.

The award, “Book Of Life”, was created by David and inspired by the extraordinary life of Rabbi Yossi Raichik. The sculpture depicts the “Book Of Life”, each page filled with words from those he touched, with those pages and thoughts transforming into butterflies, each representing the 2.547 children he helped save and give new lives.

Read more about David at www.davidkracov.com

Maria Kristofersson is a Swedish ceramicist of repute. Whilst her pieces use and interpret traditional patterns, the imperfections of shape and style are both contemporary and historic at the same time.

Maria comments on her technqiues:

“Lines, Surfaces, Structures, Hues and Values should be mentioned…they are important and I use them as tools for  finding my expressions. The clay gives both guidance and resistance. Most of my ceramic works are closely connected to the way I draw and paint. The objects can be viewed as three-dimensional drawings.”

View more of her work here: www.mariakristofersson.se

Not disimilar in style to Claire Scully, Iain Macarthur’s Wildlife set of illustrations possess such detail, and tonal variation and depth, that each item is quite a delight to behold.

Iain Macarthur is originally from Swindon in the UK. He recounts his style in his own words:

“My work is described as surreal and unique in its own way. Using mostly pencil, watercolours and pigment pens, I create portraits of ordinary people, but create them in a unusual way by embelishing patterns and watercolour effects into the portrait to give a vivid explosion effect….”

Check out Iain’s work at these hangouts:

Carbonmade
Behance

Todd McLellan – Disassembly from BLDG//WLF on Vimeo.

Mr. McLellan has been getting some strong exposure as of late. With a disassembled old-school typewriter adorning the cover of this month’s Icon, his series of  dismantled mechanical objects is proving very popular. Check out the time lapse video above and read on…

Todd McLellan is an extremely talented video artist, designer, photographer and much more besides. Check out his work here and head on over to Suginostudio.com for more info.

Sometimes you shouldn’t bother trying to say it better than Wikipaedia…

Swoon is a [insert appropriate adjective here - highly-talented] street artist originally from Daytona Beach, Florida. She moved to New York at age nineteen, and specializes in life-size wheatpaste prints and paper cutouts of figures.

Read all about Swoon here, and show your respect.

As a lover of art and design from everywhere, there are, personally, 3 main literary requirements: Juxtapoz, Creative Review and, erm, the Internet. Having purchased and digested Issue 12, perhaps Art Box should be added to that list. Described in its’ own words…

ArtBox is the freshest magazine for the UK’s culture of Artists, Designers, Photographers, Illustrators and anyone involved in the visual and audio arts. Featuring the best in world’s talent both new and old, ArtBox mixes Graphics, Art and Design with style and insight to produce a unique magazine for today’s market.

Check out the collateral:

http://www.artboxconcepts.tumblr.com
https://twitter.com/ArtBox_Magazine
http://www.artboxmag.co.uk
http://www.artboxmagazine.bigcartel.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wuwmagazine…

Like ‘em here…

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After falling down a flight of stairs in 1991, Fukase to this day remains in a comatose state. His book of raven photography, Karasu, unbeknown to him, has grown in strength and popularity, and has gained him representation by the Robert Mann Gallery in amongst such photographic luminaries as Ansel Adams and Robert Frank.

Claire Scully’s illustrations should be regarded as second to none. An intricate methodology combined with love for the art of illustration produces such examples as Wolf above.

Claire describes herself:

I have a geeky obsession with science fiction books, TV and films. I am fascinated by the play of ideologies in the utopias and dystopias of science fiction, the creation of landscapes and societies where the impossible is made possible.

My work displays a mix of strange utopian worlds and parallel universes with juxtapositions of the unexpected, playing with scale and narrative.

Check out her website here, and don’t forget to catch up with her work at Pick Me Up at Somerset House.

Believe it or not, the above piece of paper is an offcut of a stencil by Rob Ryan, literally picked up off the floor at the Pick Me Up show at Somerset House. Maybe a little sad, but nevertheless…

Born in Cyprus in 1962, Rob Ryan studied at Trent Polytechnic and the Royal College of Art. His work is the result of the painstaking hand cutting of delicate papers. These intricate works are either sold in papercut form or developed as limited edition screen-prints.

He has a shop in Columbia Road called Ryantown not too far away from our friends at Supernice, and you can check out more of his work at his site here.

Deanne Cheuk is an Australian-born artist based in New York City. Having worked across many mediums as an art director and illustrator, she has established herself as a renowned, talented creative known worldwide for her illustrative typography.

Whilst known for her typography, her watercolour and charcoal composition (See Untitled Cloudy Mountain Watercolor and Charcoal on Paper above) is very alluring, exuding sullen depth and moodiness and drama.

Check out her website here