Photos on leaves, sakura in salt: Art around the world right now

A SUMMARY OF THE MOST EXCITING ART NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

While we focus on Indian art, we can’t obviously function in a vacuum. It’s a small world and everything is connected, especially on the web. So, let’s train our spotlight across the world map to see what’s going on — from art trends to socio-political issues to everything that affects the great aesthetic global consciousness. Or, let’s just travel the world and have some fun!

Fancy a photo on a leaf?

Ten years ago, Tiruvannamalai-based photographer Vinodh Baluchamy made the incredible discovery that one can print photographs on fresh leaves via a technique called chlorophyll printing. The professional photographer and founder of an experimental photography studio Yaa Studio was astounded that objects in nature can be used to make photo prints, and has since printed over 250 leaves this way, with subjects including people, animals, statues and nature. The Hindu elaborates.

Japanese Artist Creates Over 100,000 Cherry Blossom Petals From Salt in Heartfelt Installation

Best known for painstakingly crafted salt installations often shaped into labyrinthine patterns, Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto has created a remarkable installation for the Setouchi City Museum of Art in Okayama, titled Sakura Shibefuru — over 100,000 fallen cherry blossom petals crafted out of salt. The chosen medium, salt, is equated with cleansing since ancient times in Japanese culture, and brings emotional intention to the artist’s oeuvre. The solo exhibition began on March 9 and will be on display until May 5, 2021. My Modern Met brings us a stunning glimpse.

Math can be art, too!

If you’ve looked at a blackboard full of complicated math equations and felt the allure to comprehend it or even just appreciate it, you’ve got something in common with photographer Jessica Wynne. She began photographing mathematicians’ chalkboards around the world in 2018 and travelled around various universities, only to discover how diverse the chalkboard styles of various math academics are. Some are ‘explosion and chaos’, others are ‘neat and considered’, while a few are almost ‘portrait-like’, she said. Many of the photographs will be collected in a book, Do Not Erase: Mathematicians and Their Chalkboards, forthcoming in June from Princeton University Press. Scientific American explores.