Final Project - Artist #2

Nate Page

"Nate Page, an artist based in New York City, recently unveiled a new series of magazines with different layers carved out that are on display at the Jen Bekman gallery.  Page removes layers from magazines and billboards, revealing the rainbow of colors behind the images.  These topographic assemblage designs focus on eyes and strip away the collections to their core.
In the artist statement, Page describes his desire to investigate the dichotomies between materiality and images, occupied space and presence, and potentiality and reality.  He transforms the everyday objects into personal expressions and informs his work with “personal memories and consumer culture angst.”(http://www.psfk.com/2009/08/carved-magazines-by-nate-page.html#!OFC7k)

Images from http://beautifuldecay.com/2009/08/15/nate-page/

While it was fairly difficult to find information for this artist I find these works quite haunting. The layers of magazine have an almost musculature effect when combined with the facial features - as though a surgeon has taken apart the faces of the models and forgotten to rebuild or replace it.
His technique also amazes me as controlling how many pages to cut through must have been difficult, and the time taken must have been immense.

The resulting pattern from the echoed eye shapes has a 3D ripple effect which one wouldn't expect in a solid form. The ability to mirror fluid movement and organic shapes using only paper and a cutting tool really appeals to me. 
Most sculptures made from bronze or huge scale works often receive so much attention, but the works which I find to be the most inspirational are often the smaller ones, using inexpensive or recycled materials and where the excessive time spent on executing the final product is evident.

While my final work won't focus on the actual images of the magazines, but more about what magazines represent in terms of excess consumption, I still find this artists work helpful as it proves that a simple material can still be transformed into something larger than itself, that is beautiful and intricate but still able to be meaningful.