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Another artist, Andrea Zvadova, uses watercolours on varied
and fascinating materials to create intricate artworks that have
a beautifully decorative appearance. Her application of the
cyanotype technique on paper, glass, silk and canvas results in
stunning hand printed floran cyanotypes reminiscent of summer
walks through fields in the countryside. Andrea has also used
an oil printing technique from the 1890s, where ink is applied to
each print individually, allowing for greater control, but requiring
considerable skill and patience.
The use of dark blue and white within the works immediately
makes reference to Japanese woodblock prints called Ukiyo-
e’s which were immensely popular in the 20th century for their
two dimensionality and decorative nature. The final image
is influenced by the artist’s sense of tradition, dexterity and
attention to detail, creating a beautifully and carefully designed
piece that is completely and utterly unique – it is impossible to
make two identical prints.
Without a doubt, the most obvious and most successful designer
is nature, and that is a fact that artist Ilhwa Kim has taken full
advantage of. Ilhwa Kim’s series ‘Seed Universe 天下圖’ is
composed of tens of thousands of seed units. Each seed unit has
the combination of straight lines and circles, which compose a
tiny single universe in their own physical terms. The materials
are not given, but created personally for each single universe,
instilling within it a sense of unique originality reminiscent of
nature’s own designs. Kim dyes each sheet of paper by hand
with thousands of different colours, then cuts and rolls the layers
of paper to make it rigid. As this is such a laborious process,
Kim has an emotional bonding to each of her universes. Kim’s
technique is heavily influenced by the highly revered South
Korean artist Chun Kwang Young, who creates similar works but
on a much larger scale.