A new quarter under tow, represents the return of design projects and a diversity of work. With that being said I would like to present one of the first design projects of the year. The idea behind the variety of works shown below is that we need to present four images or posters that conveyed a message behind them. They needed to be conceptually strong and also needed to fit into four categories: Propaganda poster, Social Activist Poster, Ad with a skewed perspective, and some street art. With a relatively non-confrontational nature, some of these were a lot harder to create an image for than I was hoping or expecting, regardless I need to submit some work and so took a deep breath and created some work. I will leave three of the four up for interpretation to the viewer so I do not place my ideas on that of the viewer, and the final one I need to elaborate upon because there is no way it will make sense without some sort of explanation.

The last two images I created as my “street art.” The idea that I had was that these images would be wheat pasted up in various locations around a city as designated “dance areas.” An attempt to bring some spontaneity and fun into city goers lives. Next to each symbol would be a short description explaining the zone they were entering into to. I image a variety of these symbols each representing a different kind of dance and the shoes and feet that are attached with that style.

If you have any questions shoot me an email, and other than that thank you.

Ben Mouch

Well after much deliberation, and time (it is already past the middle of January) I have finally finished my list for my favorite albums of 2011. Now these albums are limited to those which I had enough time to listen to on multiple occasions, and the list is determined by the enjoyment of the album as a whole as well as the message, and the emotional feelings that rise up as a result of the songs.

Throughout the entire year I had been planning on releasing a list of my favorite albums for 2011, and so I started creating the list within a word document. But as the year progressed, the list became harder to curate because I had odd mental attachments to certain songs and even though one album was on the same level I wanted to increase the stock in another album. So I decided to create some distance from the albums and then at then end of the year return to them and listen to all of them, and create the list as I went through each album. It was a long process, which offered more than a day of music to listen to, but I feel like it was the right thing to do. In addition next to each album I have written in one of my favorite songs off of the respective albums. So here is my list of favorite albums for 2011.

List of Favorite albums for 2011

1. James Vincent McMorrow – Early in the Morning (We Don’t Eat)
2. Adele – 21 (Someone Like You)
3. Bon Iver – Bon Iver (Wash.)
4. James Blake – James Blake (To Care (Like You) or Limit to Your Love)
5. The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow (Barton Hollow or C’est la Mort)
6. Kendrick Lamar – Section. 80 (A.D.H.D. or Rigamortus)
7. Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch the Throne (No Church in the Wild)
8. Theophilus London – Timez Are Weird These Days (I Stand Alone)
9. Other lives – Tamer Animals (Landforms)
10. Cliff Martinez & Various Artists – Drive (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Nightcall by Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx)
11. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy (Chloe in the Afternoon)
12. The Belle Brigade – The Belle Brigade (Where Not to Look for Freedom)
13. Feist – Metals (The Bad In Each Other)
14. Cults – Cults (Bad Things)
15. Stateless – Matilda (Curtain Call or Ariel)
16. Beirut – Rip Tide (A Candle’s Fire)
17. Fink – Perfect Darkness (Honesty)
18. tUnE – yArDs – W H O K I L L (Gangsta)
19. The Head & The Heart – The Head & the Heart (Down In The Valley)
20. The Milk Carton Kids – Prologue (Michigan)
21. Tron: Legacy: Reconfigured – Daft Punk (Fall (Remixed by M83 vs. Big Black Delta))
22. Ben Sollee – Inclusions (Electrified)
23. William fitzsimmons – Gold In Shadow (Let You Break (feat. Julia Stone))
24. Raphael Saadiq – Stone Rollin’ (Good Man)
25. Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultra (Swim Good)
26. Hugo – Old Tyme Religion (Just a Shred or Old Tyme Religion)
27. Ever Isles – Cocoon (Wake These Stones)
28. Yann Tiersen – Skyline (Monuments)
29. Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto (Paradise or Us Against The World)
30. Brett Dennen – Loverboy (Sydney (I’ll Come Running))
31. Trent Dabbs – Southerner (Keep Me Young)
32. Grand & Noble – Grand & Noble (Hellcats)
33. Low – C’mon (Especially Me)
34. Rosi Golan – Lead Balloon (Flicker)
35. Paul Dempsey – Everything is True (Out The Airlock)
36. Air Museum – Air Museum (Makin’ Jumps, Catchin’ Air)

So there are 36 albums that I listened to, and unfortunately there are a whole variety of albums missing from that list, so here are some notable exceptions from that list.

Albums I missed in 2011

• Gotye – Making Mirrors
• James Morrison – The Awakening
• Milagres – Glowing Mouth
• Slow Club – Paradise
• Grieves – Together/Apart
• Wye Oak – Civilian
• Shugo Tokumaru – Port Entropy
• Lia Ices – Grown Unknown
• Childish Gambino – Camp
• Nils Frahm – Felt
• The Black Keys – El Camino
• PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
• Tom Waits – Bad as Me
• Drake – Take Care
• Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials
• Maroon 5 – Hands All Over
• Tyler, the Creator – Goblin
• M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.
• Washed Out – Within and Without
• The Middle East – I Want That You Are Always Happy
• Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
• The Weeknd – House of Balloons
• Bad Meets Evil – Hell: The Sequel
• The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar
• Yuck – Yuck

It is unfortunate that I didn’t have the time to get to those albums, or I just could drum up enough interest in them to actually make a purchase and listen to them, but I hope to get around to them eventually.

As for a few other lists it is just to get some odds and ends out-of-the-way.

Top Video Game Soundtracks for 2011

1. Jim Guthrie – Sword & Sworcery LP – The Ballad of the Space Babies
2. Aperture Science Psychoacoustics Laboratory - Portal 2: Songs to Test By
3. db Soundworks - The Binding of Isaac

Yes I am aware that this list is extremely limited and there are some notable exceptions there (i.e. Bastion), but those were the albums that I was able to listen to this year, and there are some really good tracks in there.

Favorite Albums of Yesteryear I listened to in 2011

• Sigh No More – Mumford & Sons
• O – Damien Rice
• The Submarine – Whitley
• High Violet – The National
• Exit – Shugo Tokumaru
• Xx – The xx
• This Empty Northern Hemisphere – Gregory Alan Isakov
• Play – Moby
• 9 – Damien Rice
• The Reminder – Feist
• Till The Sun Turns Black – Ray LaMontagne

Some really incredible albums on that list, and there are some that I listened to that I didn’t feel any need to mention but that is how it goes.

And finally one more list.

Favorite EP’s and Singles of 2011

1. Daughter – His Young Heart (EP)
2. Leagues – Leagues (Single)
3. James Vincent McMorrow – James Vincent McMorrow (EP)
4. Daughter – The Wild Youth (EP
5. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Can’t Hold Us (Single)
6. The National – Exile Vilify (Single)
7. Woodkid – Iron (EP)
8. James Blake – Enough Thunder (EP)
9. Birdy – Skinny Love (Single)
10. Kris Orlowski - Warsaw (EP)
11. Merton – Montreal Song (Single)
12. James Blake – Love What Happened Here (Single)
13. Coldplay – Every Teardrop is a Waterfall (EP)
14. Beirut – East Harlem (Single)
15. Kris Orlowski The Passenger String Quartet at the Fremont Abbey (EP)
16. Ivan & Alyosha - Fathers Be Kind (EP)

I could also post a list of my favorite songs of the year, but it is kind of lengthy and really not worth the effort.

I hope you enjoyed my various lists of music, and if you have any suggestions for me I am open to taking them!

Ben Mouch

Well another quarter has ended, bringing with it finals projects and some free time. So with that free time and with the various projects needed to be finished, I thought I would take the time to post the digital book I created for my Digital Imaging 1 class. Essentially the task presented to us was to create a 20 page book, using some of the skills we learned throughout the class and  holding an idea through out the book. It is a pretty loose topic allowing for a variety options to allow for creativity to flourish. The book I decided to create centers around the idea of the eye, and the emotional and powerful presence it has. As you flip through the digital book, keep in mind that there is a greater meaning behind the entire book, then just a means to show a set of eyes in a variety of styles. A lot of thought went into this concept, and the result is presented below.

Mouch.Final.Eye

(click the link and you will be taken to a new webpage where you can cycle through the book, be aware that it will take some time to load considering the size of the PDF final attached)

Let me know what you think, and I hope you enjoyed it.

Ben Mouch

Well with the end of the quarter comes the opportunity to post up work that I completed through out the various classes I took, one of which was printmaking. It was a wonderful opportunity to try my hand at something different and to hone a different set of skills. Below are some of the results of the class.

If you have any questions or would like to know more about the prints please send me an email.

Ben Mouch

Well I thought I would take some time out and quickly post an update on a recent project for my Digital Imaging class. This time around I was tasked with making a total of 8 images; 6 of which are book covers while the other two are CD covers. We had to create the names for two books and two CD’s, and then had to create three separate images for each book title and an image for each CD. It was an enjoyable experience all around and allowed me to fool around in Photoshop a bit more, something that I need to do to reach a level of comfort within the software. I hope to one day be able to follow the idea I have in my mind all of the way to completion in Photoshop. Of course that does not mean I want to give of the traditional means of creating an image, I will forever feel most comfortable with a pen in my hand, but I hope to feel at ease with in the Photoshop space. I have included the images below, and please press on the images for a better and larger view of the various covers.

Book Covers

CD Covers

Ben Mouch

Well the content of this post will not be the positive news one would look forward to nor is it a promise of more content in the future. This reason for this post is to say that I am unfortunately and apologetically going to be leaving on an indefinite hiatus from the blog world and the creation of posts and sharing of wonderful design. My week is reaching breaking point and carrying on two jobs that consume 40+ hours a week, and attending class full-time I no longer have time to create the various posts needed to keep this blog current and interesting. It has become apparent over the last two months that content has been gradually sliding off as more and more commitments came into my life.

I would like to apologize to A. Micah Smith who I have been meaning to write and Artists that Inspire post about but never got around it. I hope to write the post sometime in the future when I have more time on my hands and hope to learn more from him, as he has a job that is very close to what I hope to be doing some day. I would also like to apologize to everyone who has commented on my blog or shown interest in it. This was not the direction I wanted this blog to go and I can only hope that when I eventually make my return, it is with a ferocity and enjoyment for writing and design.

I do thoroughly enjoy what this blog allows me to do, and for the connections it has created for me. And so it is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye, even if I do plan to return at some point.

Thank you,
Ben Mouch

Scanography is essentially scanner photography. It is the process of placing something upon the scanner bed, and scanning the object to create a photo. But it is a lot more than that because of the sequential movement of the scanner head and the fact that you can move objects as the scanner head runs its course. Playing with that aspect. and also the light that the scanner head creates, can allow one to make incredibly high detailed images, and also some incredibly abstract and unique images.

For the first project in my Digital Imaging class, the task was placed upon us to create a total of 6 scanographs, 3 of which are specifically abstract and 3 of which represent a self-portrait in some facet or another. Here are some of the results…

At this point I would hope that you would have a better idea as to what scanographs are, and what you can do with them. It is extremely easy to go about creating scanographs, you just need access to a scanner and some imagination as to what elements and objects you bring to that scanner. The opportunities and options as to what you can do with the scanner are limitless, and there is potential for doing some exciting work with light, the refraction of light and the whole color spectrum. If you happen to ever decide to create some scanography I would love to see what you create, so please send me an email with your creations, and feel free to experiment with it!

Ben Mouch

Well this is being written a day later than I normally want it to be, but unsurprisingly it is difficult to keep up with some things with two jobs and a full class schedule, so unfortunately content on my blog is going to take a hit. But here is the single new song that I listened to for the Week of September 19 to September 25.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are still on their game. I am just going to say that before I delve any deeper in this paragraph. On Wednesday they released another single titled “Make The Money.” Without any further context, one would think that this would be a rap song, following the oft-used theme of money and how much money one has. Macklemore, having learned from his troubled past, is out there spitting to everyone “Make the money, don’t let the money make you, change the game, don’t let the game change you.” But this track wouldn’t be what it is without the excellent beat work from Ryan Lewis, weaving together the piano, violin, trumpet, and the various snare and extra elements that go into a modern rap song. Macklemore continues to go with honesty on his tracks and it is playing off, and it is really refreshing to see a rapper out there rapping from his heart, and not rapping about a life that surrounded by luxury. Macklemore will be able to connect with his audience so much more than many other rappers will, and this is something incredible to see. I have embedded the song below to allow you to give it a listen. If you like what you hear, support this artist by buying the song off of iTunes, you are helping some one fresh, true, and honest.

Ben Mouch

For a sharp contrast to the previous lackluster week, this week was full of new music, and wonder. Here is the music that touched my ears during the week of September 12 to September 18.

I previously wrote about the single Beirut released earlier in the year, well that single was just a taste of what their next album, The Rip Tide, was going to be. The Rip Tide was released on August 2, and at the time I had just put it on a wish list of various music that I am thinking about purchasing. Well this week was the week to finally decided to buy the album and give it a listen, and I am very glad that I did. The Rip Tide is a beautiful mix of string instruments, drums, and that almost tinny accordion, piano, various horns, and more all paired with the low almost echoed vocals that are carried along by the music. A wide variety of instrumentation goes into the album as a whole, and the end result is an american pop-like set of songs with influences from various European Traditions. The mix of all of the above is a beautiful mix, and the album goes through a whole plethora of moods and emotions. The Rip Tide is a relatively short album when all is said and done and you will be through it in just over thirty minutes, but it will be a satisfying thirty minutes brought on by the complete sound that Beirut offers.

Santa Fe – Beirut

Following right behind it is the new indie darling The Head and The Heart and their debut album officially released under Sub Pop Records this year. Previously I had been privileged to listen to the beautiful songs “Down In The Valley” and “Lost In My Mind” by the Seattle-based band, and I was looking forward to the rest of the album. I can’t necessarily said that I was disappointed with the rest of the album, because it is a solid album when all is said and done, but the self-titled album never reaches the same height and emotional level of “Down In The Valley” and “Lost In My Mind.” Despite this fact the, combination of changing voices between the various songs is refreshing and the soft folk pop that The Head and The Heart offers is soothing and easy to listen to. As a whole the skill and maturity of the band comes through, despite this being their debut release. and the songs are woven wonderfully  and the lyrics offering a lot more than what you will find on any Top 40 Radio station. With a solid debut album, and such critical acclaim for the album, I am interested to see what the future holds for The Head and The Heart and if they truly can live up to the hype that has now been built up around them whether they wanted it or not.

Ghosts – The Head and The Heart

The next song is a single release from what seems to be an Indie Dream Team, James Blake and Bon Iver. Both coming off highly praised releases this year, the minimalist and electronic James Blake pairs his talent with that of the wispy and wordy Bon Iver. After listening to the single release, Fall Creek Boys Choir, it is surprising how well James Blake works with Bon Iver, offering up a rousing sound that seems to dig deep into a human’s most basic tendencies and echoes the sounds of a deep forest set ablaze in a flurry of christmas lights by modern technology and the sounds the ride along with it. The vocals are impressive offering a deep and sway-worthy sound that reaches down into everyone’s core. I am praising this collaboration between the two talents, but I could easily see how this could be disliked by many. Both the music of Bon Iver and James Blake is interesting and unique, but both of them understand music deeply and offer the industry something refreshing and new while harkening back to what music essentially is. Together they offering a grandiose sound that you need to just close your eyes to and let it take you away. I am assuming that this is not it for the new duo, after they sent the internet into a frenzy with their relatively cryptic tweets and information on the subject. With that in mind, I am looking forward to anything the two groups do in the future, and anything they decided to collaborate on.

Fall Creek Boys Choir – James Blake & Bon Iver

This coming Wednesday I am going to be heading to a venue to watch the wonderful James Vincent McMorrow perform. This will be the second time I have seen him in concert this year, but this time he will be backed by his band, and it should be a wonderful experience that I will make sure to write about. But this next set of songs that will be looked at aren’t by him, they are by Kris Orlowski, who will be opening for James Vincent McMorrow on Wednesday. Generally before I head to a concert I want to get a good idea for what the other acts in the set are offering on stage, and if their music strikes me in a certain way I will download their music and continue to listen to it as a way to lead up into the concert. Kris Orlowski offers what at times seems like the love child between James Vincent McMorrow and Andrew Belle, although music-wise he has been around longer than both of them. Earlier this year he released an EP titled The Passenger String Quartet at the Fremont Abbey, which takes a couple of his songs and as the title goes adds a string quartet to them which is a wonderful and beautiful addition to this already talented artist. Kris comes out of Seattle, and offers a wide diversity to his music and voice at times sounding more like Jason Mraz, or Justin Nozuka. There isn’t anything necessarily unique about his music, but that isn’t a bad thing. Kris Orlowski follows the tried and true formula of Indie Folk music and does so in an impressive manner. I am interested in seeing how he does in a solo set up on the stage, and whether or not he can pull the same emotional chords as he does with a string quartet behind him. An artist has to start from somewhere though, and Kris didn’t start with a string quartet behind him so the experience should be wonderful all in all.

Your Move  - Kris Orlowski

And that just about wraps it up for this week. I could write about a track called Kala released by Yann Tiersen when you preorder his upcoming album Skyline,  but I will have more to talk about that when October 17th rolls around. So with that, see you for a similar post in another week.

Ben Mouch

This represents a return to the Artists that Inspire series after a relatively long hiatus. Having been bogged down with a variety of activities and with work, but I have not forgotten about this series, and I am always looking for a new artist or designer to write about. And with the first post back I want to look at the wonderful work of…

Owen Mortensen

Nature’s presence in our world is often viewed from purely an “outdoor perspective.” What I mean to say by that is often times there is a level of separation between the living space one inhabits and the daily life that one leads and the flora and fauna that surrounds that life. Often times in this modern world specific time needs to be set aside for the enjoyment of this natural world. Wildlife and the beauty inherent within it, as well as the harshness and adaptability of it, should be a natural extension of our living environment and the lives we lead. This natural inhabitance within one’s life should not take away the time set aside for its pure enjoyment, but it should work in tandem with specific time allocated to admire nature’s complexity and splendor. To achieve that serenity between the two worlds, strides need to be made on what it means to design a comfortable living space, and the art that is present within that space. Owen Mortensen’s art work represents that serenity between the two worlds, while offering both the feral and at times harsh side of nature and the often structured world of humanity.

*Property of Andy Goldsworth*

One element of Owen Mortensen’s work that is apparent is the patterns that are created using aspects and items taken from nature. In taking leaves, twigs and more from nature and giving it a level of structure or repetition, Mortensen’s work shows strong allusions and influence by another artist Andy Goldsworthy. So before I delve deeper into the decorated work of Owen Mortensen, I believe it to be imperative that I take a brief look at a major influence to his work. Goldsworthy is known for the ephemeral earth sculptures he creates, and the pictures of those sculptures, as well as larger works that he has been commissioned to create. His work exhibits various patterns of repetition, and a diverse use of color as well as more importantly the connection to nature his work contains. Using nothing but objects found in nature, Goldsworthy creates sculptures and art feet away from where the objects are found and often mimics nature itself within the work itself. To give an example of this I have included a picture of a work of his, but also will describe the often strenuous process he goes through to create his work. In the specific work seen at the left, Goldsworthy created that spiral pattern using icicles found in nature. After collecting the icicles in the early morning Goldsworthy would then painstakingly begin to “piece” sections of the icicles together using nothing but the saliva from his mouth and the patience of his fingers. In a race against time, and the rising sun, Goldsworthy would battle numbness in his fingers as well as mental fatigue to complete the task that he has presented himself with. The ultimate work is fleeting and beautiful, and the use of nature to create something so structured yet also alludes to aspects in nature, more specifically the curving flow of a river. The complexity of the work is met by the complexity of nature leaving a harmony present in the image as well as a level of beauty, despite the difficult process the artist had to work through to achieve that level of beauty. Other work by Goldsworthy can include balance rock sculptures in the shape of an egg or seed, or the formation of leaves or twigs ultimately creating a beautiful circled center. Goldsworthy combines structured elements with the sternness that is so inherent in nature, the end-product is often something breathtaking and beautiful though.

*PROPERTY OF OWEN MORTENSEN*

Now that I have briefly chronicled some of the work of the influencer, it is more apparent the aspects that are seen in the work of influenced. Owen Mortensen alludes to some of the transient nature present in the work of Andy Goldsworthy, yet makes it more accessible, and something that can be framed and given a new life. The art of Owen Mortensen can be connected back to his childhood where he spent time around the nature present in Logan, Utah. With his interest in design, and his time spent around nature, a hobby creating various art work out of natural elements flourished within him. What was once a hobby soon became more and with the ability to create impressive work, a career formed for Mortensen and he has since developed into the impressive artist he is today. His ability as an artist has spread, and it is for that very reason that I was able to come in contact with his work. As I was looking through the variety of work at House Urban, I saw some work by Owen Mortensen up on a couple of the walls present around the store, and I was struck by the beauty of the work as well as the structure that was present within them. It is that structure through nature that attracted me to his work in the first place, and it is what continues to impress me about the work of Owen Mortensen.

*PROPERTY OF OWEN MORTENSEN*

The work of Owen Mortensen often deals with structured geometric figures, that are often not readily present in nature. Squares with their right angles and an exact length of a side duplicated four times is refreshing when created with objects from nature, an environment where right angles and objects with exact similarities are extremely rare. Another geometric figure that Mortensen puts to extensive use is the circle, an object that is hardly ever seen in nature, so to take that unpredictable and diverse characteristic of nature and apply it to something that is viewed to be perfect, harmonious, serene, and even has been attributed to making much of modernity possible is astounding and refreshing. The duality between nature, an essential quality that seems to not be bound by a set of rules, and the structure found in geometry is something that resonates in a lot of Mortensen’s stunning work. A visual duality can also be seen in the work of Owen Mortensen, as his work will often feature a pair of features, whether it be actual objects, colors, or formation of objects within a space. That specific duality can be seen in the burnt bamboo circles above, and the “Selectively Skeletonized Sycamore” leaves in the art work to the left. In the sycamore leaves you have the duality between life and death as you see the core, or “skeleton” of the leaf as well as its full-bodied fleshy self. That dichotomy of ideas offers itself to a harmony of life and a calmness and closure to the idea itself seeing both the beginning and end to an object.

*PROPERTY OF OWEN MORTENSEN*

Seeing both the beginning and end of an object resonates strongly in his work titled “Grid of Birch Bark Layers.” You see the beginning and end of the various levels of paper-like bark peeling off of a beautiful and unique birch tree. The enduring bark of the birch tree often pulls off in long jagged strips, so to capture that and cut it into heavily structured squares allows for a pleasing composition while still keeping some of the essential and beautiful elements of the bark to remain. Again the duality is present as you have the structure of the various geometric objects paired with the singular nature of each and every portion of bark. Each paper-thin piece of birch husk is completely unique and unlike any other piece of husk. Compositionally the 25 squares are laid into a larger 5 by 5 square that creates a gradient from dark gray to white, to dark brown. Those natural tones are adaptable to many interior environments and is non-obtrusive or discordant. The ability of Owen Mortensen to notice and capture all of those elements into a single seemingly simple work of art shows his connection to the nature that these works originated from.

*PROPERTY OF OWEN MORTENSEN*

Mortensen’s knowledge of nature is put to use again when his art work shows a level of structure even without the use of common geometric figures. In using the simple and inherent similarities that leaves possess, Owen Mortensen was able to create a repeating and almost quilt-like design using it in such a way that it gives the work an airy and light feel it. These leaves come from a plant called a Burning Bush, given to it for the red color found in the leaves on the bush. Those striking leaves offer a greater level of color than some of the other works of Owen Mortensen that I have showcased, and offer this specific work another facet that the other images may lack. That is not to say that the other works are inferior though as each work contains an extra facet that makes each piece unique. The cherry color present in the leaves makes this specific work stand out and catches one’s eye. The interlocking pattern created by the five leaves offers the image many more shapes than just the circular forms seen at the top of the image, giving the viewer the opportunity to see a lot more in the image then just what the eye originally sees. The simplicity of the image created, lends itself to a variety of interpretations, these can be as basic as leaves falling on the ground, and expand outside of that to snow gently falling onto the ground to bubbles floating wistfully in the air. It is beautiful in its simplicity, and brings that surprisingly natural color into a living space increasing the presence of flora and fauna without the need to have living plants. It is a wonderful and unique element to bring into a living space, and is very different from what one would generally think of when they want to bring nature into one’s home.

Owen Mortensen is an incredible artist, and his style of art offers middle space between the home and the outdoors. In addition to that, his art offers more than just a beautiful image to adorn one’s home, it offers a duality that can at times deal with larger issues, such as life and death or simplicity and complexity. Mortensen gives the larger public a more tactile form of the type of work that Andy Goldsworthy is known for, yet offers his own unique artistic mind to it. The natural world seems so distant in this modern world, and anything that can bring the general public closer to what nature has to offer, is a welcome object, it is a wonderful addition to find artwork that is so beautiful, structured, and unique.

Ben Mouch

For more information about Owen Mortensen:

Website

Pressed Leaf