New York based artist SWOON is featured in a video for Gestalten.tv, a video podcast section of Gestalten design publishing company, and is best known for elaborate wheat pasted cut-out depictions of everyday street scenes she leaves covering New York City that decay and interact with the world around them for a constantly changing display of art.
Inspired by everything from Indonesian shadow puppets to German Expressionist wood block printing, SWOON’s cut-outs can be seen performing everyday tasks within cityscapes where fires, water towers, bridges and street signs create shadows of scenery through which the characters move.
These life size structures allow the body to move physically through the art just as the eye moves through a painting. And while SWOON has had many exhibits at different galleries, her focus is on the interaction between her art and the people who surround it.
This can be seen through her most recent work, a series of peepholes around New York City, which once discovered, the viewer can look into a hidden dream world through the unassuming opening.
Her installation (along with friends) up now at SPACE Gallery in Portland, Maine is a pretty amazing scene. She totally transformed the gallery (and it was quite appropriate for the big Halloween party last night).