Natalie Slobovskaya

Natalie Slobovska is an artist working in a wide variety of mediums, and enjoys the images she is able to create using illustrator. She graduated from the School of Art and Design at Washington University in St. Louise. She is very interested in history, literature, and world cultures and incorporates these interests into her art.

Vector Pictograms

 In "Vector Pictograms" above, Slobovskaya wanted to translate the image style of traditional Slavic lore and Native American symbols into digitally created vector images.

She advertises her love for literature through a poster she created inspired by Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol" which is being used by Subplot Studio theater company.

A Theatrical Poster Design

Overall her work exemplifies the limitless possibilites and styles that can be created through illustrator. She also shows how you can find inspiration through anything, regardless of whether or not you think it is an "artistic" idea.

Vector Lion Poster

Music Interpretation

Portrait Photographs

Girl in a Coat Lying on Her Bed by Diane Arbus

Child With Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park by Diane Arbus

By Diane Arbus

By Brassai

Andy Warhol by Yousuf Karsh

Betty Low by Yousuf Karsh

Ernest Hemingway by Yousuf Karsh

Line Drawing

Copy

Original

Signature Trace: Andrew Jackson

Tony Robbin

Tony Robbin is a native Washington DC artist exploring the medium of computer visualizations. His works focus on patterns generated from algorithms. He attempts to show what fourth- dimensional space looks like using combinations of two and three- dimensional forms. The end result echoes the appearance of cubist art work, but with incredibly careful geometric precision. 

Drawing  53, 2004

Early in his art he became a part of the "Pattern and Decoration" movement of the 1970's and 1980's. They aimed to get away from the coldness of the minimalist abstract movement and return to making art that was full of color and forms. One critic, Holland Carter, called the Pattern and Decoration movement “the last genuine art movement of the 20th century, which was also the first and only art movement of the post-modern era and may prove to be the last art movement ever” (New York Times, January 15, 2008). While Robbin was different than many of these artists in the way that he approached the creation and inspiration of his art (he liked to work with precise geometric figures) the end result was more than compatible with what they were trying to create.

Persian, 1973

As he continued his work he developed a patent for the application of quasicrystal structures in architecture, or figures that repeat themselves to fill a space but are not traditionally symmetrical. He also has created programs for "realtime rotation" in four- dimensional space, allowing viewers to immerse themselves in a sense of space that would normally be inconceivable to them.

Robbins art gives another example to the art world that mathematics and art can be joined in a functional and aesthetically pleasing way. His early paintings show a desire to give art guidelines, or an arithmetical exactitude, and his later computer visualizations manage to capture the perfection you can see he strove for. His creativity in merging technology and aesthetics can only grow in popularity as time continues. 

2004- 4, 2004

Project 1

Julius von Bismarck

Julius von Bismarck is an artist interested in changing the way the public views their everyday world. He uses a number of mediums and ideas in an attempt to alter our usual perceptions of the space around us. At only 29 years old, he is currently working at CERN, the largest particle physics research center in the world, as an artist making connections between art and theoretical physics. Many of his projects use digital information and technology to change what the viewer sees. In his "Public Face" series, von Bismarck mounted huge faces above the cities of Berlin and Lindau and used facial recognition software to change the expression on the face depending on the average expression of people in the city.

Public Face I in Berlin

In one of his most popular projects, called the "Image Fulgurator", von Bismarck is able to add whatever image he would like inside the photographs of people around him.

Von Bismarck with the Image Fulgurator

The device was named after the Latin word for lightning, which is "fulgur", and according to von Bismarck means "the flash thrower". This is because the fulgurator works by projecting an image onto an object or person that is only visible after someone takes a photograph of it using flash. This allows him to add his own message to popular tourist attractions or political speeches. In one of his cleverest uses of the fulgurator, von Bismarck projects the logos of companies onto the politicians they sponsor, photographically branding them with the symbol of their keepers. 

(Mayor of Berlin) Wowereit powered by "O2"

Von Bismarck has a patent for his invention, but he is still worried that it will be used for the wrong purposes by others in the future, specifically advertising companies. he says that he has been offered "a lot of money for it, but [his] intention is for it to present the opposite side." 

I believe that von Bismarcks invention is a powerful force for individuals to get a chance to put their own opinion onto usually untouchable subjects in a way that is both effective and fairly innocent. I share his fears that in a few years no one will be able to travel anywhere and take a picture without some companies logo or slogan appearing in the photograph, but as long as it is used by the general public as their own form of commentary I think it is doing something progressive and important.