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Soura Magazine | Issue 33 | Mar - Apr - May 2012
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CONTENT | ISSUE 33 Featured Photographers 14 Katrin Ray 24 Markus Thorsen 28 Michael Reinmuth 44 Hans Sterkendries Gallery Feature 62 Musée Miniature et Cinema Special Feature 72 Matthew Albanese Table-Top Landscapes Contemporary Art Feature 86 Alan Wolfson Drawing Out the Voyeur
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Paper Palette| Katrin Ray
Katrin Ray
Paper Palette
Katrin Ray is an origami artist and an author who is based in Toronto, Canada. Together with her composer husband Yuri Shumakov (a.k.a Julian Ray), Ray creates origami pieces inspired largely by her husband’s musical compositions. The couple is internationally recognized in the professional origami world for their artistry, and has created a world made entirely of origami called Oriland, which has been exhibited in many countries around the world. They have also co-authored several books about origami, and have collaborated on the award winning Oriland.com.
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Ray is keen to explore the endless possibilities with photography, some of which are long exposure, zooming technique, tilt-shifts, landscapes, macro, stereo photographs, and more.” Ray holds a Ph.D degree in Psychology and is a self-taught photographer. She won the Toronto Photo Contest 2010. The arts have always been an integral part of Ray’s life, but it was the need to photograph her and her husband’s paper artwork that prompted her to take photography more seriously. Ray is keen to explore the endless possibilities with photography, some of which are long exposure, zooming technique, tilt-shifts, landscapes, macro, stereo photographs, and more. Her work is not always post-processed; sometimes Ray prefers to leave the photograph pristine, depending on her idea.
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Paper Palette| Katrin Ray
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Paper Palette| Katrin Ray
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From the Roof-Top The inspiration for my Toy-ronto series came from origami, the art of paper folding. Being in paper design for the better part of my life, my husband Yuri and I created, designed and folded, a fantastic paper world called Oriland, filled with paper castles, little houses, little people, fantastic creatures, etc. For our exhibitions we create the paper models in a scale of about 1:50 of real-life size and then set them into dioramas. It’s really a rare occupation for artists, even origami artists, just a few people in the world do something similar. The Toy-ronto series is just like our Oriland displays in that I set up miniature houses and miniature surroundings; creating an illusion. The inspiration for Toy-ronto struck me when I saw the Jarvis Mansion District in Toronto from the rooftop of a high-rise, these charming historical buildings looked like miniature models. I have been taking photographs of this project on a regular basis since April 2010, adding new ones almost every week onto my Flickr gallery. I consider the series to be ongoing; I see no reason for it to be limited by time frame, there are many locations in Toronto I would love to incorporate into my miniature Toy-ronto. Still, speaking of certain places/locations, I feel that there should be a seasonal dimension to the series - say, how a certain area looks in summer, what’s happening there in winter, etc. So from this perspective, each location will reach a certain level of completion when all seasons are reflected with appropriate miniature life activity.
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It took a long time for me to find a place where the imaginary could meet the reality, but I found it. Most images of the series are tilt-shifts and some of them are in a ‘little planet’ style, achieved with Polar Panorama effect, where basically I process a panoramic photo using the Polar Coordinates filter in Photoshop. As for tilt-shifts, I do them mostly in Corel Photo-Paint, using photos I take with normal lenses. So I create the tilt-shift effect with digital post-processing. I find it quite flexible because as soon as the photograph is taken I can make multiple choices on the region that is sharp and the amount of blur for the un-sharp regions. And, of course, I often add other components to the images using digital magic, in other words, photomontage. For instance, you may see my hand and my origami in Toy-ronto pictures. So I photograph the hand in the desired position, then process the photo in Corel Photo-Paint, cutting the hand out off the background, and then add it to a miniature scene, adjusting light and colors and other parameters, so it integrates into the image smoothly. I think my Toy-ronto is an ode to a colorful, and diverse city brimming with beautiful architecture, and historic heritage, one that inspires innovative ideas. I am keen on stimulating the imagination of viewers through my photographic art to inspire them to create – I do believe creativity is a part of everyone, just waiting to erupt! © All images courtesy of Katrin Ray www.KatrinRay.com
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Paper Palette| Katrin Ray
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Paper Palette| Katrin Ray
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Maker of the Absurd | Markus Thorsen
Markus Thorsen
Maker of the Absurd
Drawing on influences from music and cinematic styles, Markus Thorsen’s work aims to let the viewer take part in a story being told. There is a narrative in the images, and an implied, underlying soundtrack to accompany them. Thorsen was born in a small seaside town in Norway. He spent a lot of his time growing up looking at things and taking pictures, mostly while listening to music. But it is wrong to assume that music was the only thing influencing this young, aspiring photographer. It was undoubtedly also the hours spent in front of a television set; absorbing visual styles, suspense building and not least, humor. Incorporating humor in images is an unpredictable business that can easily fall flat, or ultimately become boring. Thorsen manages to integrate just enough furtive humor in his images to keep the humor from becoming the coup de grâce, but rather using it as a subtle juxtaposition, unfolding a dark and sometimes strangely comic imagination; in a surreal landscape where absolute meaning is never clear. Thorsen received his BA (Hons.) degree from Edinburgh College of Art. During those years he also worked for the independent cultural magazine The Skinny, where mostly he would photograph live concerts. This form of quick thinking, quick acting frontline photography would become the polar opposite to the photographic style he would use to create his series: Interior (The Dolls House Project), a project that utilizes a large format camera and takes up the better part of a year. Thorsen was a ‘Fujifilm Student Award 2008’ merit winner and got nominated for ‘Event Photographer of the Year’ at The Scotish New Music Awards 2011. During the Edinburgh Festival of 2010 he had a solo exhibition featuring his work on the Edinburgh underground music scene. Other publications that published Thorsen’s work include I-On Edinburgh, The Guardian Online, Spinner UK, The List Online, Stereokill.net and Drowned In Sound. Thorsen currently lives in Oslo, Norway.
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Living Room
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Maker of the Absurd | Markus Thorsen
Dining Room
Bedroom
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Inside Interior Picture that scene in a movie just before everything changes, and no one knows what has just happened, and that is the core idea of Interior. What happens after a boy finds a gun, why is a little girl looking dreamingly at a mirror with three lines of cocaine and what is a priest doing in the midst of an aftermath of a wild party? These mise-en-scènes portray ordinary family members in extraordinary circumstances. Although bordering on serious issues, my aim was to play on the juxtaposition of a dark sneaky humor lurking under the surface. The concept of The Dolls House project evolved and changed throughout the whole process. I started out wanting to do humorous, animated recreations of film-scenes. Then I discovered the vast amount of dollhouse accessories available and wanted to place these toys in never-before seen settings, to play on the juxtapose of fun vs. serious. So the project changed into a sinister portrayal of family life. Realizing that project was too much about serious issues, and fearing it would look like these subjects were taken lightly; I decided to change it to a cinematic depiction of an ordinary, mundane dollhouse family in a surreal or supernatural setting. But after trying, I realized it looked like an animated, mediocre attempt to produce a Gregory Crewdson image. In the end I feel I managed to combine all the elements and produce the body of work now entitled Interior. These images all portray solitary family members in the moment just before everything changes. How the change affects them and where the story goes is very much up to the viewer. Rather than showing a sinister family setting as intended, I chose to use the horror movie rule of ‘Not
Revealing the Monster’, so that the audience’s imagination will determine where the story goes. I like to think of these images as dark and strangely comic, but not with a serious undertone. Rather than serious, with a comic undertone.
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These images all portray solitary family members in the moment just before everything changes. How the change affects them and where the story goes is very much up to the viewer. The influences for this project can be seen throughout the pictures on the wall. I wanted the paintings to symbolize and drive the story being told. The painting in the living room is not just a painting of a lonely, exposed woman with a light reflecting through the window, (a light which echoes through to my other two images in the series as well.) It is a painting by Edward Hopper, who was a massive influence on the photographer Gregory Crewdson. The latter being a big influence for me on this project, so choosing that painting was my homage to him. The same goes for the painting in the bedroom, William Turner was known as ‘The Painter of Light’, and has been an influence on Crewdson as well as for me. For the frames in the bedroom I needed to put in some pictures, and somewhat tongue-in-cheek I decided to use pictures of David Lynch, Alfred Hitchcock, Tom Waits and Stephen King. A shout-out or homage to my influences for this project, something which may, or may not be picked up by the viewers. But if they do, it helps to lend a cinematic visual style, an underlying suspense, a soundtrack and a poetic aspect to the images. © All images courtesy of Markus Thorsen www.MarkusThorsen.com
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Riding into the Past | Michael Reinmuth
Michael Reinmuth
Riding into the Past
Michael Reinmuth was born in 1972 in Wiesbaden, Germany. After acquiring a university degree in Economics and Finance, Reinmuth worked for 18 years as a public servant for the Federal Republic of Germany. What started out as a hobby, turned into 25 years of building models and dioramas. Reinmuth creates models of “barn finds” from the 1930s to the 1980s for collectors, car dealerships, fairs, museums, and exhibitions on a scale of 1:18, 1:12, 1:10, and 1:43.
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In recent years, Reinmuth has designed models for various manufacturers such as Porsche and Citroën.
He has exhibited in various exhibitions between the years 2009 and 2011, and was able to reach a wider audience with his work. In 2011, an automotive exhibition was held to mark 125 years of automotive history under the heading, ‘Time travel’. The model cars exhibited were only in black and white to represent the past. Reinmuth aimed through this exhibition to set the viewer of his art on a personal journey into the past so that maybe seeing a car from the past may trigger a feeling or emotion.
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Riding into the Past | Michael Reinmuth
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Riding into the Past | Michael Reinmuth
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Riding into the Past | Michael Reinmuth
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Riding into the Past | Michael Reinmuth
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Small Scale Treasures Each of my models is unique and singular in it’s own way, each takes the viewer on a journey through time, back to a time when cars had character and personality. Each model is handmade and never duplicated, so that each one is one-of-a-kind, carrying within it the charm and nostalgia of bygone days in a model of 1:18 scale. The idea of an imperfect representation of the past on a small scale in something meticulously created to perfection in its detail is what drives me. I use wood, plexi-glass, plastics, gypsum and aluminum when creating my diorama scenes.
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Each of my models is unique and singular in its’ own way, each takes the viewer on a journey through time, back to a time when cars had character and personality The models are handled carefully by hand, cut, painted if necessary and aged with real rust. Diverse techniques such as drying paint, airbrush, and weathering are used for this purpose. I also use materials that include leather, fabric, soft tops and roof lining, seat covers and cables, tools, newspapers, bottles and various accessories. Through my work, I like to go back to a time in the 1930s to the 1980s in miniature form and discover forgotten automotive and architectural treasures in the small scale. © All images courtesy of Michael Reinmuth www.m-art-modelle.de
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Riding into the Past | Michael Reinmuth
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Riding into the Past | Michael Reinmuth
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December 2011  41
Riding into the Past | Michael Reinmuth
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On the Road | Hans Sterkendries
Hans Sterkendries
On the Road
Hans Sterkendries was born in 1976 and grew up in a small village in Belgium. He got his first camera at the age of 12 but it wasn’t until much later that he became more passionate about photography. Sterkendries bought himself a Canon 500N in 1997 and then went digital few years later with the Canon Digital Rebel (300D). Today, he uses a Canon 5D.
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Sterkendries has pictures from 43 different countries online, not counting Disneyland.
At the age of 14 he started working as a journalist for different (local) newspapers. What began as a hobby is now a profession: Sterkendries is still working as a journalist, mainly as a travel writer because it allows him the ability to combine his job with his passion for travel. He borrows his life’s motto from Mark Twain: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” While Belgium is still his base, he is on the road most of the time. Right now, Sterkendries has pictures from 43 different countries online, not counting Disneyland.
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On the Road | Hans Sterkendries
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On the Road | Hans Sterkendries
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On the Road | Hans Sterkendries
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On the Road | Hans Sterkendries
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Wandering Lens A few years ago I wanted to share some pictures with friends of mine. I somehow discovered Panoramio (an online photosharing community), and immediately liked the idea of being able to geo-locate my pictures. My goal on Panoramio is not to promote myself as a photographer: most pictures are uploaded for the pleasure of sharing them, the pleasure of showing the world. My goal is not to have all my pictures on Google Earth either. I upload all different aspects of travel: people, food, animals, etc. With all the travelling going on I have little time for hobbies. This website takes up a good deal of my spare time, I love to read and watch TV shows and I’m a scuba diver. You can also find me on a few online networks but this is my major web presence.
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I’m not a macro photographer but with a standard zoom lens, a tripod and/or a steady hand, you can make very decent miniature pictures. I’ve made these pictures at the Musée Minature Et Cinéma with a Canon 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 lens with an Image Stabilizer function. I have another lens that is more light sensitive but it doesn’t allow me to focus at close range. In the past I have used a Cokin close-up filter to compensate for that drawback but closeup filters are hard to combine with the autofocus and limit the depth of focus. Flash was out of the question in this museum because all the miniatures are behind glass. Fortunately, the display cases were well lit and the rest of the museum is dark so that you don’t have to worry too much about reflections. The hardest part was finding the right angle because the glass does limit your options. © All images courtesy of Hans Sterkendries www.panoramio.com/user/HansSterkendries
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On the Road | Hans Sterkendries
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Gallery Highlight | Musée Miniature et Cinema
Dan Ohlmann, founder of Musée Miniature et Cinema
Musée Miniature et Cinema The Musée Miniature et Cinema is the only one of its kind in France. It is situated in the idyllic heart of the historic Old Lyon area. Old Lyon is a beautiful quarter in the Renaissance style and is listed under Unesco Heritage. The museum is made of prestigious masonry, glorious arcades and balconies, and is known historically as the House of Lawyers. Comprised of 5 floors on a surface area of 200 square meters; the museum has been exhibiting the miniature work of Dan Ohlmann since 2005.
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The guided museum tour provides visitors with insight into the art and technique of the use of miniatures in cinema special effects. Visitors also get a rare glimpse of more than 250 models and miniature objects used in the special effects of some of the world’s most famous movies.During the month of October 2012, the museum will hold an exhibition featuring miniatures and artwork used in cinema for special effects. Through this effort, the museaum aims to shed the spotlight on the artists behind the miniature work who often do not receive the recognition that actors, wardrobe designers, or set designers get. Museum founder Dan Ohlmann was Born in Provence in the South of France in 1955. Ohlmann began his career as a cabinetmaker and interior decorator in 1975 and worked through to 1987. He then began exploring the world of miniatures and established his first museum Palais De La Miniature. Ohlmann has exhibited all over the world in countries such as Japan, the United States, Italy, and England, and has made several television appearances in his native France.
Ohlmann is well known in the miniaturist circles, and has met and exhibited alongside some of the world’s most renowned miniaturists and designers for cinema special effects in Europe and the United States. Ohlmann maintains a high level of accuracy in his execution, a skill acquired from his past as a cabinetmaker. He is adamant on maintaining correctness and authenticity, and respects the scales as well as the academic and popular styles, the traditional methods of assembly and the skill required to use original materials.
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As someone passionate about design and décor, Ohlamnn’s productions display an attraction to inhabited atmospheres, or atmospheres rich in human presence.
As someone passionate about design and décor, Ohlamnn’s productions display an attraction to inhabited atmospheres, or atmospheres rich in human presence. Ohlmann’s miniaturized hyperrealistic scenarios, his precision of forms, the force of his objects, the lighting and the colors are strongly evocative of a persistent life presence.The contemplation of multiple universes that we encounter as human beings, the observation of reality, and the harsh yet sentimental view of the world around us, are all part of Ohlmann’s language. He is a dreamer who constantly aspires to romanticize the world he sees around him. Like a modern-day Gulliver, he discovered this intense pleasure of being a storyteller in 1986, and since decided to live his daily life with poeticism and to observe from distance the movement of life through his small worlds.
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The contemplation of multiple universes that we encounter as human beings, the observation of reality, and the harsh yet sentimental view of the world around us, are all part of Ohlmann’s language.
“I like to see and understand the places that touch me in order to transmit all the emotions with force and volume,” says Ohlmann, he lives by the words of Victor Hugo who said, “The image of reality is stronger than reality itself.” Through the Musée Miniature et Cinema Ohlmann likes to shine the spotlight on other talented French artists like Ronan-Jim Sevellec, Michel Perez, Françoise Andres, and Laurie Chareyre. To this day, the museum features the miniature works of hundreds of artists from all over the world, from Japan, Germany, USA, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, China, England, Africa, Morocco, and more. © All images courtesy of Musée Miniature et Cinema www.mimlyon.com
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Gallery Highlight | Musée Miniature et Cinema
The Lounge of Louis XVI
The Neighborhood Grocery Store 64 Soura Issue 33
The Temple of Kurama
The Barber Shop by Michel Perez Mar - Apr - May 2012  65
Gallery Highlight | Musée Miniature et Cinema
The Old Dormitory
The Abandoned Hotel of Milan Lyon 66 Soura Issue 33
The Prison of Saint Paul Mar - Apr - May 2012  67
Gallery Highlight | Musée Miniature et Cinema
The Old Theatre of Louis XV in Italy
The Warehouse 68 Soura Issue 33
Archives
The Abandoned Barn Mar - Apr - May 2012  69
Gallery Highlight | Musée Miniature et Cinema
The Weaver’s Workshop of the Croix-Rousse 70 Soura Issue 33
The Room by Michel Perez
The Cuisine by Ronan-Jim Sévellec Mar - Apr - May 2012 71
Matthew Albanese
Table-Top Landscapes
Twenty-eight year-old Matthew Albanese began his photography journey in 2001 while a senior in high school. One of his family members had bought an old 35mm camera from a garage sale, which Albanese had repaired and began to experiment with, and since then he has been extremely passionate about photography. “I knew I wanted to be an artist working in a photographic medium when I went to my first art exhibition at the MOMA,” says Albanese, “I was enthralled by these huge landscapes by Andreas Gursky. The enormity in scale of his subject matter is something that made a powerful impact on me and my decision to become an artist,” he continues. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in photography from the SUNY Purchase School of Art & Design, in Purchase, NY. Albanese currently works full time as a fashion photographer for Barneys NY, “It’s a far cry from miniature tabletop landscapes but its fun, and it pays the bills,” he says, “it’s nice for me to shift gears once in a while.” Albanese constructs meticulously detailed miniatures using simple household materials and objects, “I start with a simple concept. An emotion, a line from a song or poetry I can connect with,” he explains, “I like to keep it very simple. I then do a great deal of research on the subject matter.
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I read about a specific species of plant life or phenomenon unique to the world I am creating.” Albanese likes to read detailed descriptions, and consult with people familiar to the landscape. He then gathers materials and experiments, sometimes for months, until he achieves the desired result.
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I was enthralled by these huge landscapes by Andreas Gursky. The enormity in scale of his subject matter is something that made a powerful impact on me and my decision to become an artist. Every aspect of the emotive landscapes he creates, from the construction to the lighting of the final piece, is painstakingly preplanned using devices that establish a focused perspective, which is captured in a photograph, “I like to be in complete control. Building a landscape on tabletop affords me the ability to be as precise as possible when working with scale and lighting,” he says. Using a mixture of photographic techniques such as scale, depth of field, color balance, and lighting, I am able to drastically alter the appearance of my materials.
Each landscape takes months to complete and includes various elements that are not intended to be permanent but will deteriorate over time. Albanese sometimes spends weeks searching for materials specific to the world he is creating. He experiments with texture, color, and pattern. Most importantly, the key to his work’s success lives in how his materials react to light. Lighting makes up about 85% of the illusion, and it is the most essential factor to his work, “the miniatures are detailed however unsophisticated, sometimes to the naked eye they look like piles of trash on a table. They come alive when the light and the angle of perspective are just right. It can take months to find the correct balance between these elements,” he says.
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I like to be in complete control. Building a landscape on tabletop affords me the ability to be as precise as possible when working with scale and lighting.
There is always a period of trial and error in his process, during which most of his discoveries are made, mostly by accident. The final piece comes to life when the landscape is viewed
through the camera lens. While some of Albanese’s constructed environments are recycled in later compositions, others are even destroyed during the photographic process. Each piece has its own story and meaning. Albanese tries to create photographs that are beautiful and yet somewhat dark and creepy. There is emptiness to these landscapes and a lack of any human presence. There are times when he believes that poetry is maybe the closest art form to photography. There is certain poetry in him taking something small and common and transforming it into something larger and making it part of a vast and sweeping landscape, “If I can forever change the way someone looks at an object once familiar to them I am satisfied,” he says. Albanese finds inspiration while listening to a lot of music and when reading poetry, “I love the miniature photography of Gregory Crwedson, James Casebere, & Didier Massard.” Today Albanese is building an underwater scene, a vast coral reef that slopes into a vast oceanic drop off, “I am using wax, wire, glitter, floral foam, gelatin gel caps and countless other random materials,” he explains. © All images courtesy of Matthew Albanese www.MatthewAlbanese.com
Paradise is made of cotton, salt, cooked sugar, tin foil, feathers and canvas.
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Table-Top Landscapes | Matthew Albanese
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Burning Room. Made of wood, nylon, plexiglass, purchased dollhouse furniture. The model was actually set on fire to achieve this effect. Mar - Apr - May 2012  75
Table-Top Landscapes | Matthew Albanese
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New Life. Diorama made using painted parchment paper, thread, hand dyed ostrich feathers, carved chocolate, wire, raffia, masking tape, coffee, synthetic potting moss and cotton.
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Table-Top Landscapes | Matthew Albanese
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Wildfire. Diorama made from wood, moss, yellow glitter, clear garbage bags, cooked sugar, scotch-brite pot scrubbers, bottle brushes, clipping from a bush in bloom (white flowers) clear thread, sand, tile grout (coloring), wire, paper and alternating yellow, red and orange party bulbs.Â
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Table-Top Landscapes | Matthew Albanese
Salt Water Falls. Model made out of glass, plexiglass, tile grout, moss, twigs, salt, painted canvas & dry ice. The waterfall was created from a time exposure of falling table salt.
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Table-Top Landscapes | Matthew Albanese
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Water Glass is a mixture of many different materials, tile grout, moss, bottle brushes (pine trees) Actual clippings from ground cover and was built on top of  standard outdoor patio table. The sky is canvas painted blue. Coloring was again achieved by shifting white balance.
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Table-Top Landscapes | Matthew Albanese
Icebreaker. 25 pounds of sugar cooked at varying temperatures (hard crack & pulled sugar recipes) It’s basically made out of candy. salt, egg whites, corn syrup, cream of tartar, powdered sugar, blue food coloring, india ink & flour. Three days of cooking, and two weeks of building.
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Contempoaray Art | Alan Wolfson
Alan Wolfson
Drawing Out the Voyeur
Alan Wolfson grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights areas of Brooklyn, as a child, he attended schools that didn’t place emphasis on the arts in their curriculum, yet he was always building something, “I used to build things in cardboard boxes,” he says, “you know those projects they give you in school — you build little things in shoeboxes? That’s essentially what I’m still doing; I just kind of got carried away with it.” At some point, Wolfson remembers having to build a grocery store, a butcher shop and a police station. “My parents sent me to art classes for kids at the Brooklyn Museum and Pratt Institute. We used to go to the Greenwich Village Art Show — my father had artist friends who showed there. I grew up going to museums with my parents and then when I was old enough, I would go by myself.” Wolfson’s father worked as a commercial artist; he did mostly lettering, sign painting and graphics. He liked to paint when he had the time, and did mostly seascapes. “The last few years of my mother’s life, when she was in a home, she took art classes. She took up painting at age 80 and was pretty good at it. A lot of the technical stuff I do now I learned from my father. He taught me how to use tools,” says Wolfson.
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At the age of 15, Wolfson’s family moved to the suburbs where he felt isolated from the city that he loved. After graduating high school, Wolfson worked as a stock boy in a department store in the city while taking arts and business classes in night school. Soon after, Wolfson was drafted into the military, which put on hold his artistic endeavors. After completing his military service, Wolfson moved to Berkeley and took art classes at a community college, “I got involved working on theater productions, designing and building sets,” he says. He had received an associate’s degree in theater arts by that time, which had required some art history and fine arts training, so he went back to school at Humboldt State University in Northern California. Wolfson continued working in theater arts, but also began studying film production. While at Humboldt, Wolfson entered the first two miniature pieces he had created in the arts department student juried art show, the pieces were titled A Subway Interior, and A Hotel Room. “I won first prize both years,” says Wolfson, “that was the first time I received any recognition for my work,” he adds.
In 1979, Wolfson moved to LA and began building miniature sets for movie special effects. A year later in 1980, Wolfson held his first exhibition showing 10 pieces that he’d worked on for an entire year. This led to more offers to do more shows but in New York this time, that is when Wolfson moved back to New york. Throughout his career, Wolfson has worked for Disney Imagineering building models for theme park development, he’s built props and scenic elements for various film and TV productions, and he’s done a lot of work on architectural models, he has also worked as an extra for film and television: he was a patient on ER and a policeman in the movie Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.
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When people appear in a miniature environment, your attention is automatically drawn to them because it’s so obvious they’re not real; their presence points to the fact that it’s an artificial environment. Photorealist painter Richard Estes is one of Wolfson’s major influences, “I’ve always been drawn into his subject matter, and his attention to detail has definitely made an impression,” he says, “I think I’ve also been influenced by [assemblage artist] Joseph Cornell and [pop installation artist] Edward Kienholz. A lot of people have picked up on the influence of [realist painter] Edward Hopper in my work as well,” he adds. Wolfson works on a scale of 0.5 inch: 1 foot, which is half the size of a dollhouse scale. Although his first few pieces were built in dollhouse scale, Wolfson ultimately decided that the smaller scale allowed him to build more intricate environments in the same-sized space. “I also find the smaller scale more intimate,” he says, “If I’m building a view out [of] a window, it would be built at a smaller scale than the room interior to force the perspective,” he explains
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To me, the most important experience you take away from my work is the story; I’m providing you with clues to a narrative, telling a story with minute details. Wolfson often contemplates the idea of a project for years before he starts the building process, “I thought about Brooklyn Rooftop for maybe 10 years before the time was right to build it. Another piece, Terminal Diner, which was on the West Side of Manhattan is pretty much the way it looks in real life,” he says. “Sometimes I’m attracted to the architecture of a place,” Wolfson continues, “Tube Bar is a perfect example. I passed that place every day in my travels. It was so unique. It was the same with Village Cigars, which was the first time I tried to build a place as it actually stands.” Wolfson considers his work an extension of photorealism; “the New York gallery I showed with for years, the Louis K. Meisel Gallery, was known for photorealist paintings. But I’m not a true photorealist either. The similarities are in the attention to detail and some of the subject matter.” “To me, the most important experience you take away from my work is the story; I’m providing you with clues to a narrative, telling a story with minute details. There are no people in these scenes, but so
much of what is there are the things people have left behind — the graffiti, the trash, tips on a counter, a half-eaten hamburger. The real impact of my work is not in how small everything is but in the stories these small things tell.” Most of Wolfson’s work is devoid of people, “When people appear in a miniature environment, your attention is automatically drawn to them because it’s so obvious they’re not real; their presence points to the fact that it’s an artificial environment. Without the people there as markers of unreality, you can really get lost in the scene and formulate your own narrative.” All the incandescent, fluorescent and fiber-optic lighting in his work is done by Wolfson himself, what he doesn’t do himself is anything that involves solid-state circuitry. That’s a different area of expertise. Many critics have often said that Wolfson’s work creates a safe way to be a voyeur. There’s something mysterious and intriguing and appealing about his environments, but Wolfson is not sure how comfortable most people would feel in them in real life. Creating these environments gives Wolfson a window into them but also allows him to maintain control over them; “I can have the experience of having been to these places without having to confront the people who inhabit them.” Wolfson’s work admittedly gives him a real sense of satisfaction, “a sense of accomplishment, especially after finishing a major piece,” he says.
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One thing that has worked against me is the fact that photographs really don’t do justice to my work. Wolfson feels strongly about the difference between viewing his work, and viewing photographs of his work, “One thing that has worked against me is the fact that photographs really don’t do justice to my work. If you were to sit next to me while we went through a portfolio of my work, I’d have to explain what you were looking at, because of the hidden views. I wouldn’t have to do that if I were a painter. A lot of collectors are conservative and don’t want to buy something they’re not sure of. They’re wondering if my work will be a good investment. I believe that attitude has held back the progression of art, but I understand it.” “I think my work is pretty straightforward. Even though the narrative is in the eye of the beholder, I’m giving you a lot of information. It’s not like, ‘What is Jackson [Pollock] up to now?’ On a couple of occasions the word Lilliputian has been used to describe my work, which I really hate. I just can’t stand the word, and again, the fact that my work is in miniature is not the point; the miniature scale is the vehicle that gets you to the point, whatever that may be for the individual viewing the work. The response I’m interested in is the one that settles in after the ‘wow factor’ has worn off. That’s when the piece starts to have an emotional impact.”
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I understand that my work is unusual and in some ways indefinable; people don’t know which box to put it in. And I’ve fought with myself over the years, like, why couldn’t I be a painter like everybody else? But, for better or worse, this is what I do. © All images courtesy of Alan Wolfson www.AlanWolfson.net
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Contempoaray Art | Alan Wolfson
Boulevard Drinks (2003) 12 x 10 x 12 1/2 inches Boulevard Drinks has been a landmark on Journal Square in Jersey City, NJ since 1949. Wolfson changed and rearranged some of the surrounding businesses for the sake of visual interest. This is the second version he did of Boulevard Drinks. An art collector from Jersey City saw the first one (dated 1989) and commissioned this piece. It’s almost identical to the first one except here Wolfson included some very discrete personal references for the collector. She grew up in the neighborhood and frequented the place during her teen years.
Reference photos of the REAL Boulevard Drinks.
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Tower of Pizza (1985) 14 x 17 3/8 x 17 1/4 inches
This piece is comprised of details from several different locations, some real and some imagined. The actual pizza place that was Wolfson’s inspiration for the piece stood on 32nd Street and Broadway. While the subway entrance is modeled after the one on 8th Ave. & 42nd Street. The view down the steps is complete with the facades of the discount stores in the underground shopping arcade. A look into the second floor window provides you a view into Sister Olga’s apartment and ‘office’ — complete with crystal ball and tarot cards.
Reference photo of the REAL Tower of Pizza
Tube Bar (1992) 13 x 13 x 13 inches
Wolfson often passed by Tube Bar when he lived in Jersey City. The beautiful façade, with the over-sized round window and art deco styling was reminiscent of a ‘gin-mill’ from a bygone era. Shortly after he photographed the location as reference for the miniature, the entire façade was torn down and covered over with imitation flagstone tiles—another architectural victim of modernization, according to Wolfson. Looking down through the steel doors on the sidewalk of the model, you will see the basement storage area with cartons of booze and beer stacked up in reserve.
Reference photo of the REAL Tube Bar
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Contempoaray Art | Alan Wolfson
Reference photo of the REAL Lor-Al Diner
Lor-Al Diner (1987) 17 x 24 1/2 x 24 1/2 inches
Lor-Al Diner is modeled after the Corfu Diner, located in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. All of the surrounding buildings are different in the sculpture than in reality. Besides the detailed interior of the diner, there is also a view into Woody’s bar next door. A peek into the partially open second floor window reveals the interior of Bowlarama, complete with eight lanes, shoe rental and vending machines. Looking at the roof of the diner, you can see where the sign painters working on the Bowling Alley sign dumped a gallon of blue paint from the scaffolding.
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Ma’s Home Cooking (1991) 12 3/4 x 15 1/2 x 16 3/4 inches
Ma’s Home Cooking was modeled after an existing restaurant on Doyers Street in New York’s Chinatown. Doyers is a small street, that’s easy to miss if you’re not looking for it. It only runs one block long, and makes a sharp 90 degree turn midway. The street has an interesting history. The tabloids used to refer to it as the “Bloody Angle” because of the tong wars that were fought there in the early 20th century. Apparently the façade of the restaurant was a remodel job by some scenic carpenters shooting a movie on the street. The owner liked it so much, he asked them to leave it intact when they went to ‘strike it’ at the end of production. The restaurant interior in the model is complete, down to the chopsticks on the tables, and the take-out orders waiting to be picked up. There’s also a view down into the barbershop next door. Reference photo of the REAL Ma’s Home Cooking
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Contempoaray Art | Alan Wolfson
Terminal Diner (1990) 15 x 20 1/2 x 20 1/2 inches
The Terminal Diner actually exists on the west side of Manhattan. The classically designed stainless steel eatery looks as though it was squeezed to get it into an alleyway between two buildings. Wolfson kept the basic design of the diner for the piece with only a couple of exterior changes — as he did with the building to it’s left. The building on the right is completely different than the one that actually exists. Once again, not everything in reality is visually interesting. The diner has a complete interior view. There is a ladder on the side of the diner, leading up to the roof where the air conditioning unit is being overhauled. Wolfson used this narrative element on a couple of different diner environments. The building on the left has an open door on the second floor fire escape. A view into that door reveals an artist’s loft. On the easel is a half-finished photorealist painting of the diner next door. Reference photos of the REAL Terminal Diner
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Miss America Diner (2000) 13 x 17 1/2 x 18 1/4 inches
The location of the Miss America Diner was a surprise. Wolfson admittedly would have expected to find it as a roadside attraction on a turnpike, or perhaps in an industrial area catering to the workers on their lunch hour. The classic 1942 stainless steel beauty is almost hidden away in a residential/commercial area of Jersey City. Reference photos of the REAL Miss America Diner
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Contempoaray Art | Alan Wolfson
Canal St. Cross-Section (2009-2010) 27 x 2 31/2 x 19 1/2 inches
Wolfson wanted to build a piece that resembled a core sample of a city street. As though you took a street, dug it up, and lifted it straight off the earth. Canal St. Cross-Section is a combination of five major pieces built into one box. There’s a street scene on the top with a subway entrance on the corner. Looking down into the subway entrance, you are led to the two subterranean levels of the piece, both of which have intersecting cross views visible through the small windows on the sides of the piece. The street scene is not an exact representation of Canal Street, but rather a combination of existing and fabricated environments. The Canal Rubber store is modeled after the real thing--a landmark on Canal Street since 1954. The pizza place on the corner was inspired by one that existed on Eighth Avenue, Wolfson had liked the signage. He decided to throw in the Chinese massage parlor both to give it a touch of Chinatown and also to spice it up a little. The other Wolfson has done so many subway environments over the years, showing almost every conceivable point of view. Here he wanted to incorporate several of these different views into this project. The problem was to make all that architecture work together and make sense visually. He was able to do that by having windows on the sides of the piece to accommodate the cross views. Wolfson gave the subway platform a sense of depth by using a carefully placed mirror at the far end. As with almost all of his projects, the sight lines were critical. This artwork took eighteen months from start to finish.
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