I’m hardly an art critic. And I don’t abide by the cliché, “I know good art when I see it.” Like many people, I gravitate to images that trigger an emotional and visceral reaction that lingers. That’s the experience I had last night, stumbling upon Steampunk wallpapers while cruising boingboing.
The wallpapers are creations of Mouse, an artist who’s goal is to produce a wallpaper each day. Her “Map to a factory long gone” grips me for reasons I don’t fully understand:
Mouse, it turns out, is a fellow Portlander, blogger (Geekery Abounds), and writer. Her art is an eclectic mix. She paints, sculpts, works with fibers, and creates Photoshop images. Photoshop, she says, “isn’t a program, it’s a religion.” Mouse links here to the stunning original photograph that inspired “Map.” (Sonya, the photographer, also describes the setting and context for the image.)
Now for a confession of my unhippness: until recently I had never heard of Steampunk anything. Then I found Steampunk bikes, Steampunk keyboards, watches, and a lot more. Steampunk definitions, I’ve learned, are varied, too.
The imagination and intricacy of many of the works are inspiring. Some have an alluring, haunting resonance. At other stages of my life, Steampunk wouldn’t have appealed to me.
Something’s changed.
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I’m the photographer of the original picture and traced to this site and Steampunk Wall with the help of flickr’s stats tool. I’m really happy to see my work inspiring others.
Thank you for the appreciation.
Sonya,
I hope more people see your work and Mouse’s. I enjoyed looking at your photos from around China. You have a perceptive eye. I added a bit more information to my original post about you and the factory photo. And for what it’s worth, I’ve come to believe that serendipity may not always explain why we come to be in certain places at certain times. Don’t ask me to explain beyond that.
MB
Yes, it’s as hard to explain how beauty is sensed as how beauty is created.