Collossal Hand of Constantine

This is the bronze hand of of the colossal roman statue of Constantine I, made in the years of 312-315 AD. The sculpture, all together, is said to have been 40 feet high! I am astounded by the painstaking detail and the jaw-dropping realism of the hand alone. And the hand's wear and tear -- a result of the centuries its endured -- doesn't take away from the piece: each gaping void adds character to once cold perfection, giving a truly unique mood and rhythm to the sculpture.

Ancient Indian Buddha Sculpture

A sculpture of Buddha made in India in the 700s. It depicts his fasting and the stages of enlightenment and understanding that followed. I love the veiny pattern carved oh-so intricately on the skin of Buddha in the artwork. Compositionally I find the sculpture intriguing due the multitude of Buddha's swarming around the larger, center Buddha as well as the section of the sculpture underneath the Buddha's (the cows). 

Cultural Sculpture

This sculpture dates back to the thirteenth century, however, the exact time of it's creation is shrouded in ambiguity. The sculpture is Roman in origin and conceptually deals with the culture's mythology.  I love the haunted nuance to the mother dog's expression and such fine details as the ribs straining against the cool stone skin. I also am intrigue by the stylized texture of the mother dogs neck: a necklace? Scruffy fur? It add some interest to the piece visually, and provides some food for thought. 

Cool, inspiring sculpture

This is a sculpture by the contemporary American artist Takeshi Murata titled "Melted 3D"; delicately crafted from a metal that creates the illusion of a perpetual fluid movement (or melting). I like the simpilicity of the design of the sculpture because it emphasizes the cool "melting" special effect. If Murata had been more flashy with the other aspects of the sculpture, I feel as if the sculpture would be too busy -- he balances simplicity and complexity. Additionally, I aplaud the tecnhical know-how it must have taken to create such a piece.

Ceramic work

Yosaky Yammamoto's work manages to be both whimsical and unsettling. Observe his sculpture carefully, what concrete aspect instigates such an inference? It's all in the face. Like a mask, the deceivingly apathetic expression cloaks a bottomless well of a mystery. In otherwords, what lies beneath the surface of his work is up to your own imagination. Like monsters in the dark (that's really just a coat on a hanger or something). That's what I like about his work. The enigmatic-ness (I'm pretty sure that's not an actual word...oh well).

Art with text

Just admire how incredibly detailed this is. It's a page from the artistically renowned illuminated manuscript "The Book of Kells". Imagery and writing merge together into a seemless whole. And I'm pretty sure it would still be that way even if I could read the language written in the book.

Second Artist that inspires me

For the second artist that inspires me, I'll do someone more contemporary: Agostino Arrivebene. I found out about this guy in Juxtapoz magazine. I could stare at his work for hours in pure wonder, and that's not even at the original painting. Technically he employs classical italian techniques with his own subtle mannerisms--he mixes his own colors and makes his own medium. You can tell. Additionally, content wise he does this reall surrealistic figurative work rich with allegory. I've attached a picture of one of his painting's below.