Star Wars Carved Crayons; Darth, Chewbacca, C3PO and StormTrooper

above: photo by Mark Merlot.

Although these carved crayons were not made by Diem Chau, whose many crayola sculptures I've shared with you in the past, the Star Wars Crayolas were made by Steve Thompson and have been featured on many a geek and sci-fi blog. If you haven't seen them, here's a good look:






But where's the green Yoda??

Nike World Cup Players Carved In Crayons By Diem Chau

Our favorite crayon carver and artist, Diem Chau, about whose unusual art I have blogged before here and here, just had a super cool assignment from ad agency Wieden + Kennedy.

She was commissioned by them to carve 66 crayons for this year's Nike World Cup press kits. "This project was a welcomed challenge" says Chau, "I definitely pushed my physical limits. I had 18 days to make around 70 crayons! There was a week I slept 3 hours a night."

Using metallic crayons and white for the first time, Chau immortalized six footballers in Crayola for 11 Nike press kits. Here are the results.

The design team at Wieden Kennedy made the box, base and contents, while Diem Chau made the crayons for the press kits from Nike for World Cup 2010. W+K also chose the colors, a metallic/stone theme. Diem had never worked with metallics or white before and now is a big fan of the silver and white crayons.

The Nike Press Kit

The press kit contains each of the six carved figures, a wooden box that also serves as a display stand, a colored brochure and all are in a clamshell presentation box.





The 6 figures that are in each kit.


In the final version Robinho (far left in Silver) sticks his tongue out slightly and Rooney (Grey) has his arm folded instead of raised above his head. Diem says she wishes she could have captured Rooney's signature pose, but it was impossible considering the form of a crayon.

Fabio Cannavaro in Antique Brass from Crayola. This color was introduced in 1998 in the 120 box set:



Didier Drogba in Copper from Crayola. This color was introduced in 1957 and is Charles Schulz's favorite color from Crayola:



Franck Ribery in Gold from Crayola. The color was introduced in 1949 in the 48 box set:



Robinho in Silver from Crayola. This color was introduced with Gold in 1949 in the 48 box set:



Cristiano Ronaldo in White from Crayola. Introduced in the Studio & School 12 box in 1903:



Wanye Rooney in Timberwolf from Crayola. Introduced in 1993 in the Big Box of 96:


Press kit photos courtesy of Wieden + Kennedy, individual crayon carvings courtesy of Diem Chau.

Now, if you haven't seen the Nike Ballman for the 2010 World Cup, learn about him here.

Diem Chau's Crayons Carved As The 12 Chinese Zodiacs

above: individually hand carved crayons that represent the 12 symbols of the Chinese Zodiac.

I can't seem to get enough of the very talented Diem Chau's unusual work. While her porcelain work is amazing, it's her carved crayola crayons that continue to blow me away.

I have blogged about her carved crayons in the past, but recently she tackled the 12 signs of the Chinese Zodiac which are now on exhibit at the Packer Schopf Gallery in Chicago along with many of her ceramic works in a show named Sojourn.




First, the 12 symbols of the Chinese Zodiac:


Now, Diem Chau's Zodiac Crayons:


She began with the monkey on the far right (note how she wrote on the crayons which was to become which animal):


and once they were finished, she mounted each carved crayon on a wood pedestal for exhibition:

above: all twelve Chinese Zodiac crayons, finished and mounted.

I have close ups and detailed images of all but the Dog, Dragon, Horse, Ox, and Rabbit.

The Goat:


The Monkey:


The Pig:


The Rat:


The Rooster:


The Snake:


and this year, the Tiger:


all images are courtesy of the artist.

Be sure to check out her porcelain pieces in the following show:
SOJOURN
Packer Schopf Gallery
February 19th - March 27th
942 W. Lake
Chicago, IL 60607
312.226.8984

Diem Chau

The Unusual Art of Christian Faur

True Color Series Girl 1, 2008

Artist Christian Faur is the Director of Collaborative Technologies in the Arts at Denison University in Granville Ohio and his title couldn't be more apt. He works with shredded paper, hand cast encaustic crayons and mathematical formulas to create pieces that in addition to being aesthetically pleasing, say much more. But I will let his work and his own statement speak for themselves.

The art below was created with hand cast encaustic crayons:

True Color Series, Boy:

Boy, detail:

Where The Sidewalk Ends, 2008:

The Color Purple, 2008:

Charlie, 2007:

detail:

Mortgage On The Future, 2006:

The Dance I, 2006:

The Hours, 4 panels, 2006:

detail of The Hours:


In addition to his crayon work, Christian has experimented with many other mediums. His shredded paper paintings are pretty spectacular. Below is a 78 inch by 48 inch paper sculpture made from 12,000 strips of shredded paper:

detail:


The piece below (1000 Names On Paper) is made from shredded paper that is printed with one-thousand of the most common names of those currently between the ages of eighteen and twenty-eight according to the Social Security Administration.

One Thousand Names On Paper:

detail:


And here are a few of his encaustic works in which he has embedded many references to scientific formulas, human chromosomal DNA, and mathematics, which function as metaphoric as well as aesthetic elements.




The Artist's Statement (abridged):

The things that inspire me to create, I find, are buried deep within the structures and systems that form the underpinning of our natural world. My studies in the natural sciences have made me aware of these hidden layers of complexity present in even the simplest objects. These invisible layers are seen most clearly through the lens of logic, which is used to decipher the underlying rules and laws that govern the physical world.

In my work, I try to mimic these elegant structures of nature by developing systems of my own with which to express my thoughts and ideas, so that the medium and the message appear as one.

I think of it like a game, with a set of axioms that are established at the outset through the limitations of the material or forms from which the work is constructed, which then dictates what can and cannot be "said" within the boundaries of the chosen medium. This material limitation can also be a strength, as there is the potential to contain thoughts and ideas in unique ways, so that the "medium" can become the "message." This intertwining of form and function can be seen most directly in my most recent work, which is comprised of crayons and shredded paper.

These systems function as a private language, that allows me to express many layers of meaning within each work that I create. I think of them as complex visual "poems," which can redefine the way we think about the meaning of communication.


You can view his entire portfolio here.

Another artist who does amazing work with crayons is Demi Chau.

Learn about her crayon carvings here.