Small Art, Big Impact; People Parade; 7-11 Casino; Chickpea Comeback; Chesterfield Eats.
RVA 5x5 - Alt 5 - March 25, 2024
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This week check out our five stories on:
Some small art being created with a huge wow factor and imagination born from the dawn and rise of the digital age of comics, video games, and film.
In case you feel the urge and need for slot machines at 5:00AM, relief is coming soon…
A look back at Easter on Parade’s long tradition in Richmond and the tradition dating back to 1870’s New York and how since the beginning, the people have been the best part of the parade — and the dogs.
Chesterfield is hungry to show off their culinary creativity and is kicking off their first Restaurant Week this weekend.
If you like hummus, then check out the new recipe and new offerings and flavors coming out of the massive Sabra hummus facility crushing chickpeas over by the Chesterfield Airport.
THE ALT 5
ALT #1 — OFF THE BEATEN PATH: Small Art, Big Impact
Sometimes in the art world, the smallest pieces can have an outsized wow factor that leaves you in awe and wonder.
You might remember about 20 years ago when Ashland artist Dwayne Keiser created “A Painting A Day” that created small index card-sized 4”x6” or 7”x6” paintings that he posted and sold online every day on eBay. He did about 1,300 pieces over the years and it became such a huge sensation he was covered in the New York Times and other national publications, and his pieces ranged from anywhere between $100-$4,000 each and were sought by people as far away as India.
You might also remember Noah Scalin’s “A Skull A Day” project, which began in 2007 and saw eight variations and themes over the years featuring daily submissions from readers, publishing books, and welcoming different editors. The first ever international Skull Appreciation Day took place in June 2011, and he even had a special one-day exhibition at the second appreciation event at Philadelphia's Mütter Museum in 2012, before retiring the concept in 2014 (you can still find the Skull-A-Day book featuring all 365 of Noah's original skulls).
And here were are in 2024 and have now discovered a new style of small art in town by an artist named Sky Burkson. He was featured in an older story by Rachel Lester at Style Weekly that I had missed, but came across last week via a story from CBS6.
Burkson has been a miniaturist since 2019, a year before he moved to Richmond from New York. He creates big worlds with small art that is inspired by his growing up in the 1990’s and seeing the creation of “digital” worlds through film, cartoons, and video games.
The models are primarily made of cost-effective copy paper, but stiffer Bristol illustration paper is also heavily relied on. “I laminate sheets of Bristol paper until I get the thickness I need and work from that,” says Burkson. The pieces are then carefully cut, layered and glued together.
I have no idea what that means, but the photos of his work in the story tell you the end result is pretty awesome and offers endless opportunities for any imagination. Burkson says he mixes the “intense papercraft with traditional model-making techniques (brasswork, woodwork, plastic craft, etc.)”
Photo: “Leyndell.” Courtesy of the artist
As Burkson builds, he likes to experiment with the material’s limits. “I like to think about what I haven’t done yet with paper and do it.” It’s a fun challenge and one that pushes him as an artist.
One of Burkson’s trademarks is a figure placed somewhere on the landscape. “About a year and a half ago I tried hand-making some of my own figures,” he says. “You can buy or print them out so I thought, why not make them myself?” Since then, he hasn’t made a miniature without a handmade figure. “I call them thumbnails and I love making them.”
Unlike some miniaturists who follow a certain scale, Burkson listens to the spirit of the piece to figure out the right dimensions. For these models, it’s not the size but the atmosphere that’s important.
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