Life Lines

I marvel and rejoice at the rich intricacies of Etsuko Fukaya's finely detailed etchings. 

These small worlds are lovingly crafted celebrations of the beauty of nature, 

peopled by an incredible variety of animals, vegetation and lush natural patterns. 

Please click on the pictures to see them enlarged, and take a bit of time 

to discover all the creatures that inhabit them.

Full view and detail of Shofuku, an etching containing 84 animals.

Such incredibly complex imagery is painstakingly achieved by this young Japanese artist:

"I want to draw what is alive" says Fukaya - and for her, this means that capturing every

 hair of an animal's fur, every platelet of a fish's scales, every marking on a flower's 

petals is essential to her pursuit. Thus, she chose etching as her ideal medium, favoring 

its ability to create the most precise linework. Pushing this medium to its limits, 

Fukaya achieves the finest lines. Yet, maintaining that "a magnifying object would be 

an obstacle between herself and her work," Fukaya relentlessly overworks her own 

naked eyes to produce artworks. In imparting such intense energy, her creatures appear

 to sing with an overflowing vivacity." (from Azito online gallery)

As you can see the originals are quite small, around 12 x 12 inches.

In this video interview Fukaya's gallerist Yuko Yamamoto discusses her work process

and inspiration. Where noted, images are copyright to Yamamoto Gendai art gallery.

Objectified

Domestic Elephantidae:

1 teapot, 2 jewel box, 3 cookie jar, 4 keychain, 5 creamer, 6 waterning can, 7 vase, 8 piggy bank, 9 children stool

Many thanks to Carlo Porrini for linking me to Taxonomy of domestic fauna, 

a charming series of etchings by Colombian artist Marcela Cardenas.

Besides loving animals, I also own a small collection of animal-shaped objects

and, as you may have noticed, have a natural tendency to create arbitrary

classifications, so Marcela's work is right up my alley.

 Domestic Ictiology

1 doorknocker, 2 bottle opener, 3 ashtray, 4 plate, 5bottle, 6 baking mold, 7 bottle, 8, pitcher, 9 vase, 10 teapot 

 Domestic Ursidae

1 and 2 piggybank, 3 clutch, 4 keychain, 5 clock, 6 pot, 7 jar, 8 honey bottle, 9 usb

 Ornithology

1 teapot, 2 bottle opener, 3 scissors, 4 lemon press, 5 vase, 6 chili box, 7candy box, 8 cocktail shaker

Domestic Lagomorphs

1 teapot, 2 pincushion, 3 stick, 4 creamer, 5 piggybank, 6 cookie jar, 7 vase, 8 ring, 9 toy, 10 candy box, 11 planter

 Cardenas often works with acrylics, as in this picture from her recent project Domestic landscapes. 

You can also find her works on the Behance Network and on flickr.