CITIES
How does one create an idea of their memories? How does one try to visualize their dreams? Through the eyes of this particular artist, Grant has taken his memories of great cities that he has visited and painted a digital collage of his favorite places, creating unique images that reveal what his experience was like.
As a young architect, Grant's awareness to buildings all over the world was very high, studying the oldest forms of construction and design accompanied with research into modern design allowed this artist to be able to cross paths between the classical and the modern.
The idea behind these pieces is to create visualizations of places where our history and future plans are forever present, these unique pieces will never stop suprising the viewer as everytime you view the pieces you discover another feature of that particular city.
One artists journey
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london
London truly was, and is one of the most powerful cities in the world. The Artist spent considerable time there as an architect and actor, experiencing everything the city has to offer. In this piece he wanted to display the industrial power, the monarchy and the modern architecture of an amazing place. The differing areas create a database of beautiful architecture and design, the birthplace of the stage was created here with Shakespeare, museums blossom across the skyline. The financial market holds court with the largest central hub in the world connecting the far east with the United States.
For the Artist, London is a home away from home and a personal connection to his wife's home in Sweden. A place of unique diversity that he composed in this piece.
new york
The Incredible history and union of so many cultures is what New York truly is, the connection of people and the movement of such huge volumes is what truly shapes this city. With more and more time spent down town the Financial District, the artist realized that this was the point of origin for so many migrants in the 1900s. So many of the artists ancestors travelled from Ireland and reached New York entering Manhattan via Ellis Island.
In this piece, the artist used an old 1900's map as a backdrop and introduced many new, key areas of interest. The focal point of the piece is now the new world trade center, but as you gaze further you will discover the flowing lines that continue up to the top of the piece. these lines are the original facade of world trade center, north tower. lying beneath the central focal point is an aerial image of st patricks cathedral. an homage to the shear loss of life on 9/11.
every tiny inch of this piece has a hidden message and over time as this art sits on your wall gaze adn discover and be amused as your guests get lost in a remarkable piece that captures new york.
belfast
The home of the Artist, Northern Ireland has been recovering from over 30 years of intense fighting between the two main communities of the country, the Catholics and the Protestants
In 1997, the village the artist grew up in was destroyed by a car bomb placed there by the IRA. Thankfully today the country has seen the opportunities that peace holds. The Belfast piece was developed in two ways, one to unite, and the other to show the world the power of resilience.
The massive impact of british occupancy is clear in the architecture, soke of the buildings that are situated in belfast simply could not be completed in modern day society due to the shear cost. industry, history & modernn influence create a unique juxtoposition in this piece, illuminating a truly beautiful place that has overcome its tragedies
home of The Titanic, the ship constructed in Belfast along with many other world famous ships, with an ongoing joke stating "we built the best ship in the world, it took the English to sink her!"
The Artist admits that this was the hardest piece to construct due to the emotional connection. The Artist is still fighting to create more pieces that represent Belfast in the truest form.
los angeles
The City of Angels is a truly wondrous place filled with dreams and aspirations. The home of Hollywood, the perfect weather and off course, Hollywood. The artist travelled to LA from New York after 3 years in the Big Apple.
Introducing the first piece on LA which showed how distorted the artists vision truly was. Vibrant colors merged with great landmarks that can defy how a person truly feels in the city.
This image contains so much more of what LA is for the artist. The passion for old movies is hidden in the backdrop, with the paramount gates becoming a more prominent feature. The Artist wanted to highlight the "hot to cold" vibe there is in LA, from the beautiful weather to the chills of the Hollywood life. The Sunset tower hotel is one of the Artist's favorite hotels and restaurants and a hot spot for the Hollywood elite.
Many Angelenos know and understand the road systems and fight continuously with the manic traffic that control so many of their lives, but one has to sit back and look at the engineering marvel which can be seen from the sky as you enter into LAX on any commercial airline.
San Francisco
the artists fascination with te infamous alcatraz prison is a focal point in this piece. San francisco is now considered one of the richest cities in the world, largely due to the impact of the evolution in technology. to think americas deadliest criminals where situated out on the bay to now see the brightest minds in the world create inovative life changing devices and techniques is another wonder of how our universe works.
the tram system is a key element in this piece, inbedded in an old 1800's map of the bay area, transportation and infrastructure lie deep in the cities history. the combination of classical architectural facades and modern engineering are present with dark lines flowing through the piece indicating the flight paths of airlines in and of the bay area.
look deep into the piece and discover the beloved san francisco giants logo... the artist always wants to keep you searching.
paris
after studying architecture for many years, one true genius the artist loved was le corbusier, an architect who changed the face of modern architecture. a quirky indivdual who was not afraid to change things up a little.
paris is full of incredible feats of architecture, this all blended into the portrait of corbusier created a piece that is visually truly striking. it illumintes any room with the shear boldness of the piece. inside the piece the moulin rouge blossoms, blending further into the notre dame cathedral and offcourse the le tour eiffel is hidden deep in the imagery.
the artist has spent considerable time in the city, understanding the infrastructure and the parisian masterplanning technique which builds roads and parks around their greatest buildings.
romance is lost but can always be found in paris, especially in this powerful montage of her greatest spectacles.
stockholm
As a gift for his wifes family, the artist created this artwork on stockholm. a gift to hiss mother in law, who, in 1993 lost her husband to cancer. maestro & international music composer ulf bjorlin. one of swedens great treasures, ulf bjorlin snr travelled the globe composing some of the most famous musical scores.
after numerous trips back and forth to visit his family, the artist created this piece to incorporate all things truly beautiful in stockholm, the clasical map in the foreground lays the foundation of the piece mimicing similar markings to a musical score. the inside of the royal palace lay down ornate details that belong to a grand and well respected name.
the golden hue and deep blue accents enhance all things that are swedish. the artists only wish was that Ulf senior could have seen this piece, but he does believe he can enjoy all aspects of it from heaven.
dedicated to
ulf bjorlin, 1933-1993
dubai
an architectural playground of the modern world, dubai attracts the biggest architects, the biggest investors, the biggest companies... the biggest everything the home of the tallest building in the world, the burj khalifa, designed by som architects.
the artist spent a christmas in dubai and instantly fell in love, the shear scale and quality of modern architecture is a marvel in itself. but once you travel into the heart of old dubai you can see the traditional techniques and intricate designs of the native population. many old mosques and public buildings are cooled by the channeling of the desert winds down from tall spires that are shaped in a unique way.
the arabic heritage can be seen everywhere with beautifully designed patterns sprawled across facades. one key factor of dubai is the incredible infrastructure and engineering techniques that have been adapted to create new land in the ocean, piling millions of tons of sand into the ocean to create luxury islands. opening up the waterways of dubai opened up the worlds eyes to the treasures of the middle east.
edinburgh
After spending 5 years in university in edinburgh he had to create a visual memory, although this piece is still under construction, this was the first thing the artisit put together while thinking of his past college years.
this piece is being reviewed and redesigned for final product ot go on sale soon.