Artist Blog - Sebastian Lemm

Today I want to look at the work of Sebastian Lemm. While his work is not eco-art, it is inspired and informed by nature. Almost all of his work includes nature as a subject. I like that he continually creates incredibly interesting work of images of trees an the sort, otherwise banal subjects. Like myself, he is interested in the human interactions with nature, though it may not be necessarily apparent in his work. He is also interested in the ideas of the sublime and romanticism.
His work is important to mine because essentially I think he is interested in the same things and is working in the same way as me. His more recent work digitally manipulates simple images of nature, just as I am doing. I've been studying his Photoshop techniques for ideas that I could use in my work as well. He has also given me some sources to read into to further my own work.

I think I like the idea of his series Strata better than the work. It has the problem of if you've seen one, you've seen them all. But it inspired me to think of a good title that will perfectly explain my piece.
From his Strata Series:

Sebastien Lemm

	strata # 5 c-print on Kodak Ultra Endura wooden frame size: 48x60" (121x152 cm) – edition of 3 2008

Lemm points at the sublime in his Subtraction Series:

Sebastien Lemm
subtraction # 1
Lambda c-print on Kodak Ultra Endura
wooden frame
sizes:
24x30" (61x76 cm) – edition of 5
48x60" (121x152 cm) – edition of 3
2006

Shattenseite translates to "shadyside" or dark side, drawback, or disadvantage.
When applied to this work I see the points of convergence in the mirror images as hindrances to the plant's growth. The mirror patterns, while the patterns almost appear to be like natural fractals, the still seem unnatural.
From his Shattenseite series:

Sebastien Lemm
schattenseite # 1
Lambda c-print on Kodak Endura
sizes: 25x30" (63.5x76 cm) and 48x60" (121x152 cm)
edition of 3
2005

His series entitled Lapse is by far my favorite, I am a bit jealous of it in fact. I see it as a structuralizing of nature, the landscape being split apart giving way to these linear, unnatural shapes. I feel it is a perfect visual metaphor for humanities effects on nature.
From his Lapse series:

Sebastien Lemm
lapse # 2
Lambda c-print on Fuji Crystal Archive
Diasec, 25x30" (63.5x76 cm) and 48x60" (121x152 cm)
edition of 5
2004

T.S.E reminds me of that artist we talked about last year who created 2-D lines and shapes on walls that, from a certain perspective, appeared to be 3-D elements in the room. I couldn't find him because I couldn't remember his name, but I always enjoyed his work as well.
From his series T.S.E.:

Sebastien Lemm
t.s.e. # 6
installation: variable dimensions
Lambda c-print on Fuji Crystal Archive paper
variable sizes
edition of 5
1999 – 2004