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.