Mark Ryden's beautiful ugliness.

Surrealism fascinates me. There is just so many ways your can interpret it, and it delves so deep into things that are so close to us, yet seem so foridden. Art, for me, is all about fantasy and the impossible, and yet, using it to represent things so basic and close to the human psyche. Take death, for instance. It's an enigma that we will never be able to fully describe or understand. And yet, we are fascinated by it. We contemplate what death is, we try to describe it. Some of us even go so far as to flirt with death. Some succeed. Some do not.

Mark Ryden is an artist who thrives upon surrealism. Since his first exhibition in 2001, he has continued to awe us. His art excites us dream about our earlier years, when things were so fanciful, and simple. When things were as simple as they were seen, and had nothing to hide. There is a touch of innocence amongst the gruesomeness of his art, something which forces one to look at life as it is, teleporting one into a completely parallel universe where women wear clothes made of meat and children play with giant monsters. Nostalgic, in a twisted way perhaps, but art, and one which will continue to fascinate art critics and lovers alike for ages to come.

The magic circus

The Ringmaster

The Grinder

Virgin and child

Incarnation

Pics from Markryden.com

Banner 2 : Wanderlust mind

I like to mash up and change things up every once so often...in everything that I do. I like to experiment, do things that I otherwise would not normally do. Maybe it's a part of my wander-lust mind. Anyhow, here is to hoping it's not an extension of my restless nature.

The first banner I used was a picture a friend took of me at a University event (yes, I am an University student. Almost done though) I was wearing the vest I had one of my two seamstresses made specially for the event. Memorable night, I must add.

Moving onwards, this current banner I am using was taken the night I got my new camera. Canon Power-Shot SX120. 10.0 mega-pixels and 10x zoom. My last Camera was a Nikon. And yes, I prefer Japanese made cameras and lenses. I've experimented with cameras enough to know that nothing beats a Japanese camera lens.

I was tinkering with it and was taking quite a whole load of shots. I turned up the brightness and took some more shots...of my room, the hills and myself. Some were good, some were bad. This particular shot I took of my work-station. It's usually very disorganised, and as I type this blog, I see that it still is. The little leg you see jutting from the left is my tripod - small thing, cute thing. The supposed pen-holder is actually a cracked-glass candle lamp. Bought it a few years back. Never did light a candle in it. And then you have the bright, 'hot' portion on the right. The flash completely erased everything. But it makes the picture a lot more interesting. Makes you guess what exactly is there...and I prefer to keep it that way. The little mysteries are what makes life interesting, after all.

Sandals for Spring

Personally, I have never been a big fan of sandals as such. But the Milan Fashion Week totally changed that for me. The biggest fashion houses, from Kenzo to Hermes, paired their clothes with sandals. Cord, leather and suede, among others, were used in a big way, with influences from the far east and the streets. The gladiator sandal that was a big trend in the last few years was missing from the ramps, replaced with ones that we much more simplistic and modest, but no less stylish. Here are some of my favorites.

Burberry Prorsum used cork-helled sandals to soften the tough image of the collection. The sandals are very much in keeping tune with the color palette of the collection.

Dolce and Gabanna included cord sandals, in keeping with the 'island castaway' theme.

Dior Homme had black, simple design to contrast with the complex silhouette of the drape.

Kenzo

Hermes

Jean-Paul Gaultier

Louis Vuitton used simple, versatile sandals for the man on the go.

Viktor and Rolf. Simple and elegant, they took sandals to a whole different level of sophistication.

Am so looking forward to S/S 2011.

Pics from SQUA.RE. Thanks Adnan.

Sandals, leather and then some...

I am a fan of Burberry, no doubt about that. Burberry Prorsum Spring/Summer 2011 has got to be one of my favorite collections. The trench is back as the signature piece, but there were some other awesome pieces, including leather jackets and some awesome footwear.

What stood out the most for me was the Leather Explorer Midi Boots.

Personally, I prefer the boot paired with gray pants. The contrast brings out the architecture of the boots.

And then, there is the studded leather vests. I actually had a vest made, not of leather, but resembling the studded style earlier in the year. All in all, the collection did not fail to impress at all.

Pics from sonnyphotos and SQUA.RE