Elizabeth McGrath
Elizabeth McGrath’s art is like something out of An American Werewolf in London or a Tim Burton production. Part-gothic, part-whimsical, Elizabeth draws inspiration from roadside attractions, decaying cities, nature, fashion, architecture, interior design, churches of all kinds, movies, good magazines, folklore, music, literature and poetry. Since her first paid job at the age of eight – tying black ribbons round flower vases for her aunt’s Irish style pub restaurant – Elizabeth joined a band, started a fanzine, and then accidentally fell into making art. ‘Our band was asked to play an art show and party for the magazine Juxtapoz’, she says. ‘When the promoter came to drop off posters, he saw a painting I was working on and invited me to hang it in the show. The piece sold to a gallerist who then included me in several of his group shows and I was later asked to do a solo show at the La Luz de Jesus gallery’. She is currently keeping busy working on a number of projects including an upcoming show (The Incurable Disorder) scheduled to launch this December at the Billy Shire fine arts gallery; a recording with her band Miss Derringer; book projects; toy projects; and a clothing line. With so many things going on, just where does she get her ideas from? ‘I build a cocoon of images in a corner of my studio, and when I can’t think of what to do next I crawl in and it gives me super powers!’
Also by KAREN LEONG
After winning the i-D Styling and Maria Luisa awards at 2007’s International Talent Support (a.k.a. ITS) – an annual event in Trieste supporting young fashion designers and photographers – a shell-shocked Justin Smith threw himself into celebrations. Smith, born in 1978, is the millinery world’s new rising star. His MA show at London’s Royal College of Art was extremely well received. ‘The concept for my show was based all around the performative hat’, he says. ‘I started with the models, found out what they performed with and worked back from there. For example, the burlesque fan dancer wore the fans on her head as part of the hat, and took them off and performed on the catwalk with them. So the main themes were the performative hat inspired by circus, performance and an East End Victorian funeral’. Read more
‘I overdosed on art, psycho-analytic theory and philosophy, and that clogged up my creativity’, says London-based Gordon Cheung of his artistic state in 2001 after graduating from the Royal College of Art. A six-week residency in Pakistan in 2003 changed all that. ‘The combination of being away, seeing some amazingly kitsch decorated trucks, and meeting some very interesting artists, had a huge impact on me’, he says. Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (4)
chu said | 30 August, 2007
NICE!
Crazy_Cat_Lady said | 28 May, 2008
this is pretty sweet. You don’t see this kind of work much. Simply B-E-A-U-TIFUL
Jay said | 23 November, 2010
I have this tattooed on my stomach! Hope you don’t mind but I love it 
HAVE YOUR SAY
Baltimore musician/artist Bethany Dinsick processes haunting folk music through noise methods, running her sparse guitar lines and beautiful voice through loop pedals and samplers. [photo by VJP Photography]
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The great thing about Twitter is that it reads as an unfiltered window into the real time thoughts of a generation who have no handle on the term discretion, as our friends at Oddee have proven with their list of the ‘12 Most Funny Tweets Ever‘. Read more
Says Van She bassist and vocalist Matt Van Schie about the Bush Tetras track — Too Many Creeps — from 1982: ‘I LOOOVE this tune. It opens with a perfect snare roll, and then the counter bass and guitar rhythms make it so cool. The lyrics are even more valid today. They’re one of my favourite bands of all time, and so many people try to do what they did for real. What a time! I wish I was born back then in New York, hanging out with these kids. Ahhhh!!’
The Lantern Restaurant is beautifully decorated and their Asian fusion cuisine blows our mind every time. It brings a little bit of a big city feel to a quaint small town. And the cocktails are amazing!
The duo of Brendan Monroe and Evah Fan are one of those creative, powerhouse couples. Though two entirely individual artists, the influence they exert upon one another is subtle yet undeniable. Both create the kind of art that that makes you giddy with pleasure, while the lack of pretension puts you completely at ease. You get the undeniable sense that these are two people who simply live and breathe creativity and love every moment of it. Two amazing artists with a wholly individual take on life and the world around them. I had the pleasure to grill them both. Read more
The Phenomenal Handclap Band is a collection of musicians and artists from Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn who perform live as an eight-member powerhouse, creating an eye-popping spectacle more akin to a spiritual church revival than a rock show. We have their single, 15 to 20, available for free download via the Music Download section of Lost At E Minor.
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Pioneering Australian designer Kara Smith can definitely give Urban Originals a run for their money. She creates the most innovative handbags for those that truly want to stand out. Detailed with lovely pockets and vintage buttons, Smith’s retro inspired designs literally transform original vintage fabrics into ‘one-off’ clutches, handbags, totes and accessories. I’m in love with her clutches! But yes, if you missed her over the week end at the Blue Mountain’s Leura Village Fair, she’s stocked in Glebe and Sydney’s Todae store, as well as at a variety of online outlets.
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Here are a couple awesome pieces by Matt Leines that were recently on display in the Doubting Thomases exhibit at Nudashank gallery in Baltimore. Gives me ideas for Halloween. Read more
Benjamin Edminston’s psychedelic heads seem to have some fearful wisdom behind their blissed-out eyes. Read more
It’s refreshing to see artists like Joe Kievitt who are contented to explore the beauty in simple forms and asymmetrical patterns. Read more
Honest Food Preparation Instructions
Yes, we’ve all been there: the chinese food from last week that still looks edible amongst the bare surrounds of an empty fridge. But really, we shouldn’t. Just let it be. Or College Humor will expose you! Read more
Francoise Nielly’s Yellow series
Parisian visual artist Francoise Nielly brings technicolour to the forefront in her latest series, Yellow. Featuring thick impasto palette knife strokes and trippy neon hues, Nielly captures the vulnerable expressions of her muses to a tee. Read more
This pendant by Portland designer Stephanie Stimek hangs from an eighteen inch 14 carat gold chain. Made from a Japanese quail egg, the entire shell has been coated in plastic for strength and is available for purchase through the Lost At E Minor store. Read more
If you have a Twitter feed that focuses on cool pop cultural things and you’d like to swap Tweets with Lost At E Minor and other like-minded Twitterers, drop us a note (with Tweet Swap in the title). We have a system in place and we’d like to have you in on it! [illustration by Brad Fitzpatrick]
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natalie said | 21 August, 2007
PERFECTO