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Artist Duo ‘Expanded Eye’ Explore Human Consciousness Through Painted Repurposed Wood Assemblages

Courtesy Vertical Gallery

We’ve long been enamored by the tattoo artistry of Jade Tomlinson and Kev James of Expanded Eye who examine a collision of human conciousness, geometry and the natural world in their refreshingly original artworks. The duo has also begun producing three dimensional pieces in the form of sculptures and painted assemblages built from repurposed wood. The cut fragments serve as a canvas or become fully articulated parts of faces or limbs adorned with pieces of windows, doors and books, all found on the street.

As with their tattoo work, Jade and Kev work side by side to develop new concepts in a process that begins with sketching and gradually moves into 3D. “The aesthetic however is an exciting process of unconscious evolution, as the pieces grow and take shape by immersing ourselves in our studio full of reclaimed wood and found objects,” they share with Colossal. “Using [the] same visual language and symbols to depict stories and concepts but with skin comes limitations, as opposed to working with wood and large scale, you have boundless artistic freedom. Different mediums allow for different explorations.”

Expanded Eye just premiered several new sculptures and a print at Vertical Gallery in Chicago as part of their three year anniversary show with Jana & JS, and STATIC on view through the end of April. They also built several large-scale installations for the adhocPAD project space in Vienna. You can follow more of their work on Instagram and Facebook.

Courtesy Vertical Gallery

Courtesy Vertical Gallery

Courtesy Vertical Gallery

Courtesy Expanded Eye

Courtesy adhocPAD

Courtesy adhocPAD

Courtesy adhocPAD