Friday, May 23, 2014

Gwenn Seemel | In Defense of Imitation

Today, I want to highlight the fabulously talented Portland based artist, Gwenn Seemel. Gwenn's focus is mainly people and animals. She creates dynamic and engaging portraits. I had occasion to first see her work in 2005 while I was working in Portland, OR with a local theater. Since then I have followed and admired her continued work, which includes among other things, a self published book called "Crimes Against Nature".

But the main reason to highlight Gwenn today is because she recently gave a Ted talk in Geneva. She made a great argument for imitation as a good thing - a desirable thing. In fact, she sites imitation as vital to the creation and maintenance of culture, religion, fashion, language and art. I know that thirteen minutes of your time is a lot to ask in this fast-paced, Internet induced world, but this is certainly worth your time and energy. Take a listen:







Here are a few examples of Gwenn's beautiful work:









Interested in hearing more? 
Follow Gwenn's Disarming Copyright board on Pinterest.


Follow Gwenn elsewhere:


1 comment:

Shawna McComber said...

I love her portraits and her TED talk makes some really interesting points. Thanks for sharing it!