![]() There is a certain duality in the unknown, perhaps best represented by the shadow in art. With its dark nature, shadow has been infallibly tied to the ignorance and fear of the unknown, as the ever shifting edges of a familiar object or person hold something we cannot perceive. Even the elusive, indeterminable shadow itself is heavy with meaning, not just in art but in life as well. Although these notions are in the base of all works of shadow art, the artists creating these types of artwork see it as more than just shedding light onto objects, and there’s usually a higher meaning lying in the art piece. Drawing lines out of the insubstantial, creating forms out of something that isn’t there. ![]() If art can be defined as creating visual or auditory elements that express the author’s imaginative or technical skill, then shadow art represents those skills in play with shadows. Left: Kumi Yamashita - Clouds, 2005 Right: Kumi Yamashita - Question Mark, 2003. Today, we will try to prove those of you wrong, and show you some amazing, mind-boggling even, works of shadow art, tell you how it’s doing on the current market, and validate it as more than just a Pinterest sub-category. ![]() Most of us have seen or heard of “someone” making “something” cool out of shadows, but it’s usually instantly tied to people goofing around with their fingers around a lamp, making shadows of rabbits and donkeys on the wall. Though it can be said that shadow gave birth to art, saying that art gave birth to shadow (art) is unconventional, not because the notion of it is unthinkable but simply because there isn’t much of it out there, compared to other art styles and how popular and spread they’ve become. Much like her lover’s outline, art was born from the desire to give substance to that which is incorporeal, to make permanent that which is fading. According to an ancient Roman author, Pliny the Elder, the very art of painting originates from trailing the edge of shadow, as a maid of Corinth traced her lover’s shadow on a wall.
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