Press Release  March 26, 2019  Cynthia Close

10 Artists Creating Tiny Worlds

Courtesy the artist, © Matthew Albanese

Matthew Albanese, The Oxbow, 2016

“Miniatures offer changes of scale by which we measure ourselves anew,” writes Lia Purpura, in her essay On Miniatures, which reminds us small artworks have an outsized impact on our sense of who we are in the world. We are awed by the huge, but we are inherently intrigued by art better seen through a magnifying glass. The tiniest of the tiny is found in a collection of microminiature art at The Museum of Miniatures in Prague. No microscope is needed to see these 10 artists who create miniature worlds that inspire a sense of wonder while hinting at the dark forces lurking in the real world that surrounds us.

Joe Fig, Red Grooms: April 25, 2014, 2014
Courtesy the artist

1. New York-based artist Joe Fig started as a painter and has always been interested in the creative process. That theme migrated from his paintings to his meticulously rendered miniatures of artists studios. In an attempt to demystify how artists do what they do, Fig appeals to the Peeping Tom lurking in all of us. By capturing a moment in the working life of each of the well-known artists he has chosen to depict, he invites us to peer into the spaces where the magic of art making happens.

About the Author

Cynthia Close

Cynthia Close holds a MFA from Boston University, was an instructor in drawing and painting, Dean of Admissions at The Art Institute of Boston, founder of ARTWORKS Consulting, and former executive director/president of Documentary Educational Resources, a film company. She was the inaugural art editor for the literary and art journal Mud Season Review. She now writes about art and culture for several publications.

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