Miniature Displays of Contemporary Urban Buildings by Joshua Smith

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Working at 1:20 scale, artist Joshua Smith builds in-depth works that capture the layered existences of urban environments in cities such as Hong Kong, Sydney, and Los Angeles. His miniature buildings showcase the details and detritus left by the diverse population of each city, bringing in elements of the city’s workers, inhabitants, and street artists. These marks can be seen through heavily graffitied exteriors, and thoughtful additions like a small table on the roof of one building with takeout food from the tiny Chinese restaurant below.

Smith has been working on this series for the last two years, after stints as both a stencil artist and gallerist. Using several reference photos from a building’s actual site, he utilizes MDF, cardboard, and plastic to create the base of the work, and chooses paint and chalk pastels for the exterior’s details. Smith’s newest four-story work took him three months to complete, often working 8-16 hours a day.

via My Modern Met

Kim Keever's Water Tank Diorama Photography

 Kim Keever shoots large-scale photographs of incredibly detailed landscapes in a 200-gallon tank of water. The tank is filled with water or dry ice and lit with gel-covered lights to transform the strange world into a hazy, fantastical world. The behind-the-scenes is just as fascinating as the photographs themselves!

h/t: Juxtapoz

Traveling Landscapes: Miniature Ecosystems Tucked Inside Vintage Suitcases by Kathleen Vance

 

 As part of her ongoing series titled Traveling Landscapes, New York-based artist Kathleen Vance constructs entire landscapes inside of old steamer trunks and repurposed luggage. Many of the pieces incorporate real running water, soil, and living plant life to form encapsulated environments, though others are constructed from common model making materials and resin. The pieces are intended to speak to the fragility of drinking water reservoirs and issues of water rights. H/T:Thisiscolossal