These images have been circulating around the internet for a few days now, but I felt compelled to post something about them this morning. Probably because !’d really like to see these in person, I have a feeling that the actual sculptures are even more dynamic in real life. The ironic thing about this post is, you are looking at image of sculpture, based on pixelated images of nature, on a display that is made up of millions of pixels.

Artist Shawn Smith, has created a series of sculptures based on the intersection between reality and the ever-present digital world that surrounds our lives. According to his artist statement he is specifically interested in how we perceive nature through technology. His works are based on the pixilation of images as they are seen via a computer screen, and then realized through a three-dimensional representation of those pixels. (“Voxels” if we want to get all technically correct in our terminologies.) Smith works with plywood or MDF cubes cut into various lengths. Each strip is hand dyed, and painted before being assembled into the sculptural piece.

Smith’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States and in France. Smith currently resides in Austin, Texas and is represented by Craighead Green Gallery in Dallas and d. berman gallery in Austin.