ARTIST CREATES MESMERISING PORTRAITS OUT OF PEBBLES ALONG HIS WAY
According to British artist Justin Bateman, pebbles are his preferred medium for creation. He uses found stones to create remarkably detailed portraits of people and animals while travelling throughout Thailand, Indonesia, and the UK.
Bateman meticulously places his stone mosaics on the beaches, parks, and forest floors—the exact locations where the pebbles are found. Each installation is made in a manner akin to pointillist painting, in which each stone or pebble functions as a brushstroke or dot of colour in a range of organic hues that combine to form a single, cohesive image. As the stones are grouped together, Bateman says, "My work frequently relies on a phenomenon called simultaneous contrast, whereby the eye blends adjacent colours to create a more consistent impression."
The land artist's most striking pieces, like his elaborate pebble version of Rembrandt's Self-Portrait and Botticelli's Primavera, are influenced by well-known masterpieces. His most recent work, however, focuses on making pebble portraits of people, including well-known individuals he finds inspiring, as well as animals, such as a Shiba Inu, a lion, a monkey, and a cat.
Despite taking hours or even days to complete, many of Bateman's pebble pieces are not kept intact for very long. Each fragile, transient piece of art slowly deteriorates as the stones organically return to their original locations. "My work is impermanent; I leave only footprints," the artist explains.
