Perfectionist Paper Structures Resemble Viral Colonies

Artist Charles Clary crafts the kind of hyper-intricate artwork that would make even a zen-master eventually break in frustration.

The Tennessee-born creator makes hand-cut paper and acrylic sculptures that look like something you'd find underneath a microscope. His technicolored, three-dimensional paperscapes look like viral colonies or something out of a fractalized DMT trip. Who needs computer-generated images of germ anatomy when you could have a hands-on guy like Clary?

According to HiFructose, Clary puts in at least 12 hours a day, cutting and layering his creations. He recently had a solo show at Brett Wesley Gallery in Las Vegas, has had installations in the past at Galerie EVOLUTION-Pierre Cardin in Paris, and completed a three week residency in Lacoste, France.

Here's Clary on his own work:

“I use paper to create a world of fiction that challenges the viewer to suspend disbelief and venture into my fabricated reality. By layering paper I am able to build intriguing land formations that mimic viral colonies and concentric sound waves. These strange landmasses contaminate and infect the surfaces they inhabit transforming the space into something suitable for their gestation. Towers of paper and color jut into the viewer’s space inviting playful interactions between the viewer and this conceived world. These constructions question the notion of microbial outbreaks and their similarity to the visual representation of sound waves, transforming them into something more playful and inviting.”

Art lovers have the chance to "rate" Clary's work at www.artistaday.com, and he encourages this on his own website, here.

@zachsokol