May 26, 2013

1001 DREAMS

Yasmina Alaoui & Marco Guerra

Yasmina Alaoui is of French and Moroccan descent. She has studied Fine Arts at the Louvre in Paris, and earned a BA in Sculpture from William and Mary. Marco Guerra is a New York based fashion photographer, originally from Chile. His work has been published in Conde Nast Traveller, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Black Book, the New Yorker Magazine, and other Publications.
A lot of work goes into creating art like this but it's not in the order that you'd think. Yasmina and Marco mix old and new techniques together to create life-size body portraits that are mysteriously beautiful. In the series they call 1001 Dreams, Guerra first photographs their nude subjects in black and white either with film or Polaroid. Next, Alaoui draws the complex Henna-like patterns, by hand, mostly with pen and ink and with some watercolor. She incorporates textures such as parchment, leaves, and dried insect wings. Finally, it's all carefully layered together.