Nouveau

Data: Art Nouveau
Etymology: combination of the English and French languages by means of genre, as was popular in the early 1900s; nouveau is the French translation of ‘new’.
:art nouveau (Art Movement)
a style of art and architecture of the 1890s, characterized by swelling sinuous outlines and stylized natural forms, such as flowers and leaves*

*Art Nouveau was an international movement and style of art and architecture that peaked in popularity at the turn of the 20th century. A reaction to academic art of the 19th century, it is characterized by organic images. Floral and other plant-inspired motifs were popular, as well as highly-stylized, flowing curvilinear forms.

What can you see from here?
My starting point was an overwhelming desire to prove to my A-Level art teachers that black linework had a valid place as a legitimate artistic style. This desire drove me towards the appropriation of the art nouveau style, but it wasn’t until I became aware of Steampunk as a genre that I really found my artistic niche. Although I would have described my taste in fashion and music as decidedly gothic this did not translate all that successfully into an artistic style that was influenced by light and soft colour palettes. Whilst Steampunk has its share of darkness and grime it also has a scope for a wider palette and a greater opportunity to tap into my historical interests.

The following collection is influenced most directly by the work of Alphos Mucha.