Art can be created from all kinds of things like food and everyday objects. But this British artist, Justin Bateman, builds his masterpieces out of bits and pieces of nature. Specifically, rocks, stones, and pebbles.
He creates temporary mosaics of people’s portraits, animals, famous paintings, and statues. The artist calls it ‘land art.’ Justin enjoys this type of art because it’s temporary and unmovable. It’s much more valuable this way.
Justin said: “The first creations were in Portsmouth, the UK on the beach. It was an old workshop I ran with my students as an art lecturer, but my friend and I decided we would have a go at the project ourselves. I was only visiting England for a few months and soon I returned to Bali, Indonesia.”
Justin Bateman’s art is ephemeral, much like the colourful sand mandalas painstakingly crafted by Tibetan Buddhist monks and ritually dismantled once completed.
His stone mosaics, which he creates out of pebbles he finds only exist for the time of their creation before they are destroyed by being scattered back at their original location or eroded by the weather.