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Yesterday I stumbled upon this series of AUREL SCHMIDT‘s portraits by TERRY RICHARDSON in an old issue of Purple Mag (Spring Summer 2009, issue 11). Do I need to notice that I love them? ;-) And when I love, I share!

If you’re not familiar with AUREL SCHMIDT, she is a self-taught artist from Vancouver who decided in 2005  to move in New York City and after a group show curated by TIM BARBER, two acquisitions by renowned European collector DAKIS JOANNOU…she went from oblivion to showing her works at the Spencer Brownstone gallery, at Peres Projects in L.A. (2007) and Deitch Projects (2008) and having them included in the Saatchi Collection.

AUREL SCHMIDT creates intricately detailed drawings include objects and creatures such as flies, condoms, and cigarette butts that are pieced together to form larger figures. She relates her interest in finding the beauty in ugliness to the idea of the human condition as a cyclical process of renewal and decay. By using the detritus of our lives as the building blocks for her subjects, SCHMIDT ’s work becomes a sort of memento mori—a reminder of our own vulnerability and mortality.- by Whitney Museum

Enjoy!