Graphite Drawings Of Strange Tree-Like Bony Creatures Existing In Alien Landscapes

Andrew Lincoln Nelson is a Tuscon-based artist who makes surrealistic graphite drawings which feature otherworldly, inorganic organisms set in desolate landscapes. His award-winning works have been displayed in numerous art exhibitions  and art magazines.

Seen here are three of his artworks of his ‘Phytoborgs’ and ‘Plantimals’ from his Living Machine series.

Phyto Ost 3

“Phyto Ost 3” is a quasi-surrealistic rendering of three tree-like forms growing out of an arid dried-mud playa.  The trees have orb-like crowns composed of filamentous boney cubes, hence the name Phyto Ost or Bone Plant.  The cube-like shape of the bones might indicate that they have an unnatural origin. These trees might be alive or they might be only skeletons of wood and bone, the last traces of life on an aging planet. The drawing was done by hand, requiring about 6 weeks of drawing time.

Osteoborg

An Osteoborg is a sort of bone-robot. This one has been evolving for a very long time, and has no memory of its origin. It is integrated into its environment and is perhaps gestating new copies of itself as nodules on its legs. The graphite drawing Phyto Ost 1, 2017, depicts a non-anthropomorphic organism situated in a stark landscape. “Phyto Ost” means “plant bone”.

Plantimal 2

The graphite drawing “Plantimal 2” explores themes of mimetic evolution, Lamarckian evolution and self-construction.  The central focus of the work, a large organic spheroid creature, is a mainly biological entity.  This creature has both plant-like and animal-like components, hence the name Plantimal.  Exploring the theme of mimetic evolution, this plantimal might be in the process of taking on the form of a smaller more machine-like creature which it is carrying.  This creature might also be considered a species of Zooborg, i.e. a machine-animal hybrid. The background is taken largely from a view of low mountains north of Interstate 8 near the Arizona-California border.

You can visit his website and Facebook page to see more of his artworks.