Flipping the Mystery Mosaic

As Resident Artist of the Wiregrass Museum of Art, I installed the Mystery Mosaic last April. 

This mosaic, at 50 x 50" (125 x 125 cm) is the biggest baddest free standing piece I have designed to this date.  

The coolissime aspect of this project is that this Mosaic would be built by the Visitors to the Museum ! They were the very ones who would actually be laying the 4096 little tiles on the model I had designed without telling anyone what the final mosaic would be ! 

Hence the dramatic "Mystery Mosaic" name !

We had planned it would take 2 month to lay the 4,400 tiles of the mosaic. It took 10 days and a group of very dedicated High School students !

The Mosaic in designed in Opus Pixellatum was realized upside down. 

On July 21st, I flipped the piece diuring the Art after Hours event at the Museum and the public, including some who had participated in the building, were able to see it for the first time. 



Flipping the Mystery Mosaic from Frederic Lecut on Vimeo.

 

I am a French Mosaic artist based in Alabama. My Art is about Inspiring people, I am presently working on huge portraits of the eyes of Yezidi Refugees and on an other Mosaic Community Project involving several hundreds participants in partnership with Troy University in Dothan and the Wiregrass Museum of Art.

If you would like to discuss how to use mosaics to develop communities or are interested by other aspects of my work, please contact me by phone at (334) 798 1639 or by email at frederic.lecut@mosaicblues.com

You can also subscribe to my NEWSLETTER

Flipping Yezidi 36

A Dream Team of assistants - the whole Wiregrass Museum of Art Staff ! - helped me flip Yezidi 36 this afternoon !

Ichi

Ni

 San

Shi

Et Voila ! 

Yezidi 36 is a 18 x 50" Opus Pixellatum mosaic made of thousands of glass tesserae. It is part of my Yezidi portraits collection. 

This collection will be sold or auctioned  this summer to raise funds for the Free Yezidi Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to protect and support the most vulnerable members of the Yezidi community in Kurdistan.

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see other of my own mosaics on my site mosaicblues.

I believe artists should be deeply involved in their community, being local or global, and try to help people in need through their art.

 

To see more of these Yezidi mosaics and keep in touch with this project please follow my page Yezidi Mosaics Project.

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The Yezidis Mosaics, April 2016

I completed last week the laying of the tesserae of the last mosaic of this set. Yezidi 36 is a portrait of a young female soldier. 

Yezidi 36

A very intense pair of eyes of a brave woman fighting for the right of her people to live peacefully on the land of their ancestors, practicing the religion of their choice. 

Here is the model : 

Please remember that because I work reverse method, I am building a mirror image of the model. Sometimes this week, I will glue a framed support on top of the mosaic, and will later flip it so we can finally see the mosaic looking very much like the model. 

Yezidi 36 will be spectacular, I have learned a lot building this collection, this new Opus Pixellatum technique I am now implementing really allows for stunning effects... I will have a hard time letting such beauty go, but I am not doing it for me, but to help the Free Yezidi Foundation which works tirelessly to advocate for greater attention and assistance in favour of the Yezidi refugees.

Yezidi 13 and 20 are at the welding shop where my friend Eddie is building their metallic frames. 

Yezidi 13

They should be completed within 2 weeks. 

Yezidi 20

If all goes well, the whole set of 7 mosaics should be complete by mid May 2016, and we will then start thinking of the best way to organize a sale or auction. 

I will donate 50 % of the profit of the sales to the Free Yezidi Foundation. 

 

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see some of my own mosaics on my site mosaicblues.

 

If you are interested by this project or by my work in general  or if you would simply like to drop me a line, please 

contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com   

or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

 
You can also

SUBSCRIBE to my

NEWSLETTER

to receive regular updates on this Yezidi Eyes Mosaic Project, 

and my other projects.

 

Yezidi Mosaics update, March 17, 2016

My collection of 7 portraits of eyes of Yezidi children has  well progressed since our last update on February 2nd. At this time, Yezidi 20 still needed to be flipped, Yezidi 13 was 15 % complete, and Yezidi 36 existed only as a project.

I have now flipped 6 out of the 7 mosaics. Four of them are framed and ready to be displayed. Two of them (Yezidi 20 and 13) still need some cleaning to eliminate the glue.

Yezidi 20

I flipped Yezidi 13 on March 15, and taped the operation. Here is the video of this operation, this is the moment when one sees the actual mosaic for the first time... A very moving one !

At this time, I have laid 10 % of Yezidi 36

Yezidi 36 - Work in Progress

The 7 mosaics should be ready by mid April. I would like to sell them to raise funds to help the Free Yezidi Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping the Yezidi people from Iraq and Syria. We have started thinking about the way we could organize a sale / auction. We have little experience on this matter, and all help or suggestion is welcome.

If you have some experience in organizing this kind of charity / fund raising event, please contact me at frederic.lecut @gmail.com or by phone at (334) 798 1639.

 

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see some of my own mosaics on my site mosaicblues.

 

If you are interested by this project or by my work in general 
or if you would simply like to drop me a line, please 

contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com   

or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

You can also

SUBSCRIBE to my

NEWSLETTER

to receive regular updates on this
Yezidi Eyes Mosaic Project, 

and my other projects.

Yezidis Mosaics update, February 2nd, 2016

During the fall 2015, I launched a Yezidi Eyes mosaic project. I am realizing a collection of eyes of Yezidi refugees. The Yezidi - sometimes spelled Yazidi - are a people persecuted by ISIS - DAESH because of their religion. They are being massacred, raped, sold, enslaved. Several international organizations are trying to help them. 

I am working with the Free Yezidi Foundation, an organization seeking to implement projects to protect and support the most vulnerable members of the Yezidi community.

Our goal is to sell - or auction these mosaics to raise funds and raise the awareness of the general public about the fact they are being the victims of a crimes against humanity and genocide.

At this point one mosaic - Yezidi 02 - is complete.

3 mosaics are almost complete, all the tiles have been laid, I still need to finish them, lots of cleaning, grouting, have the frame done and install it. 

Yezidi 01 is the first mosaic I made in the sepia tone, I used it as the model for Yezidi 02 in Black and White.

Yezidi 11 is of a young girl covering her eyes from the bright sun.

Yezidi 21 is a young boy.

The cold and humid weather has delayed me. At the time I am writing, I have grouted these last 3 pieces.
 

I have started  to work in 2016 on 3 additional pieces.

Yezidi 20 is fully laid and needs to be supported and flipped for finition.

Yezidi 13 is at about 15 % completion, you cannot see any features of the piece yet. (Surprise...)

Finally Yezidi 36 is at this time only a project, I have printed the model, but will only start to lay the tiles once I have flipped Yezidi 20 and its working table becomes available !

This one is not of a child, but of a young Yezidi woman soldier. It will be like the previous ones realized in Black and White colours.

These 7 mosaics should be ready by mid April. We have started thinking about the way we could organize the sale / auction. We have little experience on this matter, and all help, or suggestion is welcome.

If you have experience in organizing this kind of charity / fund raising event, please contact me at frederic.lecut @gmail.com or by phone at (334) 798 1639.

 

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see some of my own mosaics on my site mosaicblues.

 

If you are interested by this project or by my work in general 

or if you would simply like to drop me a line, please 

contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com  

or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

 

   You can also

SUBSCRIBE to my

NEWSLETTER

to receive regular updates on this

Yezidi Eyes Mosaic Project, 

and my other projects.

The Yezidi Collection

Back from Europe, I am working on a number of exciting projects. One of them I like very much is my collection of Eyes of Yezidi refugees. 

The Yezidi - sometimes Yazidi, or Ezidi, one of the oldest minority in Iraq, follow an ancient non-Abrahamic religion. 

For this reason, Yezidi  men, women and children are tortured, enslaved, raped and massacred by ISIS. Not only is this religious persecution, it also is a Genocide. But very few people are aware of it. In fact, until not so long ago, I had never heard of the Yezidi people.

Here are the 3 next portraits :

Yezidi 13 is a young boy who thankfully is still able to smile.

Yezidi 013

Yezidi 020 is a young girl. She could be anyone's daughter, nice, sister or cousin.

Yezidi 020

 

Yezidi 036 is a young woman who chose to fight the enemies of her people. She could be anyone daughter, sister or wife. 

Yezidi 036

The Free Yezidi Foundation is an international ONG based in the Netherlands. They provide assistance to the refugees and victims of this genocide. 

I cannot go to Iraq or Syria help these pople. But I can try to help with my Art. This is why I am creating this collection. Once it is complete, I intend to auction the mosaics, and will donate 50 % of the profit to the Free Yezidi Foundation to help their work. 

At this time, I have no idea about the way this sale can be organized, it would be good to use it to make people aware of what is really going on there. 

I created last week the models for these 3 pieces. I am using to build them a new technique I developed specifically for them.

I will post regular updates on these mosaics. 

I am presently completing other pieces of this collection, and will publish pictures of the finished pieces as soon as possible. Because I have to do part of the finishing work outside, I have been delayed by the weather. I should be able to publish the first piece within 2 weeks.

I have no idea of the way to organize the sale or Auction, so if have any expertise in this area and would like to help or participate, please let me know at frederic.lecut@gmail.com, or call me at (334) 798 1639.

 

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see some of my own mosaics on my site mosaicblues.

 

If you are interested by this project or by my work in general 

or if you would simply like to drop me a line, please 

contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com  

or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

 

   You can also

SUBSCRIBE to my

NEWSLETTER

to receive regular updates on this

Yezidi Eyes Mosaic Project, 

and my other projects.

Yezidi 021 - All tiles laid

I completed this week end the laying of the black and white tesserae of Yezidi 021. This mosaic is part of a set of Yezidi Kids Eyes I am creating to raise awareness of the suffering of Yezidi Children persecuted in Iraq and Syria.

I am still to lay some different colours tiles for the border. I will do this in January, for I should find some really cool tiles in Europe for this ! 

Now, because I am using a different technique for these sets of eyes, I perfectly know the number of tiles I have used on this piece. And so I have a question for you :  

How many tiles did I use to create this mosaic ?

Answer Next January...

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see some of my own mosaics on my site mosaicblues.

 

If you are interested by this project or by my work in general 

or if you would simply like to drop me a line, please 

contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com  

or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

 

   You can also

SUBSCRIBE to my

NEWSLETTER

to receive regular updates on 

these Yezidi Eyes Mosaics  
& my other projects.

Yezidis 011 and 021

There are a few things I really do not like. Child abuse is one of them. And so child abuse on a large scale, such as what the Yezidis children is something that deeply saddens me. And I do not like what is happening to the Yezidis women who are systematically raped and sold in slavery by their captors eager to go back to their interpretation of the Arabian 7th century society.

I cannot fix greed, hatred and stupidity, but I can try to help. 

I already have created one portrait of one of these children. This portrait is at the welding shop right now to get its frame made, and I will publish it once it is complete, but you can get some idea from my November 12 post "Yezidi Eyes"

I am presently working on two more portraits. 

Here are the models : 

A little girl

Yezidi 011

And a young boy.

Yezidi 021

I am realizing these mosaics according to a new and very unique method. To my knowledge, nobody ever made mosaics this way. The mosaics are realized in black and white, using only tiny glass tiles of various shades of grey.


The result is unique and stunning, as you will see it very soon once the first piece comes back from the shop. 

For the time being here are 2 pictures taken on Dec 4. As you can see, I am working in a very different way from the usual.

Yezidi 011- December 4.

It is however, a reverse method on mesh similar as what I have done for my last Pomegranate Tree. At the time I am writing (Dec 7) I have progressed some more, but have had to stop for I am waiting for a shipment of tiles ! 

Yezidi 021, Dec 4.

These kids were able to escape the persecution. They are now hosted in camps in Turkey and Iraq, financed by the Free Yezidi Foundation.

My goal is to auction these mosaics sometimes in the spring to raise money to help the foundation. I will donate 50 % of the profit of the auction to this cause.  

I have no idea of the way to organize this, so if you like this project and would like to help or participate, please let me know at frederic.lecut@gmail.com, or call me at (334) 798 1639.

 

I am a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see some of my own mosaics on my site mosaicblues.

 

If you are interested by this project or by my work in general 

or if you would simply like to drop me a line, please 

contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com  

or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

 

   You can also

SUBSCRIBE to my

NEWSLETTER

to receive regular updates on this

Yezidi Eyes Mosaic Project, 

and my other projects.