Lola Lovely Pre Adored: Erika Iris Simmons- Art you could quite literally dance to...

Ghost In the Machine: Bob Dylan

I just love stumbling across and being inspired by treasures such as this. The amazing work of Erika Iris Simmons was popularised through her creation of the beautiful cassette tape artwork featured on Bruno Mars' film clip of his hit, Just the Way You Are. I love the song, but personally had never seen the film clip before until today when heard that her work was featured on it. (FYI Bruno Mars' love interest on the clip is a fellow Aussie, I was so shocked! I remember seeing her often when I used to be very much into the salsa dance scene in Australia. How fantastic!)

Having graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a Degree in Russian, as a woman after my own heart, Erika is now making a living as a self taught artist using non conventional materials by recycling them to create masterpieces such as the ones featured on this blog. "I love the nostalgia of the archaic and I hope that not everything which has outlived its use goes to waste."- IRI5 <---------"I flippen love that!"- Me

The artwork above as well as the following are all part of her Ghost in the Machine Series. Click on the images for their source.

Ghost in the Machine: Ian Brown

Ghost in the Machine: Michael Jackson

Ghost in the Machine: The Hendrix Experience

Ghost in the Machine: John Lennon

Ghost in the Machine: Lauryn Hill

Recycled cassette tape isn't the only medium Erika uses. Her series titled, Remixes is a collection of pieces she's created by cutting up artwork or images of a particular artist or person to create one complete image of that person. I guess it's kind of like decoupage but on a whole new level. My favourite piece from this series is this one of one of my favourite artists, Salvador Dali titled, I am Surrealism. It's made from cut up pieces of a print I have in my own personal collection, The Sacrament of the Last Supper.