For 55-year-old Canadian artist Steven Spazuk, his medium of choice is fire.
Spazuk practices the ancient technique of fumage or using a kerosene lamp or candle to make smoke impressions.
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"I started to work with fire in 2001," Spazuk tells BuzzFeed Life. "The marks I leave on the paper are actually traces of soot."
And his process is totally mesmerizing to watch.
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"I never burn the paper because the flame doesn't stay in one spot long enough for it to catch on fire," he says.
I MEAN.
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~MESMERIZING~.
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Spazuk works on thick acid-free paper and uses various brushes to add detail to his work. "The soot is extremely fragile—when I decide the painting is finished, I spray a varnish on the canvas to preserve it."
And the resulting portraits are mind-blowing.
Steven Spazuk / Via spazuk.com
WOW.
Smoke > pencil
Steven Spazuk / Via spazuk.com
"When I put the flame to paper, I don’t know what I'm going to get and that's the pure joy of working with soot."
Steven Spazuk / Via youtube.com
"I just wait for a figurative revelation like a child looking up at the clouds," Spazuk says.
Watch the full video of Spazuk's magical fire art here.
