—Oscar Wilde, (1854-1900)

Fort Wayne, Indiana (USA)

Driven by a passion to fit odd shapes together and a strange sympathy towards discarded objects, Sayaki Kajita Ganz creates organic forms with thrift store plastics and found metal objects.

In her own words, Sayaki expains: “I was born in Japan and spent my early childhood there. Japanese Shinto beliefs are such that all objects and organisms have spirits, and objects that are discarded before their time weep at night inside the trash bin, or so they teach children at many preschools. This became a vivid image in my mind. I grew up moving to several different countries and the constant need to adjust to a new environment also gave me a strong desire to fit in, and to make people and objects surrounding me fit together to create harmony.”

“I use kitchen utensils, toys and metal objects and appliance wire among other things. I only select objects that have been used and discarded. My goal is for each object to transcend its origins by being integrated into the form of an animal or some other organism that seems alive and in motion. This process of reclamation and regeneration is liberating to me as an artist. By building these sculptures I try to understand the human situations and relationships that surround me. It is a way for me to contemplate and remind myself that even if there is conflict right now, there is a way for all the pieces to fit together.”

“We do not have to fit together perfectly with the people we love. Even if you see a wide gap in some places and small holes in others, when one steps back and sees the whole community from the distance there is still great beauty and harmony there. Even if some people don’t feel at home here and now, there is a place where they belong they will eventually find it.”

View many more of her incredible assemblages here.

(Thanks to my Circle colleague Adrian Shum for putting Sayaki on my radar…).

Pittsburgh, USA

Artist Golan Levin has created an adjustable stencil for making infographic graffiti pie charts… you can download the pattern for it here.

Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba

Wow, summer’s here with gusto… liberated the old bicycle from the shed this week, and had a pleasant drive along the lake (with water levels several feet higher than normal) with my Sweetie… looking forward to more times in the saddle in the months ahead.

I now ride a somewhat clunky 1980s-vintage 18-speed mountain bike, but I did once mount an authentic velocipede (center bottom in image above, with the huge front wheel) that belonged to a neighbour of ours when we lived on Florastrasse in Reinach, Switzerland, back in the 1960s… and I have owned sleeker road-bikes back in the day.

—Marcel Proust (1871-1922)

Montréal, Quebec

Just in time for Canada Day, I’m happy to announce that our latest set of commemorative stamps in the Canadian Recording Artists series has been launched. This series of stamps features black & white portraits of the artists, supported by typographic tapestries comprised of song titles. The iconic Canadian artists featured in this series are Bruce Cockburn, Robbie Robertson, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, and chanteuse Ginette Reno. CD-shaped booklets of 8 die-cut, pressure-sensitive stamps (along with envelope seals and information about each artist) are available in four styles, with individualized covers for each of the four artists. Also available are souvenir sheets, postcards, and an Official First Day Cover (OFDC, popular with philatelists).

CIRCLE has been designing the Canadian Recording Artists stamp series since 2007; the first series featured Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Anne Murray, and Paul Anka; series two featured Édith Butler, Stompin’ Tom (Connors), Bryan Adams, and Robert Charlebois.

These limited edition stamps are available through post offices across the country as of 30 June 2011. They can be ordered online by following the links at Canada Post’s website www.canadapost.ca, or by calling toll-free: 1-800-565-4362 (Canada and the United States), or 1-902-863-6550 (from other countries).

Images: the round souvenir sheet on gummed stock; the four “postage paid” postcards, each featuring an enlarged stamp/portrait; and the Officidal First Day Cover (OFDC) with date-of-issue cancellations.