Canadian artist Mark Raynes Roberts creates incredible and exquisite works by engraving gorgeous scenes onto pieces of crystal. His series Dreamscapes features just that – fantastical imagery like mythical creatures, nature’s splendor, and imaginative landscapes. When the light hits Roberts’ sculptures at the right angle, it makes his subjects look like they are encased in glass.
Roberts’ highly-detailed engravings are conceptually informed by travelling the world and seeing all of the beauty that it has to offer. It cultivated a deep interest in the human spirit and how we relate to nature, and which is later translated into this alluring imagery.
The artist’s chosen material has refractive qualities that reflect and distort his designs, and he uses a combination of ancient engraving techniques known as diamond-wheel and stippling in their creation. Doing this allows him to physically produce multifaceted works, and as he explains in his artist statement, “convey a message that is at once ethereal and complex.”
