Steven Spazuk is a Canadian artist who works in fumage, making images with the soot deposited by a candle flame and then refining them by hand.
Made in Shoreditch’s original profile of the technique is below.
The essentials
- Artist: Steven Spazuk
- Technique: fumage (candle soot)
With a new technique, innovative artist Steven Spazuk uses soot from candles’ flames to create beautiful artwork. Based in Quebec, Spazuk has been perfecting his unique method called fumage. Like a pen or pencil, he uses a candle’s flame to create images with the soot.
The soot creates fluid and defined lines with various shadows and light. Spazuk has a series dedicated to birds created by fumage. Some feature guns, and some grenades. Spazuk creates a harsh contrast by combining the innocence of little birds with harsh weapons. These gorgeous pieces seem to rise from the ashes, literally.
Images source: Steven Spazuk