Nothing is forever, according to Croatian artist Dino Tomic’s work. Tomic, who is also an art teacher and tattoo artist, create exquisite works of art using sand, salt or gun powder. Then, he destroys them.
“The salt mandalas/salt art are just one of many stepping stones I’m undertaking,” Tomic wrote in a post published on Bored Panda. “Undertaking projects like these are like entering uncharted territory. Not only is it new for me, but it’s also new for the world. Creating art with salt was around for many years – but really improving on what’s possible with this medium is something I’m very interested in.”
Mandalas are traditionally made from colored sand which is used to create beautifully intricate designs. It is a Buddist and Tibetan art that monks use in spiritual practice and ceremonies to bless the earth, according to the Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies.
The act of destroying the mandala after it’s created represents the impermanence of the ever-changing material world and the idea of non-attachment. Creating these mandalas takes a great deal of patience and is also considered a form of meditation.
Tomic spent three days working on this one only to have it destroyed within an hour of him posting the picture of the finished piece on Facebook.
In addition to creating his exquisite salt and sand mandalas, Tomic also crafts remarkable salt portraits that reflect pop culture.
“Today in the world there are only a handful of people who create art using only salt and the projects they undertake is a mere fraction of the size that I do,” Tomic said. “Pushing a medium to new heights, and backing it up with my knowledge of past projects speeds up the process. Overcoming past set boundaries and rising the bar higher is of utmost importance for me.”
Tomic is a big Game of Thrones fan. You can watch him create his amazing tribute to the show below. He sprinkles down salt on a black carpet from a bottle and uses his fingers to blend the salt. The amount of patience and vision it takes to create one of these is simply unbelievable.
Then he just wipes it all away. The destruction of his work is both painful and beautiful to watch.
“Isolating one particular part that does not present the whole process of why I’m doing/creating the artwork today,” Tomic says. “Doing projects like these test my abilities as an artistic creator, they open my eyes and refresh my senses.”
He also uses gunpowder as a medium. You can watch him painstakingly move each grain into place with a scissor in the video below. And when he’s done, he sets it on fire. But there is a special surprise at the end of this video.
When it’s done burning, he picks it up and lets the powder fall off to reveal his colorful marker portrait of D.C. Comics’ character, Two-Face.
“Testing out new techniques and expanding your artistic field – going from one medium to another and taking new knowledge with you for each last piece you did,” says Tomic. “That’s how you build character and versatile your artistic abilities, either mastering one subject or many, as long as you determination is there you will feel progress and finally succeed.”
Tomic has so many amazing and fun pieces on his social media pages. You can follow his work on Instagram at @dinotomic and on Facebook at facebook.com/diNo.AtomiccircuS,
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