All Images: Kahran and Regis Bethencourt. Styling by LaChanda Gatson, Shanna Thomasson and Angela Plummer
Husband and wife photography duo Regis and Kahran Bethencourt of CreativeSoul Photography capture images of children that celebrate the beauty, culture, and heritage of afro hairstyles. Often dressed in ornate African-inspired garb, Black girl and boy models are crowned with afros, twists, and braids as symbols of strength and grace.
The Bethencourts, based in Atlanta, have been working together for 10 years and began photographing children with natural hair in 2013. The “AfroArt” series began when they noticed a lack of diversity in the industry. The way the children in the series are styled and posed against warm backgrounds recalls the regal oil portraits painted of upper class men and women during the Renaissance movement. “We decided to showcase kids with natural hair to empower them (and others in the industry) to embrace it and for the kids to be proud of their culture and natural curls,” the photographers tell Colossal.
“When we first started out we were primarily working with child models, but now more than half of the kids have never modeled before,” they added. “Many parents hire us so that their child can get the experience of feeling empowered for the day. We will typically guide them on set to make them feel comfortable. Most of them just see it as a fun experience, but they usually leave the studio feeling a little more proud and self-confident.”
CreativeSoul Photography has an online shop where images from the AfroArt series can be purchased as prints, calendars, and other products. They also recently signed a book deal, so keep an eye out for that at your local bookstore. In the meantime, follow CreativeSoul Photography on Instagram for more striking images and future updates.
Next month, Paola C. will launch its new collections: The Society Collection by Neri & Hu, Fun-Tional Collection by Jaime Hayon, and Sciia Glasses by (a + b) dominoni, quaquaro at Maison&Objet 2019 in Paris.
Neri & Hu’sthe Society collection is a set of functional objects that, like members of the same family, have their own traits while at the same time retaining some similarities. Simple shapes and chromatic choices make founding partners Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu’s pieces make perfect sense together.
Spanish artist Jaime Hayon has been named by Time magazine as one the 100 most relevant creators of our time, and with the Fun-Tional collection he brings fantastical, surreal, imaginative tableware objects to the dining table. Each piece has been designed to elevate the experience, with even the smallest detail becoming a much larger gesture.
The event also brings about an expanded Sciia glass collection from (a+b) dominoni, quaquaro. A new elegant set of blown glasses for the table will be available in three sizes – water, wine, and flûte. Founders Annalisa Dominoni and Benedetto Quaquaro put lots of research and design into their work, as well as curiosity and desire, and we think the end result is flawless.
Anila Quayyum Agha draws on traditions of beauty and embellishment from her native Pakistan to create immersive experiences that allow viewers to explore and challenge their own perceptions. The professor and practicing artist, who is now based in Indianapolis, Indiana, works with industrial grade materials like laser-cut, powder coated steel to construct her patterned environments. Though her installations are aesthetically alluring, she intentionally uses abstraction to inspire deeper thought in gallery-goers. “Artists have the ability to bring historical perspectives to the current time, Agha explains. “I’m interested in that thought process, of taking responsibility and seeing how we can move to the future and make a better environment for people.”
Because Agha’s work is primarily experiential, documenting and sharing her work in a way that brings digital viewers into each moment is critically important. Balancing the demanding, complex role of teacher and mentor alongside her flourishing career in the fine art world, Agha puts Squarespace to work for her. By building her portfolio on Squarespace, Agha creates an online gallery with professional photos that support the context and immediacy of her installations:
When I initially started, I tried to build my own website. It was too complicated for me to make the website and keep it updated. It became too onerous as I was making work that was more labor-intensive. With Squarespace it is so easy to just add your photos in and change the colors. It was easy and seamless. A web presence is a professional requirement, and Squarespace has made my life so much easier.
“I think of my practice as a continuum,” Agha explains. “It’s like a bird, you dip in and fly out or fly forward. I go back in time to revisit old thoughts or ideas that continue in a way that they become new.” A strong portfolio site helps Agha organize her prolific career chronologically, sharing impressive archives of more than 15 years of artwork, along with press clips, downloadable CV and artist statement, social links, and an embedded newsletter signup.
With Squarespace’s wide range of templates and customizable features, everyone can build their own digital worlds that reflect the look and feel of their personal brand, while providing easy-to-use tools and 24/7 support so you can get off your computer and back out in the world. Visit Squarespace.com for a free one-week trial and use code Colossal to save 10% off a website or domain name.
Rami Kim began making visual artwork as a stop-motion animator, crafting small head sculptures for her films’ puppets. These objects became the inspiration for her works in clay, eventually morphing into the face pots and mugs she creates today. Kim’s tiny three-dimensional faces range from monochrome noses and mouths to painted visages complete with lipstick-adorned mouths and perfectly perched eyebrows. Eventually the Los Angeles-based artist would like to close the production loop, letting her new cast of ceramic characters inspire a new set of short animated films. You can follow the evolution of her anthropomorphic dishes, mugs, pour over vessels on her website and Instagram.
Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s complex relationship captivated the art world in the 1980s and continues to do so today.
At a time when Warhol was already world-famous and the elder statesman of New York cool, Basquiat was a downtown talent rising rapidly from the graffiti scene. Together, they forged an electrifying personal and professional partnership.
As a prolific documentarian of his own world, Warhol extensively photographed and wrote of his friendship with Basquiat, all played against the backdrop of 1980s downtown New York City. It reveals not only the emotional depth of their relationship but also its ambiguities, extremities, and complexities.
Produced in collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s estate, a new book, Warhol on Basquiat, chronicles the duo’s relationship in hundreds of previously unpublished photographs of Basquiat along with a dynamic cast of characters from Madonna to Grace Jones, Keith Haring to Fela Kuti.
The shots are accompanied by entries from the legendary Andy Warhol Diaries, selected collaborative artworks, and extensive ephemera. Touching, intimate, and occasionally sardonic, Warhol on Basquiat is a voyeuristic glimpse into the lives of two of modern art’s brightest stars.
In a diary entry for Monday 4 October 1982, Warhol writes: "He’s black but some people say he’s Puerto Rican so I don’t know. And then Bruno discovered him and now he’s on Easy Street. He’s got a great loft on Christie Street [sic]. He was a middle-class Brooklyn kid — I mean, he went to college and things and — he was trying to be like that, painting in Greenwich Village."
A must for your bookshelves. Warhol on Basquiat is published by Taschen.
In a world dominated by technology and social media, which can ironically leave us feeling isolated, what happens when you pair different artists to collaborate for the first time?
The Sound of Waves (not to be mistaken with the timeless love story by Yukio Mishima) is a new group exhibition by Pocko Japan featuring collaborative work by renowned Japanese and European artists from a range of multidisciplinary backgrounds.
Echoing a longstanding Pocko tradition of prolific collaborations, this handpicked selection of photographers, painters, illustrators and animators have been united to work together in creating new artworks that reflect the emotions of adventure, exploration and freedom.
"Our solution was to pair up artists in ‘creative blind dates’ to encourage a dialogue where new artworks show how artistic connections can fuel growth and fruitful ideas," said Nicola Schwartz, one of the founders of Pocko.
For the past 20 years, Nicola has led Pocko and established the company as a creative agency in Europe that produces unique content for brands in collaboration with visual artists from around the globe. Pocko is based in London, Milan, Berlin and now Tokyo. Nicola joined forces with another Royal College of Art graduate, Ichiro Kono, where they met and collaborated with Alexander McQueen, Bjork, The Pixies and 4AD Records.
Pocko Japan has been invited by the Park Hotel Tokyo led by the visionary Takayuki Suzuki, to create and produce a series of exhibitions. Sound of Waves is its latest offering and is curated by Nicola Schwartz. It will run from 3 June until 1 September 2019 at the Park Hotel Tokyo.
Columbus, Ohio-based typographer Danielle Evans uses her studio as a garden and lab. Previously she has planted hundreds of shrubs and succulents to spell messages of kindness, and grown text-shaped crystals as an ode to poet Nayyirah Waheed’s book of poems titled Salt. Recently while in Reykjavik, the designer arranged ice lettering around the city and the southern Golden Circle as a way to experiment with typography and the variables in Iceland’s topography. You can see more of Evans’s experiments with paper, lemons, dirt, jello, and more on her website, Instagram, and Behance.
Photographs by Tim Bowditch, courtesy of Claire Partington
London-based artist Claire Partington creates figurative ceramic vessels steeped in power dynamics and status. Her works often feature removable head stoppers of humans and animals, which bring a range and versatility to each glazed character. Her inspiration for the elegant figures comes mostly from European applied art and design styles from the 17th-century onward, yet the pieces blend elements from various centuries and genres. Partington shares with Colossal that she has a “magpie” approach to collecting visual elements from her everyday experience, “equally taking inspiration from a visit to a museum or a walk along my local high street.” To create the works she first coil-builds the vessel, then shapes the object before adding press molded surface decorations and computer-generated enamel decoration over the glaze.
“I started out making my work as illustrations to the folk and fairy stories that had stayed with me from childhood, partly because of the vivid illustrations, but also the gripping and grisly content of the stories and the fantastical human to animal transformations of the protagonists,” Partington explains to Colossal. “I gradually became more interested in the personalities of characters themselves, rather than the narrative alone and began blurring the stories with identifiable historical figures and to exploit the use of clothes to convey messages of power and allegiance or to reinforce or challenge social limitations.”
Partington has an upcoming solo exhibition at Seattle-based Winston Wächter gallery titled The Hunting Party which opens June 8 and runs through July 27, 2019. Her exhibition Taking Teais currently on view in the Porcelain Room at the Seattle Art Museum through December 6, 2020. Her exhibition explores the dark side of the historical tea industry such as the forced servitude and precarious ocean voyages that occurred during the expansion of the international trade. You can see more of her ceramic sculptures which blend historical characters with fairytales and myths on her website and Instagram.
Mike Wilson and Megan Hanneman, founders of CatastrophiCreations, design modular wall-mounted systems to keep cats active. Parents of humans and pets alike (myself included) are all too familiar with the trip hazard of toys scattered on the floor. Wilson and Hanneman move the activity zone to the wall with vertical playgrounds that allow cats to climb, jump, scratch, and even tip-toe across swinging bridges. Eschewing bright colors and plastic materials, the designers use solid wood, hidden brackets, and canvas to create more subtle and sustainable products. You can learn more about the the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based business in an interview and factory tour on Etsy’s blog. Check out their range of products, from the Thunderdome to the Temple Complex, in their online store.
The popular 36 Days of Type challenge (previously) is an annual open call for designers, illustrators, and artists to bring the alphabet and numbers one through nine to life. For its sixth year, Barcelona-based motion designer Albert Oriol collaborated with 36 fellow creatives to animate individual letters and numbers. By tapping a wide variety of illustrators with unique styles, Oriol’s end result is a highlight reel of diversity in design. From a Bauhaus-ish B to a graffiti-inspired Y, the animated letters and numbers expand, bounce, pixelate, and evaporate. Watch the full sequence below and see more from Oriol on Behance and Instagram.
Charmingly bewildered animals are the subject of choice for UK artist Lindsey Thomas. The London-based artist carefully felts wool to shape pudgy animals with plaintive expressions that belie their cartoony cuteness and party-ready accessories. Wide-eyed bears ride tricycles with balloons and a donkey with strong side-eye sports a flamingo pool floaty.
Thomas graduated from Middlesex University with a degree in illustration, where she also experimented with mixed media. In an artist statement on her website, Thomas explains, “As a child, I was forever drawing animals and imagining what they would be like if they could peel themselves from the paper. Now I know!”
You can see more delightful felted characters on Thomas’s Instagram and Facebook, and find select creations available for purchase in the artist’s online store. (thnx, Mark!)
Jan Kaláb (also sometimes known as POINT or CAKES) works on vast outdoor spaces to add pulsating concentric circles of color. The Czech artist grew up in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, where graffiti and street art were non-existent. In the 1990’s, Kaláb paved a path for the graffiti community by founding a crew as the Cold War ended and Western influences came to the Czech Republic.
Kaláb has worked around the world crafting abstract shapes, especially circles, “as an obsessive vocabulary for infinite variations around depth, time, and motion. Playing with circles [brings] organic imperfection and swing into his work” according to a statement on the artist’s website. Kaláboften works on adjacent or curved surfaces to heighten the play between structure and perception in his vibrant murals.
Kaláb also has a robust body of work that is shown in galleries, with his first solo exhibition in 2008. The artist’s most recent show “SHAPE & TONE” just ended at Fabien Castanier Gallery in Miami. You can see more from Kaláb on Instagram and Facebook. (via Visual Fodder)
If you have a pet then you’re familiar with the struggle to find things for them that don’t make your home look like a doggy daycare playground. Thankfully, industrial designer and professor Jiyoun Kim Studio and Korean pet products company Milliong recently released the Three Poles Collection featuring designs you and your pet will both love.
The collection’s design speaks to an understanding of humans and pets harmoniously sharing a space, there’s an underlying dignity without ignoring a cat’s natural habits. The Three Poles Cat Tower is sleek yet solid, design with beechwood, plywood, and sturdy metal rods that can be easily reconfigured, while the Poles Cushion bed provides a comfortable rest area.
“Graphic design’s most extraordinary work is often the result of amazing partnerships between client and designer,” explains Nuno Fontes. Heading up his own multi-disciplinary studio in the small Portuguese town of Santa Maria Da Feira, for Studio Nuno, it is essential that “every project in our studio starts with dialogue.”
First we ventured into the world of low-maintenance indoor gardening by sharing some self-watering planters that inch you closer to that glorious green thumb. Now we’re taking it from low-maintenance to almost no maintenance by dipping into the succulent world. You’d have to be hiding under a rock not to have noticed the popularity of these drought-tolerant plants. They’re small, making them perfect for apartment living and they’re easy to keep alive. They’re also apparently Instagram-worthy as the hashtag ‘succulents’ has over seven million photos! Don’t just scroll through IG looking at them though – head out to your local plant shop and buy some. Once you have the plants, you have to find cool planters which might be as important as the plant itself. We’re making your life easier by rounding up 8 modern pots and planters for your favorite new plants to live.
Works in progress for an upcoming show in Sydney. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.
Hana committed to focusing more on her practice about a year ago. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.
Hana demonstrating an ancient burnishing technique, using a smooth rock to gently polish the clay surface to expose the subtle tones and soft textures. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.
Hana first builds the shape, then carves out the interior of her vessels. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.
Hana’s recent inspiration came from travels in Spain and Greece last year. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.
Hana begins the process by documenting her desired final outcome first. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.
After finishing up a degree in Fine Art at RMIT, where she focussed on video and sculptural installation, Hana Vasak of Dáša Ceramics almost immediately turned her attention to clay.
Fascinated by working with porcelain, Hana enrolled in a beginner’s wheel-throwing course after university. ‘I learned very early on that the wheel was definitely not for me!’, she admits. Unperturbed, Hana moved on to try hand-building, blending and adapting different techniques to find her sweet spot as an artist and develop a self-guided practice.
Making wobbly, organic vessels under the label Dáša Ceramics, a sell-out show at Saint Cloche gallery in Sydney, and inclusion in a group exhibition at Modern Times alongside long-admired ceramicists gave Hana the courage she needed to move forward. ‘The creative path can be quite daunting sometimes’, she admits, ‘I feel very blessed to be able to do what fulfills me most’.
Hana possesses a rare resilience that allows her to transform perceived ‘mistakes’ into growth and success. After a disappointing moment a few years ago, when a freshly fired batch of new works were all discovered with hairline fractures, Hana was able to re-frame this setback. ‘I couldn’t bear to part with them’, Hana recalls of the broken vessels. She later took a small, cracked vase along with her on a trip to Japan, where she learned about the tradition and technique of Kintsugi, ‘incorporating this technique ever since’ into many of her pieces. It’s not just the aesthetic style of the technique that resonated with Hana, she was also drawn to its philosophy of ‘embracing and accentuating an object’s imperfection, allowing these to be seen as the piece’s story’.
Working out of her sunny studio in Northcote ‘overlooking a small garden shaded by a canopy of a gum and feijoa tree’ (umm okay that sounds quite nice), Hana’s process for creating her sculptural vessels starts with ‘lots of preliminary drawings’, after which she takes to a solid block of clay with her hands. After she’s happy with the shape, she carves out the interior, allowing the outside of her pieces to appear smooth, whilst the inside bares the maker’s hand and marks.
Since embarking upon her practice, Hana has thrived amongst Melbourne’s supportive creative communities, though she’s cautious of doing too much, too fast. ‘I’ve learned to slow down, to be more realistic of the time I have and what I am actually able to achieve,’ she shares, ‘I’ve been mindful of not over-committing and embracing working at a slower pace’. Sage advice for us all!
You can see Hana’s work in person at her local and international stockists, and in an upcoming exhibition. Mud House will take place in Sydney in mid-May, featuring Hana’s works alongside Kathryn Dolby, curated by Amber Creswell Bell.
The first time I saw Pawena Thimaporn’s work, I immediately felt a connection to it. The simple shapes juxtaposed on clean forms really spoke to my graphic sensibilities and I instantly became a fan. Fast foward a little and a few weeks ago I was able to finally meet her in person! We hung out one morning in her charming little garage studio in Woodland Hills, CA.
1) You are originally from Thailand, can you tell me a little of your background, and what brought you to the states?
I grew up in the countryside about 2 hours away from Bangkok. I went to a boarding school when I was little because our house was very far from anything. When I got older ,in my teen years, I moved to Bangkok and finished my BFA in industrial design at KMITL. It was there that I saw an Art Center Collage of Design poster posted on one of the walls at the university. I was always curious about life outside of my own country and wanted to know more, so I did some research about colleges and universities in the US and applied to some of them. Eventually I ended up at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA.
2) Your background is in Graphic Design, how did you transition from that to working with ceramics?
It was actually the other way around! I originally started with ceramics back when I was at KMITL in Bangkok, then graphic design here at Art Center. After working full time in the design field for about 15 years, I am now back to ceramics again!
3) Can you speak a little about your process? Do you start with a sketch, or do you kind of let the “medium” dictate what you do?
I do both. I have a sketch book that I carry with me in my bag. I will sketch out ideas when I waiting for my kids, in the car on a road trip, etc. but most of time time, ideas just come while I am working. I usually sketch right on the dry clay. Since the work is dimensional, it is hard to know how a design will work on an object if I just sketch on a 2D surface. It also helps to have some old work to play around in the studio. They are the best source of color and clay body reference and also help spark new ideas. I will put them next to each other, stack them, draw on them, etc…
4) How long does it take for you to do an average piece?
It is depends on the design. Each piece has different stages and waiting times in between from start to finish, so it is a bit hard to know exact making times. But the general steps for a piece will be : First, preparing the clay, throwing it on the wheel, waiting until it’s leather hard, trim, wait until it’s completely dry, paint, put it into bisque firing, glaze and finally put it into glaze firing. Some of the pieces with handles, such as mug and pitcher will have extra steps.
5) What has been inspiring you lately? are there any current artists work that you are admiring/following?
I am not sure why, but lately I keep looking at old children books and short poems with simple black and white drawings. Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec are those among other designers and artist whose works I have been admiring.
6) Are there other mediums you’re interested in exploring outside of ceramics?
Yes and yes, and a lot of them! I am not sure when I will be able to find the time, but I would love to paint another surface beside clay. I also would like to see my designs on other mediums such as fabric and glassware.
7) What would be your dream project?
A dream project for me would be to create a collection of objects and exhibit them with my paintings somewhere. I would love to see my works together as a group in an interesting space.
8) What’s next for you?
I guess finding time to working on my dream project, and having a big enough of working space for that! 🙂
Décidément, impossible de se lasser de ces artistes qui reproduisent la nature avec leurs aiguilles et quelques pelotes. Kate Jenkins est une de ceux-là. Voici 12 ans qu’elle crochète et tricote des compositions pleines d’aliments divers, mais c’est en 2015 qu’elle réalise sa plus large composition, faite de fruits de mer. Poulpes, sardines, huîtres, coquilles Saint-Jacques, crevettes et langoustines en laine et en tissu sont ainsi exposées en plateau de fruits de mer. L’usage de fils de plusieurs couleurs permet de créer des effets de reflets très réalistes semblables aux jeux de lumière dans les écailles des poissons.
Anna Whitehouse est une céramiste britannique qui s’était donné, en janvier 2018, l’objectif de réaliser un vase par jour pendant 100 jours. Elle avait ainsi choisi une forme facilement reproductible, un standard, autour de laquelle elle brodait par la suite en explorant des nouvelles possibilités esthétiques. Certaines bouteilles avaient alors été recouvertes de feuillage et de motifs floraux, d’autres décorées avec des motifs en bas relief. Pour obtenir une telle variété de motif, elle a dû créer des outils ad hoc en prenant des bouts de stylos, des objets insolites d’usage quotidien, de la vaisselle… un projet que l’on pourrait définir de titanesque tant la céramiste a fait preuve de minutie et de constance.
When Tish Murtha sadly died from a brain aneurysm in 2013, she had largely been forgotten by the photographic community. However, in 2017, her key work, Youth Unemployment, was published to universal acclaim and was followed by a major retrospective at London's Photographers Gallery.
Tish has now been recognised as a social-documentary photographer of the first rank. In the late 1970s, she documented "marginalised communities from the inside" and the anger and frustration evident in Youth Unemployment even reached the House of Commons where her work was raised as a subject of debate. In 2019, for a new generation facing today's austerity, her work is more relevant than ever.
Elswick Kids is a less strident set of images. They were taken as Tish walked the streets of the working class district of Elswick in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and were never realised as an exhibition in their own right. Today, though, they tell of a time when children had the freedom of the streets to play in and where friendship blossomed against a seemingly harsh background. These photographs, now available in a new book of the same name, have a stark beauty that shines through every page.
Elswick Kids is an essential contribution to our understanding of life in a northern English city in the late twentieth century and cements Tish Murtha's place in British documentary photography. To find out more about Elswick Kids, published by Bluecoat Press, go to tishmurtha.co.uk.
“Both Worlds” (2009), all images provided by Cecilia Paredes
Peruvian artist Cecilia Paredes is the subject of her own richly patterned photographs, yet her figure is often difficult to locate at first. For each portrait she hangs boldly printed fabrics as the backdrop, which she then matches either with her painted skin, custom clothing, or both. Her torso, arms, and face fade into the background, as the curvature of her body and brown hair become some of the only indicators of her presence.
“I wrap, cover, or paint my body with the same pattern of the material and re-present myself as part of that landscape,” she explains. “Through this act, I am working on the theme of building my own identification with the entourage or part of the world where I live or where I feel I can call home. My bio has been described as nomadic so maybe this is also a need of addressing the process of constant relocation.”
Paredes was born in Lima, Peru and currently works between Philadelphia, Lima, and Costa Rica. Currently she has a solo exhibition at Museum of Latin America Art (MOLAA) in Los Angeles through December 30, 2018, and will open another solo exhibition at the Museum of the University of Navarra (MUN) in Spain on March 27, 2019. (via LensCulture)
Tokyo-based photographer RK explores the far reaches of Japan, as well as neighboring Asian countries, shooting images that capture both timeless and of-the-moment scenes. RK often includes signs of life in his landscape images, whether a fisherman casting a line beneath a vibrant Japanese maple tree, or a carefree skateboarder cruising down a paved road with Hokkaido looming in the distance. The photographer also highlights the densely-packed nature of life in Japan, from masses of commuters forming a sea of umbrellas to shop owners surrounded by huge selections of neatly organized inventory.
Despite the highly composed quality of his photos, RK shares with Colossal, “There’s always new places I want to take photos, so I always try to find new compositions and ideas when arriving at the photo spot.” RK explains that he came across photography by chance: he was immersed in street culture and working as a professional DJ, when he joined an urban running crew and the founder asked him to take some photos of his teammates. From there, he dove into the field, teaching himself to shoot and edit images.
You can see more of RK’s work on his website and stay up-to-date on his most recent photographs and travels via Instagram. (via This Isn’t Happiness)
L’artiste japonais Masayoshi Matsumoto, évoqué précédemment dans l’un de nos articles, a depuis réalisé de nombreuses sculptures à l’aide de ses fameux ballons. Insectes, oiseaux ou mammifères, ses oeuvres référencent désormais de nombreuses espèces diverses et variées, mais également des plantes de toutes sortes.
La particularité de l’artiste est qu’il n’utilise aucun adhésif, aucun crayon, ni aucun autre instrument, mais uniquement des ballons en latex, faisant ainsi de ses oeuvres de véritables prouesses techniques. Chaque sculpture lui prend entre trois et six heures de son temps, dépendant du nombre de plis à réaliser et du nombre de couleurs utilisées.
Connecticut-based designer Kristen Meyer (previously) creates flat lay photographs on pastel backgrounds with precisely arranged vegetables, crackers, and other organic materials like rocks and leaves. The works are geometrically minded, like a recent design which created an isometric grid from sliced melon and kiwi or sliced cheese rounds that were transformed into a field of interlocking circles on top of equally sized crackers. All of her arrangements are shot in her house where she keeps a studio, however she often travels to whichever room of the house as best light. On the way she picks up various materials for her photographs, pulling inspiration from found objects.
“As far as how I find materials to experiment with, it varies a lot,” she tells Colossal. “I generally work with what I can find around the house, inside or out. It begins as a scavenger hunt of sorts, and then a challenge as I begin to build.”
In the fall Meyer will begin a set decorating project with photographer Adrien Broom. You can follow her style arrangements on Instagram, and buy select prints of her photographs on her website.
Ceramicist and mathematician Guy Van Leemput forms textured bowls by drafting interlocking lines, abnormally shaped circles, and other designs on the surface of balloons. The artist begins by adding a porcelain stamp to the bottom of his rubber mold and then working his way in a circular motion upward. Although his designs are geometrically inspired, he creates each piece based on intuition rather than a pre-determined template. When finished, the pots are so translucent they appear as if they were formed from paper. This aesthetic, both in the works’ color and technique, was inspired by ancient Italian fresco paintings, and has been a part of his practice since 2014.
Currently Van Leemput’s work is included in the Porcelain Biennale at the Albrechtsburg Castle in Meissen, Germany, the city where European porcelain was first composed. The exhibition opened earlier this month and runs through November 4, 2018. You can take a look inside the artist’s studio and handbuilt kiln in a video made for the Dutch ceramics magazine de kleine K below. (via Art is a Way)
Pop quiz: What are you having for dinner tonight? To continue our series of easy dinners that people actually make, we’re featuring this one-pan roasted chicken from Julia Turshen’s new cookbook, Now & Again.… Read more
Against the backdrop of Paris Fashion Week which introduced several collaborative projects between high fashion brands and big names from the art world (Dior partnered with KAWS and Takashi Murakami continued collaborating with Virgil Abloh, the new artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection), the French capital was hit for the first time hit by the world’s most elusive street artist—Banksy.
Without previous announcement or warning, Parisians began to discover several new street pieces that quickly materialized in the urban/street art galaxy of the social media universe and were eventually confirmed on Banksy’s official Instagram account.
The first piece was found near the Porte de la Chapelle metro station, where Paris’ refugee centre “La Bulle,” was located until August 2017. A city within a city, it was home to a makeshift camp of some 2,700 refugees and was dismantled an estimated 35 times before 2,000 migrants were bussed to temporary shelters. This was done as part of Emmanuel Macron’s wish to remove the refugees “off the streets, out of the woods,” as stated during his campaign.
With this in mind, Banksy revisited his “Go Flock Yourself” piece from 2008, and created a new version as commentary on the current political situation in France and throughout Europe. Depicting a black girl painting a Victorian wallpaper pattern over a swastika, the artist is commenting on the way politicians are concealing wrongdoing and potentially fascist policies.
The second and third pieces appeared soon thereafter. One depicts a suited man luring a three-legged dog with a bone while hiding a saw behind his back, a metaphor for politicians tricking people with promises that often have a masked, devastating agenda. The other is Banksy’s take on the iconic painting “Napoleon Crossing the Alps” by Jacques-Louis David, a symbol of French power and influence. By covering the rider with his own cape, the artist is commenting on the current misguided way the government is leading the country, blinding people with propaganda and false promises.
The last three pieces introduce Bansky’s signature rats to their genesis—Parisian artist Blek Le Rat and his rat stencils were a great influence on the Bristol-born artist, or as he stated in one of his recent IG posts: “The birthplace of modern stencil art.” Placing them around the city in ways that interact with local graffiti and building facades, it may appear as though they’re having fun blowing things up. But in reality, they are a reminder of a volatile period of civil unrest that took place in May 1968 when the government temporarily ceased to function.
In one piece a rat is propelled by a popping champagne cork. Using this symbol of affluence as their vehicle to overtake obstacles, the rodents are once again Banksy’s metaphor for working class people making significant change when they join together and fight for similar cause.
Of particular note in this Banksy “invasion” was that some of the works were miraculously revised overnight, allowing the artist to highlight one of the biggest advantages of stencil technique–its ability to be applied quickly and precisely. With this in mind, a small rat prepared to blow up a Pompidou Center sign suddenly morphed into a much larger rat with bandanna covered face. It now wields a large X-Acto knife, a common symbol of stencil cutting.
Included here are many of the works that have since emerged in Paris, but you can see several more here.
Update: This article was updated on 6/28/18 to include new images and details.
Japanese artist Wakuneco makes incredibly realistic portraits of feline heads, handcrafting the three-dimensional creations from felted wool. Making such lifelike cat faces has provided Wakuneco with quite the following on Youtube, where she posts how-to videos that lead her audience through the process of attaching the cats’ fur to perfectly securing each subject’s tiny whiskers. She pulls inspiration from images of real cats for her unique pieces, which range in breed, color, and size. She sells her sculpture objects on Yahoo! Auctions, but currently only ships within Japan. You can see more of Wakuneco’s pieces on Instagram and Twitter. (via My Modern Met and Laughing Squid)
Fun! These embroidered bracelets from OMY are pure sartorial candy. Maybe your wrist needs a few of these to help brighten up your outfit for the day? Luckily, there’s several designs to choose from, so pick your favorites for a “sweet” stack.
One size : 2 snaps to adjust to your wrist.
Embroidered with colored satin thread by artisan embroiderers.
Composition: 83% Polyester – 17% Laiton – Nickel free
Size: 21 x 3 cm
Today, views of the world’s ancient architectural wonders are firmly based in their current state of ruin, leaving to visitors’ imaginations the original glory of structures like the Parthenon, Pyramid of the Sun, and Temple of Luxor. NeoMam, in a project for Expedia, has resurrected several ancient buildings through a series of gifs. In a matter of seconds, centuries of natural and intentional damage and decay are reversed to reveal a rare glimpse at what the original structures would have looked like. The creative contractors behind the labor-intensive renderings are Maja Wrońska (previously) and her husband Przemek Sobiecki, who works as This Is Render. (via designboom)
