Tina Kraus Details Ocean Life’s Beauty and Plight Through Realistic Paper Sculptures

All images © Tina Kraus, shared with permission

Tina Kraus (previously) recreates nature’s beauty, idiosyncrasies, and diversity through her intricate paper sculptures. Though the environment has been a source of inspiration since her childhood, Kraus explains to Colossal, “In the past decade, I have become more and more worried about the future. The climate crisis, pollution, and the loss of biodiversity already have a big impact on nature and life on this planet.” These disquietudes gave rise to her Paper Life! Ocean series, in which she focused on marine pollution by depicting a hermit crab living in a tin can, a squid trapped in a fishing net, and more.

Kraus challenges herself to create sculptures that are more and more life-like every time. Working intuitively with a bit of experimentation and spontaneity, the Münster, Germany-based artist always starts with a sketch before continuously building up layers of crepe paper to create depth.

Kraus’ Paper Life! Ocean sculptures will be shown early next year in an international group exhibition at MAKE Southwest. For more updates and artwork, visit her Instagram and website.

 

 

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A Skipping Stone Hurtles Through Space as a Good Samaritan in a New Chemical Brothers Music Video

A humble rock doubles as a savior in a new music video for The Chemical Brothers, featuring Beck. Directed by Pensacola and produced by Canada, “Skipping Like a Stone” opens with Kurt Steiner, a real-life record-breaking stone skipper shown with what appears to be his actual equipment, including a specialized tool case. After a series of impressive jumps across the water captured from increasingly spectacular perspectives, the individual rock launches into a fateful journey. Chaos and destruction ensue, although the stone plays good samaritan as it thwarts violence and saves several lives.

It’s worth reading Outside’s profile of Steiner from last fall, which dives into his incredibly precise technique shown in slow-motion in the video above.

 

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Personality Types Emerge Through Colorful, Fragmented Shapes in Jason Boyd Kinsella’s Portraits

“Geordie” (2023), oil on canvas, 145 x 120 centimeters. All images courtesy of Unit London, shared with permission

In Anatomy of the Radiant Mind, Jason Boyd Kinsella considers what lies beneath the surface of our online identities and public-facing personas. The Canadian artist conjures a cast of characters, each based on distinct Myers-Brigg personality types to which he attributes unique colors, shapes, and sizes that comprise his figures. Working in what he describes as “fleshless portraiture,” Kinsella focuses on the intricacies of the human brain and emotional states, all conveyed through Cubist forms.

On view next month at Unit London, Anatomy of the Radiant Mind presents large-scale oil paintings and sculptures that, together, question dimension and depth. How can we understand one another when viewed through the flatness of social media? What do we lose when we’re not sharing a physical space? These questions surround the works, each of which is titled with the subtle anonymity of a single, given name like “Geordie” or “Lukas.”

To create the portraits, Kinsella begins with a preliminary structural sketch on paper and then translates his figures to canvas. He stacks three-dimensional triangles, cylinders, spheres, and blocks into facial features before applying vivid color. “Howard,” for example, exudes an aggrieved energy with a curved body in black and glowering expression, while “Kate” is dainty, her shapes stacked into a slim, pastel-hued tower.

Anatomy of the Radiant Mind runs from October 3 to November 4. Find more from the artist on Instagram.

 

Left: “Howard” (2023), oil on canvas, 120 x 100 centimeters. Right: “Patricia” (2023), oil on canvas, 145 x 115 centimeters

“Lukas” (2023), oil on canvas, 185 x 155 centimeters

“Kate” (2023), oil on canvas, 120 x 100 centimeters

“Rich” (2023), oil on canvas, 120 x 100 centimeters

“Lane” (2023), oil on canvas, 120 x 100 centimeters

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A Colossal Interview: Zoë Buckman On Tenderness, Her Evolution as a Woman and Mother, and Embroidering Her Largest Works To Date

“songs leak from my bedroom walls” (2023). Photo by Charles Benton. All images © Zoë Buckman, courtesy of Lyes & King, shared with permission

What responsibility does an artist have to care for her viewers? Zoë Buckman thinks deeply about this question and discusses it in a recent conversation with Colossal.

One thing that’s important to me has to do with beauty and softness. Those are definitely tools that I embrace and harness. I know that I’m exploring something that is very difficult and triggering. It’s always been important to me that I make work that draws people in and creates an environment for conversations about violence, rape, abortion, miscarriage, and all of these things. In the work itself, I am trying to care for viewers.

Much of Buckman’s output during the past few years has championed the fight: that of resilient survivors, of rebelling against the patriarchy, and of her own sparring with the art world as she sought to use mediums historically associated with “women’s work” to put critical issues front and center. Her new series, though, titled Tended and on view at Lyes & King, takes a softer approach, which Buckman discusses in this conversation about her early indoctrination in feminism and what it’s like to raise a child around such difficult, and undoubtedly necessary, work.

Read the interview.

 

Left: “holy ash” (2023). Right: “thoughts run out my hands like a gecko” (2023). Photos by Charles Benton

Detail of “songs leak from my bedroom walls” (2023)

Detail of “thoughts run out my hands like a gecko” (2023)

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In ‘The Lost Mystics,’ Kumkum Fernando’s Enigmatic Wanderers Chase Illusions Through Time and Space

“Formally Known as Izah,” 950 blocks composed of upcycled wood, hand- and spray-painted wood, scratched coated brass detailing, and recycled nails, 31.5 x 56.2 x 21.5 inches. All images © Kumkum Fernando, courtesy of Jonathan LeVine Projects, shared with permission

In vibrant color, Kumkum Fernando’s hulking, hybrid figures (previously) wander through an enigmatic and quickly evolving world. “The melancholy characters of The Lost Mystics are searching for meaning, crisscrossing time and space, unmoored and chasing illusions,” says a statement from Jonathan Levine Projects, which presents the artist’s solo exhibition during ArtPrize.

Fernando repurposes found wood, nails, and metal details into modular beings, some of which have removable crowns. The artist draws on a wide range of global traditions, from Ethiopian and Sri Lankan masks to American board games to Buddhist and Hindu folktales. Simultaneously robotic and mystical, each character interacts with its surroundings in a unique way. The duo in “Soul Mates,” for example, are said to have traveled 23 million light years to find one another, and in “Which Way Is Home,” the creature turns its three heads in a perpetual search for direction.

The Lost Mystics is on view at the ArtPrize Clubhouse in Grand Rapids, Michigan, through October 1. Explore more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

 

“Which Way is Home,” 1,900 blocks made from upcycled wood, hand- and spray-painted wood, scratched coated brass detailing, and recycled nails, 24 x 56 x 22 inches. Installation includes 3 removable heads that articulate 360 degrees and a base made from an antique coffee table found in the Mekong region of Vietnam

“Soul Mates,” upcycled wood, hand- and spray-painted wood, scratched coated brass detailing, and recycled nails, 24 x 28.3 x 12.6 inches each, containing 300 blocks

“Voodoo Veera”, 230 blocks made from upcycled wood, hand- and spray-painted wood, scratched coated brass detailing, and recycled nails, 19 x 19 x 10 inches

Details of “Voodoo Veera”

“Baby Devis Board Game,” 650 blocks made of upcycled wood, hand- and spray-painted wood, scratched coated brass detailing and solid brass halo, and recycled nails, 25.6 x 44.2 × 14.5 inches. Installation includes 180 hand-turned pawns

Detail of “Baby Devis Board Game”

“Formally Known as Izah”

“Yellow Fellow,” 45 blocks made from upcycled wood with added pigments, scratched solid brass ears, and brass detailing, 22 x 30.5 x 13.2 inches

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Ramshackle Dwellings by Simon Laveuve Reach Skyward in an Imagined Post-Apocalyptic Future

Detail of “Le Rocher / IDF2068” (2023), mixed media, 67 x 20 x 20 centimeters. All images © Simon Laveuve, shared with permission

Paris-based artist Simon Laveuve imagines a world filled with anarchic architecture in his ongoing series of detailed, miniature shelters (previously). At 1/35 scale, his recent works continue to explore the possibilities of dwelling in remote or inhospitable places, incorporating tiny tire swings, rope ladders, furniture, and art. The ramshackle, towering structures contain wooden doors, scrawled messages, and a variety of utilitarian objects, suggesting the industrious work of unseen hands. While devoid of figures, an abandoned coffee cup or a door left ajar suggests the inhabitants are not too far away.

In his piece titled “Le Rocher,” which translates to “The Rock,” the artist explores notions of time. “The rock is a survivor. Cataclysm, tsunami, storm. He was there,” he says in a statement. “He saw everything, heard everything. When land and sea give birth to a new world, the rock, against wind and tide, will be there. It’s at the end that everything begins (again).”

Explore Laveuve’s sculptures in more detail on his website, and follow Instagram for updates.

 

“Le Rocher / IDF2068”

Left: “Voir Loin / Hors-série” (2023), mixed media, 47 x 15 x 15 centimeters. Right: Detail of “Voir Loin / Hors-série”

“La Guérite / IDF2068”

Detail of “La Guérite / IDF2068”

Details of “La Guérite / IDF2068” (2023), mixed media, 55 x 12 x 12 centimeters

Detail of “Le Rocher / IDF2068”

Detail of “Le Rocher / IDF2068”

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Stunning Footage of Neurons Forming Inside a Chick Embryo Wins Nikon’s Small World in Motion

For 13 years, Nikon’s Small World in Motion has celebrated the most alluring footage captured through a microscope that spotlights a range of biological processes, from viral infections to blood flow. The 2023 competition garnered nearly 400 entries from photographers and researchers in 41 countries with Dr. Alexandre Dumoulin winning the top prize for his 48-hour timelapse of neurons developing in a chick embryo.

Featuring colorful beams of light streaming across the frame, the video magnifies axons, which connect neurons, as they “traverse the nervous system before eventually forming synapses.” In neurological disorders like autism and schizophrenia, axons are impaired and unable to move in the way shown in Dumoulin’s timelapse. “By studying these organisms, I aim to enhance our comprehension of how the nervous system functions and identify potential factors contributing to neurodevelopmental disorders,” he says.

Find a few of this year’s videos below, and head to Nikon to peruse an archive of winners past and present.

 

Dr. Alexandre Dumoulin, a 48-hour time-lapse of developing neurons connecting the opposite side of the central nervous system in a chick embryo

Benedikt Pleyer, hydra

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Jennifer Crupi’s Sculptural Jewelry Embellishes Human Touch and Emotion

“Tools for Reassuring Contact, #1,” sterling silver, plastisol rubber dip, and acrylic, 17 x 17 x 6 inches. All images © Jennifer Crupi, shared with permission

How do our bodies communicate? Jennifer Crupi prods this question as she designs metal contraptions fit for limbs and torsos. Following her unconventional collection that considered gesture as embellishment, the artist’s new Tools for Reassuring Contact series similarly focuses on hands while exploring the power of human touch.

Born out of lockdown-induced isolation, the prosthetic-like pieces curve and press the fingers and palms down, presumably into the shoulder or arm of a companion. “Each work implies an empty space where a second user is encouraged to place his or her hand,” Crupi shares. “Once engaged with the piece, a clamp-like mechanism exaggerates the contact and pressure.” Made of sterling silver, the Tools outline and emphasize the value of the touch itself, with common blue rubber serving as a facilitator.

Other series include Guarded and Unguarded Gestures, comprising pieces that hang from wearers’ necks and place their limbs in either defensive, reserved positions or open and welcoming ones. These companion works reflect Crupi’s profound interest in psychology and human behavior, particularly the way we use our bodies to communicate confidence or for protection. She shares:

All frontal-covering gestures are supposed to be subtle but meaningful acts of self-protection. They work to varying degrees, of course, but even slight movements can be all the security we need. Apparently, most everyone locks ankles or crosses their legs when in the dentist’s chair, for example—I have tried a few times myself not to do this, but it is not easy! Likewise, at times when we need to show we are open to someone’s ideas or need to take charge we will adopt open postures. The “hands-on-hips” posture is supposed to have its roots in the animal kingdom, evolving from the way animals fluff their fur to make themselves look larger when in a threatening situation.

Some of Crupi’s works are included in the group exhibition Gestures: Past, Present and Future on view through November 5, 2023, at Koblenz State Museum Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. She will also open a solo show on March 25, 2024, at Indianapolis Art Center. Until then, follow updates to the ongoing Tools for Reassuring Contact series on her site.

 

“Tools for Reassuring Contact, #2,” sterling silver, plastisol rubber dip, and acrylic, 17 x 17 x 6 inches

“Unguarded Gestures, #2,” aluminum, painted wood, and acrylic, 24 x 24 x 12 inches

“Guarded Gestures, #3,” sterling silver and foam, 27 x 6.5 x 3.5 inches

“Unguarded Gestures, #3,” aluminum, painted wood, and acrylic, 28 x 18 x 13 inches

“Unguarded Gestures, #1,” aluminum, painted wood, and acrylic, 28 x 18 x 10 inches

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Sea-Inspired Sculptural Jewelry by Mariko Kusumoto Blossoms from Gossamer Fabrics

“Gathering Blue.” All images © Mariko Kusumoto, shared with permission

Exquisite bulbs, florets, and playful silhouettes emerge from delicate fiber in the jewelry and sculptures of Mariko Kusumoto (previously). Inspired by the myriad geometries and colors of coral, she creates gauzy, wearable forms from materials like polyester, nylon, and cotton. Some pieces sprawl out with a variety of textures to mimic the sea bed, while necklaces or bracelets incorporate confectionery-like shapes and vessels containing tiny objects.

Kusumoto is currently working on a public art installation that will be installed in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, this November. And beginning in April next year, she will be exhibiting at Legnica Jewelery Festival SILVER in Poland. Find more on the artist’s website, and follow Instagram for updates.

 

“Bloom”

“Gathering White”

“Goody Bag”

“Skizuku Bracelet”

“Sea Breeze Necklace”

“Seascape Brooch”

Detail of “Seabed”

Detail of “Seabed”

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Barbed Wire, Chains, and Shears Cleave Through Delicate Pottery in Glen Taylor’s Profound Sculptures

All images © Glen Taylor, shared with permission

Far from dainty, Glen Taylor’s teapots, cups, and saucers (previously) tap into the contrasts and contradictions of human nature. Soldering industrial implements like barbed wire, shears, and chains to broken pieces of porcelain and pottery, the artist draws on our associations with aging, decorum, and everyday wear and tear.

Influenced by kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken ceramics with metallic seams to highlight the object’s history, the sculptures allude to our inner experiences and emotions. “I continue on my journey of expressing my wonder, my confusion, my fierce battle with the dilemma of being a human,” he tells Colossal. “My work continues to open wider the wounds of love and living, of walking through this life unafraid to use my heart.”

Taylor will be exhibiting some work in New York next month. Follow Instagram for updates, and see more work on his website.

 

 

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