These Wiggly ‘Nervous Chairs’ by Wilkinson & Rivera Channel Our Collective Anxiety

All images by Zelie Lockhart, courtesy of Wilkinson & Rivera, shared with permission

If home is a feeling, then the wriggling furniture collection by husband-and-wife Grant Wilkinson and Teresa Rivera are apt representatives of our collective anxieties. The design duo opts for squiggles rather than clean, straight lines in their collection of wooden pieces— the internet dubbed them “nervous chairs” —that appear to quake with uneasiness. Curved legs and arms offer base structure and coiled rungs back support in the ever-growing line of products by their eponymous brand, which is known for putting updated spins on classic pieces. Rivera shares:

Our tastes can be pretty contemporary but we’re fascinated by traditional techniques. We try to incorporate them in each piece: for the Windsor, it’s steam-bending the backrest. For La Silla, we weave the caned seats by hand. For our latest piece, the Welsh Stick Chairs, we included hand-carved barley twists.

Wilkinson and Rivera, who are based in Walthamstow, East London, will launch a few new designs in the next few months, which you can watch for on Instagram, and shop their current collection through The Future Perfect.

 

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Movement and Flow Infuse Pleated Paper Sculptures and Modular Designs by Richard Sweeney

“Swan.” All images © Richard Sweeney, shared with permission

Evoking the spread wings of a bird in flight or a dancer’s graceful bends, the paper sculptures created by Richard Sweeney (previously) convey movement through an intricate display of folds and pleats. The monochromatic works, which the West Yorkshire, England-based artist manipulates into their final shapes with small cuts, wet creases, and dabs of adhesive, are abstract and asymmetrical in form, inspiring a range of associations. “People see different things—animal skulls and a spinal column being a few of my favorites mentioned so far,” he tells Colossal.

Sweeney’s process has remained largely the same during the last few years, and he still crafts a variety of malleable, modular forms like the pliable helix shown below, although he now gravitates toward more organic shapes that appear to flow from one end to the other. “I like to go out walking in the countryside, so there is plenty to see there that influences me—birds in flight, streams, and rivers, cloud formations—so I’ll make sketches and take photographs and let that guide my sculptural work. I don’t usually work with a particular form in mind,” he says, noting that each sculpture often takes multiple weeks to complete.

Pick up a copy of Sweeney’s Fluid Forms for a deeper look at his practice, and if you’re in London, stop by Deidre Dyson before January 14 to see his pieces in person. You can also follow his latest works on Instagram.

 

“Swan”

“Flight Sequence”

“Swan”

“Cloud”

Detail of “Flight Sequence”

Detail of “Cloud”

“Swan”

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Tiny Faces Animate Minimal Mugs and Planters by Ceramicist Rami Kim

All images © Rami Kim

Enjoy the company of Rami Kim’s minimally sculpted personalities emerging from her footed planters, mugs, and other ceramic pieces. The artist and animator (previously), who gravitates toward bright monochromatic finishes and simple patterns, creates a wide array of vessels featuring perfectly round eyes, tiny mouths, and noses that add a dose of whimsy and play to her functional objects.

See more of Kim’s works, check for stockists near you, and shop available pieces on her site, and keep an eye on her Instagram for announcements about sales and opportunities to visit her Los Angeles studio. You also might enjoy Fan Yanting’s moody characters.

 

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Complex Networks of Metallic Branches Shape Animal Sculptures by Kang Dong Hyun

“Forest of Coexistence” (2019), stainless steel and urethane paint, 300 x 160 x 120 centimeters. All images © Kang Dong Hyun, shared with permission

What eventually becomes a stately stag or majestically posed lion in Kang Dong Hyun’s Forest of Coexistence starts with countless metallic branches that splay in every direction. The Korean artist (previously) welds spindly shoots and sprawling root-like shapes into facial features and bodies that are then finished with urethane paint. Creating a cohesive display of flora and fauna, each hollow, stainless steel sculpture considers the relationship between species and the idea that “all life on Earth may lead to an invisible string,” Kang says. For more of the artist’s intricately formed animals, visit Instagram.

 

“Forest of Coexistence” (2020), stainless steel and urethane paint, 73 x 46 x 11 centimeters

“Forest of Coexistence” (2021), stainless steel and urethane paint, 150 x 120 x 50 centimeters

“Forest of Coexistence” (2021), stainless steel and urethane paint, 64 x 36 x 114 centimeters

“Forest of Coexistence” (2021), stainless steel and urethane paint, 68 x 80 x 20 centimeters

“Forest of Coexistence” (2018), stainless steel and urethane paint, 130 x 45 x 85 centimeters

“Forest of Coexistence” (2020), stainless steel and urethane paint, 51 x 80 x 39 centimeters

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Wander Through a Mountain of 25,000 Mannequins in an Astounding Look at Consumerism and Waste

In a wooded area of Lincolnshire, it’s not unusual for people to partake in what’s dubbed a “drive through body part heist.” The preposterously named activity involves a trip to Mannakin—a Midlands mannequin distributor frequented by a wide array of clientele like merchandisers, film crews, and Halloween devotees—where visitors spend 15 minutes scouring its meters-high pile of discarded forms for, none other than, body parts. These challenges to fill a car with as many pieces as possible are just one part of the company’s business model, which involves saving the used fiberglass displays from landfills and returning them to the retail ecosystem.

English YouTuber and educator Tom Scott walks through the staggering heap in a recent video and talks with director Roz Edwards, who’s amassed about 25,000 figures from locations all over Europe that are now scattered across the property. The short documentary project dives into the company’s process for revitalizing worn arms, legs, and torsos and confronts the strange, surreal environment created when thousands of lifeless bodies occupy a single space in what’s ultimately a striking visual indictment of consumerism and our collective approach to waste.

You also might find this short documentary set in a mannequin factory interesting.

 

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Playfully Absurd, Idiosyncratic Characters Grace the Salvaged Book Sculptures by Mike Stilkey

All images © Mike Stilkey, shared with permission

Dapper penguins, nonchalant musicians, and self-destructive politicians are a few of the distinct figures adorning Mike Stilkey’s sculptures. The Los Angeles-based artist (previously) rummages through heaps of discarded books, plucking out complementary titles that become the basis for his towering works. Using ink, colored pencil, paint, and lacquer, he renders minimal portraits of figures with exaggerated limbs or instruments and gestures that show a flair for the absurd.

Vacillating from the playful and whimsical to the cheeky and ironic, Stilkey’s idiosyncratic, sometimes anthropomorphized characters translate an essential interpretation of the volumes’ messages or subject matter through a contemporary lens. He explains:

Sometimes it’s a wry, tongue-in-cheek, satirical kind of thing, and sometimes it’s an extension or interpretation of it. It depends on the book and my mood. There’s been a lot of fodder over the past couple of years with all of the political conversations and things you hear or read on the news or social media. But I’ve always been able to do this with books. It’s one of the reasons I started using books as a canvas or vehicle for painting—the richness of layering literary and visual narratives over each other to convey something more complex.

As well as the repurposed sculptures shown here, Stilkey also creates installations with thousands of books and large characters, although these on-site projects have been put on hold since the onset of the pandemic. Prints and postcards are available in the artist’s shop, and you can follow his works on Instagram.

 

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Ethereal Oil Paintings by Ekaterina Popova Glimpse the Warm, Intimate Interiors of Home

All images © Ekaterina Popova, shared with permission

Within the confines of a canvas, Russian artist Ekaterina Popova nurtures the calm, familiar atmosphere of home. Her dreamlike interiors are comprised of blurred edges and thick brushstrokes in oil that cast a subtle haze over each scene, and Popova’s warm, impressionistic style lends itself to the lived-in feeling of her paintings: a quilt hangs off the edge of a mattress, a book rests in the window as if it was just set down by its reader, and the lunch remnants remain on a dressed table.

Often depicting her own bedroom and friends’ spaces, Popova focuses on an array of textures like slatted wood flooring, fur blankets, floral bedding, and lush foliage, and the natural light or soft glow of a lamp that illuminates the scenes bolsters their sense of comfort and intimacy. She explains:

For the past few years, I have been exploring interiors in my work. The interest started as a way for me to reflect on my upbringing in Russia, but eventually progressed to exploring the overall idea of “home” and what it means me now… My paintings include messy rooms, intimate items, and objects that refer to human presence without including the figure.

Currently based in Philadelphia, Popova has paintings on view from January 6 to 29 at Cohle Gallery in Paris. Dive into more of her work on her site and Instagram.

 

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