Adorably Emotional Creatures Comprise Nosey Mungo’s Playful Ceramic Menagerie

All images © Helen Burgess, shared with permission

In the hands of Helen Burgess, goofy grins, bloated bellies, and eyes wide with surprise turn endangered or overlooked animals into endearing creatures with playfully exaggerated emotions. The British ceramicist, who works as nosey mungo (previously), sculpts quirky renditions of wildlife and other critters—she prefers to focus on conservation issues and species struggling to survive— crafting kooky pufferfish covered in spikes and chicks with tiny beaks poking out from their downy, yellow bodies.

Currently, Burgess is working on a collection of marine wall hangings, and you can follow her progress, along with shop updates and glimpses into her process, on Instagram.

 

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Figures and Events Are Transfixed by Time in Pep Carrió’s Extensive Daily Visual Diaries

Spreads from 2013. All images © Pep Carrió, shared with permission. Photographs by Antonio Fernández

In 2007, Madrid-based artist and illustrator Pep Carrió’s expansive diary project began as a challenge with a simple premise: to draw something every day. No matter what materials were at hand and without any predetermined theme or subject matter, he took a game-like approach to see if he could accomplish filling an entire Moleskine datebook throughout the year. The numerous editions that have followed feature a dazzling array of scenes fashioned from marker, pencil, tempera, pen, ink, collage, and found materials.

Carrió’s stream-of-consciousness process has led to a collection that ranges from abstract flora to silhouetted and patterned figures to surreal vessels and landscapes. Originally, the volumes contained one drawing each day with complementary images on facing pages, but in recent years, the artist has begun to more consistently fill the entire spread with a single image, creating bold compositions that play with the symmetry of the book and the confines of its edges. Imagery of sprawling tree branches, obscured faces and masks, and bodies in precarious circumstances strike a metaphorical chord, exploring human society and psychology. His method of completing a drawing each day is itself an exercise in memory, as the diaries have accumulated records of the artist’s thoughts over time and unfurl into a personal archive.

Carrió currently has work on view as part of From Spain with Design traveling throughout Spain during 2022 and Play with Design at the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporánea in Valencia through October 23. You can find more information on his website and follow the visual diary project on Instagram.

 

 

2007

2010

2018

2020

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An Elaborately Designed Book on Weaving Opens to Reveal a Fully Functional Loom

All images © Cai Wei Qun, shared with permission

The swish of a shuttle moving from left to right as it carries threads through the warp might be described as a “xui” sound. A Taiwanese onomatopoeia, the auditory word is also the title of Cai Wei Qun’s elaborately constructed book on the craft, which opens to reveal a trove of history, techniques and tricks, and an entire loom tucked between its covers. The clever design is fully functional and able to produce tiny tapestries based on the patterns and practices described, making the book an immersive manual on weaving traditions.

Wei Qun was recently awarded a Red Dot Design Award for the conceptual project, and you can find much more on the designer’s website and Instagram. (via Yanko Design)

 

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A Satisfying Stop-Motion Tutorial by omozoc Effortlessly Slices and Assembles a Wooden Box Entirely by Hand

omozoc (previously) gives new meaning to handcrafted in one of his latest stop-motion tutorials. With a simple touch of his fingertip or nail zipping along the edge of a piece of wood, the animator appears to cut, bevel, and construct a tissue box without any outside tools or fasteners. Comprised of 791 individual photos, the seamless video took 22 days to complete and is part of omozoc’s growing archive of woodworking lessons, which you can find more of (make sure you turn your volume up to hear the incredibly satisfying audio) on YouTube.

 

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Set Against a Backdrop of World Events, Tim Okamura’s Bold Portraits Emanate Commanding Energy

“Fire Fighter” (2021), oil on canvas, 60 x 76 inches

Marked with visible brushstrokes and drips of paints, the portraits of  Tim Okamura (previously) blend realistic portrayals of his subjects with the fervent, unrestrained qualities of street art. The Japanese-Canadian artist, who recently moved his studio from Brooklyn to Queens, centers his practice around storytelling and honing in on the distinctive energies of those he paints.

Much of Okamura’s portraiture develops in series, whether as the Healthcare Heroes collection devoted to the nurses and doctors working tirelessly throughout the pandemic or the commanding figures of the ongoing Women Warriors—many of these works will be on view as a solo exhibition in September of 2023 at Pittsburgh’s August Wilson African American Cultural Center. Rendered primarily in oil with the occasional acrylic or spray paint addition, the pieces capture the raw nature of Okamura’s process and the distinctive, powerful presence of his subjects.

If you’re in Los Angeles, visit the Academy Museum to view the artist’s portrait of the late writer Toni Morrison. Otherwise, find more of his paintings on his site and Instagram, and browse limited-edition prints in his shop.

 

Toni Morrison circa 1993

“Nurse Tracy” (2021), oil on linen, 40 x 60 inches

“Blood, Sweat, and Tears (Portrait of the Artist Marc Andre)” (2022), oil on linen, 32 x 26 inches

“Rites of Spring” (2021), oil on canvas, 64 x 64 inches

“Rich Medina” (2022), oil on wood panel, 24 x 24 inches

“Luminescence” (2022), oil and acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60 inches

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Realistic Bird Busts and Portraits Slot Pieces of Wood into Jigsaw-Like Sculptures

All images © T.A.G. Smith, shared with permission

Similar to the decorative art of marquetry, intarsia involves compressing cut pieces of wood into a tight, solid structure. Because of the size of the components, the latter technique produces more three-dimensional forms that tend to be fastened with dabs of glue.

British artist T.A.G. Smith employs this assemblage method when sculpting his small bird busts, portraits, and single feathers encased in boxes. Each piece begins with a digital rendering, followed by Smith carving shapes from myriad types of wood, allowing the color and grain of the materials to determine its placement in the final form. The resulting sculptures, which Smith likens to a jigsaw puzzle, combine anywhere from six to more than 600 individual pieces into sleek, realistic depictions of eagles, hawfinches, and puffins.

Currently, the artist is adding to his series of bird portraits, and you can follow his progress on Instagram, where he also shares information about works available for purchase on Etsy.

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A Diverse Array of Textures Cloak Abstract and Figurative Ceramics by Artist Carlos Cabo

All images © Carlos Cabo, shared with permission

More than form or color, texture is what preoccupies Carlos Cabo as he sculpts. The Spanish artist, who lives and works in Salinas, is drawn to the tactile qualities of clay and the possibilities inherent in its malleability. Texture “is what gives (a work) personality, what individualizes it, and essentially differentiates it from other similar pieces,” he says. “I would dare to say that the texture is more than the skin of the piece. It is the representation of its genetic code.”

From masses of the natural material sourced from the countryside, he shapes tall, slender figures wearing pocked gowns, abstract pieces that twist upward, and minimal owl-like creatures, some with sleek feathers and others with rough, bumpy plumage. Each ceramic piece is carefully molded, fired, and covered in terra sigillata, the lustrous clay slip coating that functions similarly to a glaze while not masking the texture of the sculpture’s surface.

In a note to Colossal, Cabo shares that his desire to vary the tactile parts of his practice stems from his childhood. He explains:

I grew up in a rural environment, in which we children spent a lot of time outdoors, in permanent contact with endless objects that served to accumulate a lot of tactile experiences in my memory. On the other hand, in my town, there was no electricity during the day. This came to the houses when it got dark and, sometimes, well into the night, which forced us to wander around it using our sense of feeling and touch… I came to know all the imperfections of the walls, the geometry of the doors, and the location of things.

To explore more of Cabo’s body of work, visit his site and Instagram.

 

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