Birds Swoop and Swell into Imagined Inky Murmurations in Fiona Watson’s Etchings

“The Murmuration Tree.” All images © Fiona Watson, shared with permission

“Biology is a very visual science—macro and microscopically,” says Fiona Watson. The Scotland-based artist channels her background in this field into a multi-media practice that spans photography, painting, land art, and printmaking. Observation, interpretation, and creativity by way of critical thinking are fundamental in both the sciences and art, and Watson harnesses these skills to create etchings of murmurations that mimic birds’ paths as they swoop through the sky. Collective flights “are extraordinary both metaphorically as shapeshifters occupying the space between heaven and earth and biologically as hundreds of organisms moving as one,” she tells Colossal.

Beginning with a digital sketch, Watson imagines various phenomenological patterns that she then translates to a copper plate using wax resists and acids. After inking the drawing, she sends it through the etching press, a basic process used for centuries.

The artist works out of the Glasgow Print Studio and has a new piece in the upcoming 50th-anniversary exhibition. Explore more of her practice on her site and Instagram. (via Women’s Art).

 

“The Persistence of Sound”

“Dark Sun Murmuration”

“And Then Songs Filled the Air”

“The Kindness of Trees”

“First There is a Mountain”

“Once Upon a River”

“The Waggle Dance”

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The James Webb Telescope Captures Jupiter’s Rings and Brilliant Aurora in Two Stunning Composites

Image courtesy of NASA, ESA, Jupiter ERS Team, processing by Ricardo Hueso (UPV/EHU) and Judy Schmidt

It’s been two months since NASA unveiled the first images captured by the exceptionally powerful James Webb Space Telescope, and a pair of new composites taken by the observer’s infrared NIRCam showcase Jupiter’s aurora and unique characteristics in similarly striking detail.

Against a dark backdrop filled with hazy dots that are likely distant galaxies, the wide view features the planet’s two moons, Amalthea and Adrastea, and its rings. According to the European Space Agency, which released the images, the dusty halos shown are one million times fainter than the gaseous mass they encircle.

For the close-up, astronomers applied three filters to the NIRCam to capture the tiny details of the largest planet in our solar system. Zeroing in on the Jovian atmosphere, the image shows two polar auroras shining through red hues, with brilliant greens and yellows swirling around. “A third filter, mapped to blues, showcases light that is reflected from a deeper main cloud. The Great Red Spot, a famous storm so big it could swallow Earth, appears white in these views, as do other clouds because they are reflecting a lot of sunlight,” the agency says.

Because the human eye can’t see infrared light, scientist Judy Schmidt collaborated with astronomers to make the planet’s details visible. (via Peta Pixel)

 

Image courtesy of NASA, ESA, Jupiter ERS Team, processing by Judy Schmidt

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Symmetric Drawings on Antique Ledgers Balance Energy and Consciousness

“Mantra Amplifier.” All images Tanya P. Johnson, shared with permission

Conveying the “texture of a threshold,” the mixed-media drawings that comprise Tanya P. Johnson’s ongoing Wisdom Engines series invoke passing between wakefulness and sleep or life and death. Mirrored renderings entwine gears, levers, pulleys, and audio equipment with flowers and geometric motifs in elongated columns, referencing the shape of the human spine. The bisected works reflect both a connection between entities and finding balance through somatic experiences and symmetries.

Drawn on vintage ledger paper, the pieces are “tools for consciousness hacking,” Johnson says, instruments for confronting the systems we’re accustomed to. Each work “generates subtle awareness, cultivates wisdom, and wicks fear. They symbolize the ways movement and breath can be used to interrupt patterns, to strengthen electromagnetism, and to stabilize energy.”

Living between British Columbia and her native Cape Town, Johnson works across media, and you can find more of her projects on her site and Instagram.

 

“Boundlessness”

“Wisdom Engine”

“Whale Prana”

“Folding Time”

“Morning Call”

“Threshold”

“Making Radiance”

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Interview: Jacob Hashimoto Relates How Narrative and Landscape Abstraction Inform How He Thinks About Space

“The Eclipse” (2017-2018), acrylic, bamboo, screen prints, paper, wood, and cotton. St. Cornelius Chapel, Governors Island, New York. Photo by Erin O’Hara. All images © Jacob Hashimoto, shared with permission

In the suspended worlds of upstate New York-based artist Jacob Hashimoto (previously), a multitude of undulating forms and layers begin with a kite, a single element he discusses in a new interview supported by Colossal Members.

Each screen-printed disc is inspired by his surroundings, pop culture, and current events, and the individual components are assembled into fields in a vast range of vivid colors, patterns, and sizes, from wall works to elaborate architectural installations. Hashimoto describes the kite elements as “pixels,” nodding to his interest in virtual realms and world-building. Game design and 3D-modeling software have inspired an evolving interest in layers, multiplication, and movement around physical space.

Film and gaming in these built virtual environments are becoming really important. They also have this ability to tell us a lot about our culture…As somebody who comes out of this language of post-war American painting and abstraction, and the intersection of those two vocabularies, ignoring digital landscape work is folly, because I think it’s where a lot of really important action is.

In this conversation, Colossal editor Kate Mothes speaks with Hashimoto about the significance of personal narrative, the evolution of technology and its influence on the ways that we perceive our surroundings, and the importance of teaching yourself new skills.

 

Detail of “The Fascinogenic Eye” (2022). Photo by Derek Zeitel

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SVA Continuing Education’s Fall Courses Begin September 19

Artwork by Ronald Katz, SVACE student

Whether it’s to advance your career or try something new, SVACE offers more than 200 online and on-campus courses to choose from. Visit sva.edu/ce to view all course offerings.

Online and on-campus courses are available in:

• Advertising
• Animation
• Art & Activism
• Design
• Film
• Fine Arts
• Illustration and Comics
• Interior Design
• Photography and Video
• Professional Development
• Visual and Critical Studies
• Visible Futures Lab
• Visual Narrative

Free Virtual Events & Information Sessions

Registration Details

Course Advice
If you need advice or have questions, please email ce@sva.edu to connect with one of our course advisors.

About the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts has been a leader in the education of artists, designers, and creative professionals for seven decades. With a faculty of distinguished working professionals, a dynamic curriculum, and an emphasis on critical thinking, SVA is a catalyst for innovation and social responsibility. Comprising 6,000 students at its Manhattan campus and 35,000 alumni in 100 countries, SVA also represents one of the most influential artistic communities in the world.

For information about the college, please visit sva.edu.

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Ecosystems of Fungi and Coral Inhabit Vintage Books in Stéphanie Kilgast’s Intricate Sculptures

“Old and New” (2022). All images © Stéphanie Kilgast, shared with permission

Fungi sprout from between pages, ivy creeps across a text, and the life cycle of a butterfly unfolds on the cover of a volume in Stéphanie Kilgast’s vibrant sculptures. Known for her intricately detailed works using discarded materials and trash like crushed cans or plastic bottles (previously), her recent pieces explore incredible biodiversity utilizing books as her canvas.

Millions of titles are published each year in the U.S. alone, meaning billions of individual copies—a vast number of which eventually end up in landfills. Kilgast draws attention to these discarded objects by giving vintage editions new life. She constructs delicate mushrooms, blooming flowers, and colorful coral in painstakingly detailed miniature environments as a vivid reminder of the impact humans have on the environment and the tenacity of nature.

The artist has an exhibition opening on November 5 at Beinart Gallery in Melbourne, and you can find more of her work on her website and Instagram.

 

“Ancestral History” (2021)

Left: “Contre Vents et Marees” (2021). Right: Work in progress

“Half Full, Half Empty” (2022)

“Happy or Doomsday Colors” (2022)

Left: “Hungry” (2022). Right: “Beginnings” (2022).

“I Lichen You A Lot” (2022)

Detail of “Contre Vents et Marees” (2021)

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In Introspective Paintings, Artist Ocom Adonias Explores Narratives of Blackness

“Here After,” oil on canvas, 200 x 180 centimeters. All images © Ocom Adonias, shared with permission

Fusing history with the political and social contexts of today, Ocom Adonias’s body of work interprets the experience of moving through the world in a Black body. His vibrant, realistic paintings portray people in ordinary moments of ritual, solitude, and bonding, honing in on individual narratives to convey a broader message. “I’m particularly interested in the global conversation of what being an African and what being Black means, history, and the representation of the Black figure in the contemporary sense,” he shares.

Having worked primarily with charcoal on newspapers for years, Adonias recently shifted to oil painting, swapping the hazy layers of his previous works for bold color palettes and clean lines. He continues to focus on those around him, though, translating their conversations into intimate, introspective pieces.

The artist is based in Kampala, Uganda, and has a residency at Montresso Art Foundation slated for this fall. Currently, he’s working on a painting referencing myth and Michaelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam” fresco, which you can follow on Instagram.

 

“Letters from us,” newspapers and oil on canvas, 150 x 130 centimeters

“Saloon secrets (we are who we were),” oil and collage on canvas, 130 x 150 centimeters

“King Adebwa”

“Utopia duality,” newspapers and oil on canvas, 200 x 150 centimeters

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