An Animated Short Film by Martin Smatana Explores Loss Through Lighthearted Symbolism

A brisk wind takes a young kite-flyer on an unexpected voyage with his grandfather in a poignant short film by illustrator and animation director Martin Smatana. The narrative of the stop-motion animation addresses the concept of death and loss through metaphor that is accessible to children, using the kite, weather, and materials as symbolic ways to broach a difficult yet important topic. “It explores the relationship between a little boy and his grandpa and shows that death is a natural part of life, but it doesn’t have to mean the end of our journey,” Smatana explains. He continues:

They are both made out of layers, which symbolize their age. The boy has many of these layers… he has all his life before him. But grandfather, on the other hand, has already lost most of his layers, and he has only few left. As he gets older, he also gets thinner, and at the end of his life, he is as thin as a sheet of paper. One day, the wind just softly blows him away and takes him up to the sky…

Smatana and his team scoured second-hand shops in his hometown of Prague to collect textiles and other materials to build the sets, employing different patterns and color palettes to represent the four seasons. A quilt-like landscape created from numerous pieces of cloth references a patchwork blanket that the artist remembers sleeping under when he visited his own grandparents’ house.

Created for the artist’s graduation project at FAMU Film School three years ago, “The Kite” has won more than sixty international awards, was nominated for the semifinals of the student Oscars, and is included in the film library of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Explore more of Smatana’s work on his website, where he also shares behind-the-scenes footage of how “The Kite” was made. Follow updates on Instagram.

 

All images © Martin Smatana, shared with permission

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article An Animated Short Film by Martin Smatana Explores Loss Through Lighthearted Symbolism appeared first on Colossal.

from Colossal https://ift.tt/rayxfDN
via IFTTT

Meticulous Wall Reliefs by Hayoon Jay Lee Undulate with Thousands of Grains of Rice

“Eternal Mother II” (2019), rice, modeling paste, and acrylic, 28 x 35 x 4 inches. All images © Hayoon Jay Lee, shared with permission courtesy of Hollis Taggart

First documented in China in 2,500 B.C., the earliest evidence of the cultivation of rice has been found in archaeological sites dating back more than 5,000 years earlier. A versatile crop that can grow in numerous climates, the plentiful grain plays an integral role in cuisine and folkloric traditions and underpins artist Hayoon Jay Lee’s intricate wall reliefs.

Born in Daegu, South Korea, and currently based in New York City, Lee is interested in what she describes in a statement as the “fundamental tension between indulgence and abnegation”—the act of renouncing or rejecting something—in individual, social, and political dynamics. Contrasting ideas of attraction and repulsion, conflict and harmony, privilege and poverty, or East and West provide the groundwork for abstract compositions made by precisely placing thousands of grains into rippling patterns. The surfaces reference topographical overviews, shifting landmasses, swirling motion, and ruptures.

Across Asia, rice is grown primarily by small-scale producers. However, food-chain inequalities and critical impacts from climate change place farming systems, jobs, and food security on increasingly precarious footing. For Lee, rice is utilized “as object, motif, and metaphor: as the building block for civilizations and also as the basis for social inequities,” she explains.

Lee’s solo exhibition Fields of Vision will be on view at Hollis Taggart in New York City from January 4 to February 5, 2023. Find more of the artist’s work on her website.

 

“Dream Land IV” (2019), rice, modeling paste, and acrylic, 35.75 x 35.9 x 6.5 inches

“Unfamiliar Place I” (2022), rice, modeling paste, and mica, 12 inches diameter

Left: “Echo III” (2020), rice, modeling paste, and acrylic, 9.75 x 9.75 x 3 inches. Right: “Echo I” (2022), rice, modeling paste, and acrylic, 8.5 x 8.5 x 2.5 in.

“My Mother’s Land” (2015), rice, modeling paste, and acrylic, 18 x 24 x 1.5 inches

“Emotive Movement” (2022), rice, modeling paste, and acrylic, 48 x 36 x 3 inches

“Echo II” (2022), rice, modeling paste, and acrylic, 8.5 x 8.5 x 2.25 inches

“Four Dimensions” (2017), rice, modeling paste, and acrylic, 17.6 x 17.75 inches

“Echo III” (2020), rice, modeling paste, and acrylic, 9.75 x 9.75 x 3 inches

 

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Meticulous Wall Reliefs by Hayoon Jay Lee Undulate with Thousands of Grains of Rice appeared first on Colossal.

from Colossal https://ift.tt/mQz7ird
via IFTTT

Play Your Next Round of Cards with a Deck Featuring Kehinde Wiley’s Signature Portraits

All images © Kehinde Wiley

Games of poker or solitaire have a little more flair with artist-designed decks by Kehinde Wiley (previously). Gracing four 54-card packs are Wiley’s vividly rendered portraits of Black people, all of which subvert portraiture traditions of Western art history as they highlight subjects of the African diaspora. While fragments of the vibrant botanical backdrops adorn the cards’ faces, the reverse depicts the full works, including the artist’s 2012 painting of model Dacia Carter and “A Portrait of a Young Gentleman,” which reinterprets Thomas Gainsborough’s iconic “Blue Boy” by placing a Sengalese surfer at its center.

Two sets are available in Wiley’s shop, and the MoMA Design Store carries the other two. Proceeds from all decks go toward the artist’s residency program, Black Rock Senegal.

 

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Play Your Next Round of Cards with a Deck Featuring Kehinde Wiley’s Signature Portraits appeared first on Colossal.

from Colossal https://ift.tt/kfFKdm3
via IFTTT

Everyday Situations Take an Amusing Turn in Toon Joosen’s Clever Collages

All images © Toon Joosen, shared with permission

A man mows a field of text, a vacuum cleaner sucks up beachgoers, and kids shield themselves from falling words in the witty collages of Toon Joosen. From his studio in The Netherlands, the artist cuts and splices vintage photos, magazines, postcards, and book pages into clever works that take an ironic and surreal approach to everyday activities. Joosen tends to play with scale and perspective, creating tongue-in-cheek scenarios brimming with nostalgia and humor. He shares dozens of works on Instagram and has prints, buttons, and other goods available on Etsy.

 

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Everyday Situations Take an Amusing Turn in Toon Joosen’s Clever Collages appeared first on Colossal.

from Colossal https://ift.tt/vWSAVqO
via IFTTT

A Scottish Town’s Annual Competition Invites Its Youngest Artists to Design ‘Wonky’ Holiday Lights

All images courtesy of Newburgh Action Group

For more than 20 years, the town of Newburgh in Fife, Scotland, has marked the holiday season with a wonderfully wonky tradition. Each autumn, young residents are invited to submit original sketches of Christmas decorations to a competition, and once a winning design is selected, Blachere Illumination transforms the work into an LED sculpture that’s then displayed throughout the town. The newest light is a salmon nicknamed “Happy Nemo” that sports a red hat, and the menagerie also features a “reinduck,” a cheerful piece of candy in a green wrapper with arms and legs, and a dinosaur with a star on its head.

 

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article A Scottish Town’s Annual Competition Invites Its Youngest Artists to Design ‘Wonky’ Holiday Lights appeared first on Colossal.

from Colossal https://ift.tt/ZdgGuUO
via IFTTT

In Tom Hegen’s Aerial Photos, Swimmers and Loungers Texture Two Florida Beaches with Colorful Patterns

All images © Tom Hegen, shared with permission

As much of the northern hemisphere braces for gray, wintery weather, photographer Tom Hegen (previously) highlights the warm, vibrant oceanside of Florida’s Siesta Key and Miami beaches. Swimmers and sunbathers escaping the rays under colorful umbrellas line the coast and appear as textured, geometric shapes dotting the water and white sandy expanses. The Beach Series juxtaposes the haphazard with the organized, documenting both neat rows of uniform loungers and clusters of people as they congregate along the shoreline.

See all of the sun-soaked photos in Hegen’s collection on Behance, and find prints, posters, and books of his aerial works on his site.

 

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article In Tom Hegen’s Aerial Photos, Swimmers and Loungers Texture Two Florida Beaches with Colorful Patterns appeared first on Colossal.

from Colossal https://ift.tt/ahDiOuE
via IFTTT

Minimal Paintings by Artist Liz Flores Explore What It Means to Belong

“Fresca y Atrevida (Bold and Outspoken)” (2022), acrylic on canvas, 39 ⅜ x 47 ¼ inches. All images © Liz Flores, courtesy of Vertical Gallery

A new series by Chicago-based artist Liz Flores explores familial roots and community through minimal portraits in a palette of deep, warm colors and neutral tones complemented by blues. In Ni De Aquí, Ni De Allá, which translates to “from neither here nor there,” Flores uses the anonymity and ambiguity of her figures to explore the connections between generations and the human desire to position oneself within an ancestral context. “This work is a direct reaction to the question ‘What are you?’” the artist says. “In the U.S., you don’t always feel like you are American enough. But then at the same time, you may not always feel Latina enough. You live in the in-between.”

Born to a Cuban mother and a Mexican father, Flores describes deepening her understanding of this liminal space during a recent collaboration with The Jaunt, a travel project that sends artists to various locations around the world. She traveled to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where she joined her aunt and other family members for the first time without her parents. She explains:

I spent the next few days at their home talking with her about the differences in living in the States vs. Mexico, how the family in the States has changed, and the difficulty in keeping traditions alive. During this conversation, she mentioned how it can feel like you are “ni de aquí, ni de allá” and that became the title and theme of my show. It was a moment that felt like an evolution for me, not just as an artist gaining inspiration but as an adult, making connections with my family members not through my parents but on my own.

That moment followed a trip to Cuba a week earlier to visit her mother’s family when she talked with her cousins about the same feelings of belonging.

 

“Generaciones (Generations)” (2022), acrylic on canvas, 48 x 72 inches

These moments culminate in Flores’ solo show, which is on view through the end of the year at Vertical Gallery in Chicago. Fourteen acrylic paintings center on the artist’s signature color-blocked figures, whose bodies bend and join each other in abstract compositions. Elongated limbs and hand gestures imply movement through clean, graceful lines, and puzzle pieces on the threshold of fitting into place reference broader themes of identity and kinship. Works like “Fresca y Atrevida,” for example, are more personal and reflect Flores’ affinities with Cuban culture by finding a blue zunzuncito, the world’s smallest bird that’s native to the island nation, as it prepares to land on the tip of the woman’s finger.

A few of the prints the artist created with The Jaunt are available on the project’s site, and you can find more of her work on both canvases and walls on Instagram.

 

“Piezas Perdidas (Missing Pieces)” (2022), acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40 inches

“Espejo (Mirror),” (2022), acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 inches

“Pedazo (Piece)” (2022), acrylic on canvas, 11 x 14 inches

“Sin Barreras #1 (Without Barriers #1)” (2022), acrylic on canvas, 11 x 14 inches

“Sin Barreras #2 (Without Barriers #2)” (2022), acrylic on canvas, 11 x 14 inches

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Minimal Paintings by Artist Liz Flores Explore What It Means to Belong appeared first on Colossal.

from Colossal https://ift.tt/Hdr9eDK
via IFTTT