Lively Kinetic Sculptures by Yunchul Kim Pulse with Iridescent Color-Changing Cells

Seoul-based artist Yunchul Kim echoes the heaving, lively motion of breath in his glimmering kinetic sculptures. Part of the ongoing Chroma series, the mixed-media works are reactive: small motors bend the transparent polymer material and cause an iridescent, color-changing ripple that pulses across the piece. Often suspended in a gallery space, the sculptures are knotted or shaped like a vortex, as in “Chroma V,” which references “subjects and symbols of culture and disciplines, such as ancient murals, nature, literature, art, philosophy, and science,” Kim says.

Alongside aesthetic concerns, engineering and the mechanics of each structure play a crucial role in the construction process. The resulting works are immersive and multi-sensory as the motors emit various sounds that correspond with the visual changes. “Chroma V,” for example, is comprised of 382 individual cells each containing its own device that subsequently produces hundreds of different reactions across the eight-meter work. The artist shares:

In the studio, I spent a lot of time trying to realize this, not to fit the artwork to the machine but to make a machine that fits the idea of the artwork, with numerous attempts and experiments. After the individual mechanical devices are completed, a work process in which software and mechanical devices connect is necessary to create an artistic event to enable communication between them.

This generative nature informs Kim’s practice, and he often transfers aspects of earlier projects into his next work. “When one piece is finished, this process does not stop but becomes a potential idea for the next new piece,” he says.

A forthcoming monograph of Kim’s paintings is slated for release this April, and he has several exhibitions upcoming, including this March at Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning, in June at CERN Science Gateway in Geneva and Science Gallery in Melbourne, and this fall at Madre Museum in Naples. Until then, explore more of Kim’s work on YouTube, Instagram, and his site.

 

“Chroma V” (2022), acrylic, aluminum, polymer, LED, motor, and microcontroller, 235 x 800 x 225 centimeters

“Chroma V” (2022), acrylic, aluminum, polymer, LED, motor, and microcontroller, 235 x 800 x 225 centimeters. Photo by Roman März

“Chroma V” (2022), acrylic, aluminum, polymer, LED, motor, and microcontroller, 235 x 800 x 225 centimeters. Photo by Roman März

Detail of “Chroma V” (2022), acrylic, aluminum, polymer, LED, motor, and microcontroller, 235 x 800 x 225 centimeters. Photo by Roman März

Detail of “Chroma III” (2021), acrylic, aluminum, polymer, LED, motor, and microcontroller, 230 x 140 x 170 centimeters

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Motherly Sacrifices and Aquatic Angst Top This Year’s Ocean Art Photography Contest

“Fighting Blue Throat Pike Blennys” by Mark Green, Honorable Mention Marine Life Behavior

As they care for their unhatched babies, female octopuses refuse to eat, causing them to die of starvation before their young emerge from their eggs. Kat Zhou documented one of these marine mothers as she was in the process of such a fatal sacrifice, and the photo won the Ocean Art 2022, the 11th annual contest hosted by Underwater Photography Guide.

Zhou’s image was chosen from thousands of entries submitted from 96 countries, and the intimate photo joins a collection that encompasses a vast array of aquatic life and antics. Two aggressive pike blennies go head to head, a frog flashes a peace sign, and a menacing parasite hunts for its next victim. Find some of our favorite images below, and see all of the winning photos on the contest’s site.

 

“Octopus Mother,” by Kat Zhou, Best of Show, Macro

“Peace” by Enrico Somogyi, 1st Compact Wide Angle

“Zeepaddestoel” by Luc Rooman, Honorable Mention Marine Life Behavior

“Parasite waiting for the next victim” by Lorenzo Terraneo, Honorable Mention Portrait

“Coral Spawning” by Tom Shlesinger, 3rd Marine Life Behavior

“Rose Among the Thorns” by Ipah Uid Lynn, 4th Compact Macro

“The Climb” by Veronika Nagy, 2nd Nudibranchs

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Embroidered Snacks and Mass-Produced Food by Alicja Kozlowska Chew On Consumerist Culture

All images © Alicja Kozłowska, shared with permission

In the ongoing series Embroidered Ordinaries, Alicja Kozlowska translates the mass production of Pop Art into tightly stitched sculptures. The Polish artist sews packages of Oreos and half-eaten cookies, rusted cans with peeled-back tops, and 12-packs of Coca-Cola at full scale, recreating the recognizable logos and designs of ubiquitous snacks and goods. Each work begins with a felted structure the artist covers in myriad knots and stitches, which produces textured iterations that reflect on consumerism and the lasting impacts of over-consumption.

Find more of the Embroidered Ordinaries sculptures on Kozlowska’s site, and keep an eye on her Instagram for upcoming additions.

 

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Through Whimsical Wooden Sculptures, Christian Verginer Explores Childhood Curiosity and Connection

Detail of “The Tree in Me.” All images © Christian Verginer, shared with permission

From large pieces of basswood, artist Christian Verginer carves figurative sculptures that meld the play and wonder of adolescence with the vitality of the natural world. Leafy branches grow like pigtails, a bird perches on the zipper of a hoodie, and two young boys sit on ladders that lead to treetops and clouds. Textured by small gouges, the works contrast realistic renditions of children with fantastical elements, the latter of which the artist tends to paint in a single color like vibrant green, slate gray, or beige.

Verginer is broadly interested in the ways humans and nature intersect, which he conveys through a sense of curiosity and embodied connection between the two. Some sculptures foster such relationships through three-dimensional forms, like the deceased bird the girl pinches between her fingers as in “Different Stories.” Others reference shadows, including “Two Stories” and “Different Time,” which overlay silhouettes of trees and flowers atop the young figures’ bodies.

Based in the Alto Adige region of northern Italy, Verginer works in a studio he shares with his father Willy Verginer (previously) and brother Matt Verginer. Each maintains a distinct practice, although the artist shares that the environment is well-suited for feedback and critique. All three will show together this May at a gallery in Nürnberg, although you can see Christian Verginer’s work this month with Kirk Gallery at Art Herning. Otherwise, find more of his sculptures on his site and Instagram.

 

“Too far too close” (2023), plinth, limewood, iron wire, and acrylic, 140 x 40 centimeters

“The Tree in Me”

“Different stories” (2021), limewood and acrylics, 135 x 41 centimeters

“Different times” (2022)

“Two stories” (2022), limewood and aluminum acrylics, 68 centimeters

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 Through Whimsical Wooden Sculptures, Christian Verginer Explores Childhood Curiosity and Connection appeared first on Colossal.

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Leaves, Insects, and Human Anatomy Converge in Delicate Pencil Drawings by Amahi Mori

“Papilio ulysses,” pencil, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper, 22.7 x 22.7 centimeters. All images © Amahi Mori, shared with permission

Through veins and hybridized beings, Japanese artist Amahi Mori connects life across the plant and animal kingdoms. Various circulatory systems blend together in seamless compositions with leafy greens emerging from a blue morpho or cloaking an elongated human hand. Rendered in graphite, colored pencil, and watercolor, Amahi’s delicate works center on the vibrancy of life conveyed through brilliantly patterned wings and supple leaves. Many of the drawings are also tinged with the otherworldly and surreal, particularly as human skin stretches to account for a growing stem.

Amahi has a solo exhibition slated for this May at Ginza Getsukoso Gallery. Until then, find an archive of her fused creatures on her site and Instagram.

 

“Daydream,” pencil and acrylic gouache on paper, 33.3 x 24.2 centimeters

“Papilio xuthus,” pencil, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper, 15.8 x 22.7 centimeters

“Sasakia charonda,” pencil, colored pencil, watercolor, and acrylic gouache on paper, 22 x 27.3 centimeters

“Metamorphose into leaf veins,” pencil, watercolor, and acrylic gouache on paper, 22 x 27.3 centimeters

“Papilio machaon,” pencil and watercolor on paper, 14 x 18 centimeters

“Shining,” pencil, watercolor, and acrylic gouache on paper, 27.3 x 22 centimeters

“Hello, see you,” pencil, watercolor, and acrylic gouache on paper, 27.3 x 22 centimeters

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New York City Ballet Art Series Presents DRIFT’s ‘Shylight’

DRIFT’s “Shylight” (development 2006–2014), aluminum, polished stainless steel, silk, LEDs, robotics. On view at three special NYC Ballet Art Series performances in January and February 2023. All photos by Ossip van Duivenbode

Dutch artists Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta are DRIFT, a multidisciplinary group that creates experiential sculptures, installations, and performances, uniting audiences with moments that inspire a reconnection to our planet.

For New York City Ballet’s Art Series 2023, the duo curates their “Shylight” installation into a site-specific, performative sculpture, merging the movement of industrial motors with silk, multi-layered chalice-like structures. The pieces move with the grace of a dancer into a natural choreography, manifesting live emotion and personality in an inanimate material. With custom choreography supervised by the artists themselves, the works’ unpredictable, natural-looking movements become an object that feels alive as it descends to blossom in all its glorious beauty, before closing and retreating upward again.

The installation will be on view at three special NYC Ballet Art Series performances on January 27, February 3, and February 9, and all tickets are $38.

Performances are on sale now at nycballet.com/artseries.

 

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 New York City Ballet Art Series Presents DRIFT’s ‘Shylight’ appeared first on Colossal.

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Evoking Organic Growth, Toru Kurokawa’s Ceramic Sculptures Stretch and Swell into Abstract Forms

“Visceral vision.” All images © Tour Kurokawa, shared with permission

The natural growth process, which begins with the replication of a single cell and eventually produces bodily systems and lifeforms, informs the practice of artist Toru Kurokawa (previously). Based in Kyoto, Kurokawa transforms amorphous hunks of clay into organic sculptures that bow and bend. The malleable material stretches to reveal pockets of negative space or to generate undulating edges, and once fired, the works appear to freeze those movements. “I would like to create a space that fuses the two things, existence and non-existence,” the artist tells Colossal. “I am conscious of that connection.” Glazed in textured, neutral tones, the resulting forms are abstract and biological, conveying the tension and strength of change.

Kurokawa is currently considering how mathematics and physics can influence the geometries of the works, and you can follow that progress on Instagram.

 

“Earth pot”

“Aggregate β”

“Holosroidea”

“Black garden”

“Threshold”

“Aire”

“Protocell J”

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 Evoking Organic Growth, Toru Kurokawa’s Ceramic Sculptures Stretch and Swell into Abstract Forms appeared first on Colossal.

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