Debatable Motivations Inspire the Adventures of Biking Sloths and Raging Cats in Ravi Zupa’s Illustrations

All images © Ravi Zupa, shared with permission

A raccoon on a motorcycle laments over being a poser, a sloth finds itself exhilerated after a bike ride, and a raging cat screams that, despite its snarling teeth, it’s not angry. The self-conscious, awkward, and excitable creatures are the latest additions to Ravi Zupa’s growing cast of characters, which follow earlier illustrations featuring a pack of self-deprecating dogs and a herd of disorderly, drunken cats.

Zupa tells Colossal that he’s spent the last few months riding his bike near his home in Commerce City, Colorado, each morning—rain, snow, or sunshine—and this dedication has translated to his work. Many of his recent prints and greeting cards feature animals mid-cycle as they contemplate their television habits and whether their helmet really does make them look corny.

Currently, Zupa is preparing for a solo show opening in June at Subliminal Projects in Los Angeles. His work will also be included in a group exhibition opening in July at Harman Projects in New York City. Shop prints and greeting cards featuring the illustrations shown here on his site.

 

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Lively Botanicals and Organic Forms Cloak Juz Kitson’s Ceramic Vessels in Dense Topographies

“You are stronger than you think, You are more than you know,” stoneware, raku, oxides, multiple glazes, fired multiple times, 77 x 39 x 37 centimeters. All photos by Simon Hewson, © Juz Kitson, shared with permission

Focused on movement and vitality, artist Juz Kitson sculpts supple vessels that harness the lively qualities of Earth’s landscapes. Densely packed with pieces mimicking flowers, fungi, moss, coral, and other organisms, the shapely works “feel like they are pulsating, giving inanimate material a spark of life,” Kitson tells Colossal. Medium and subject matter both nod to the natural process of regeneration and rebirth, with the “malleable, composite of Earth, water, and fire inherently (carrying) the imprint of memory.”

After many years of an itinerant practice that allowed her to travel frequently, Kitson settled in Milton, New South Wales, at the beginning of the pandemic. Given mass uncertainty and closed borders, she simultaneously had to shutter the studio she occupied for nearly a decade in Jingdezhen, China. Much of her work reflects a mélange of these two environments.

Often sculpted from Jingdezhen porcelain, the vessels are topographic and evoke the rugged coastlines and bush of the artist’s native Australia alongside the mountains and lush jungles of East Asia. “I have a deep fascination and attention to detail, constantly observing, exploring, walking through landscapes and creating visual mind maps of surfaces, layers, crevices, and abundant metamorphic forms that will later feed into the works I make,” she says.

 

Left: “All will reveal itself when you dive in and dive in deep, No. 3” (2022), black midfire clay, raku, stoneware, and oxides, 76 x 36 x 34 centimeters. Right: “An abundance of possibilities” (2022), raku, earthenware clay, and various glazes, 65 x 40 x 42 centimeters

Often monochromatic, many of the sculptures are glazed in a clear coat, blush, or black. The latter, especially on Kitson’s urn-like vessels, directly connects to the charred remains of Australia’s bush following the disastrous fires of 2019. At the time, the artist had just purchased her house and studio, which she refused to abandon despite mass evacuations. She shares:

I had just bought my first home, and here I was, standing protecting it by drenching it with a hose, watering my house and soon-to-be studio to protect it from the flames that were only three kilometers away…(I started) a series of funerary urns as a lament for the summer wildfires that devastated the landscape and has seen a region still mourning the loss of vegetation, homes, animals, and lives lost in which the pandemic overshadowed.

If you’re in Australia, there are several opportunities to view Kitson’s works in person, including a July solo exhibition at Sophie Gannon Gallery in Richmond, Victoria, and group shows at Craft Victoria opening in May, Hazelhurst Arts Centre in July, and Sydney Contemporary Art Fair in September. You can also find more on her site and Instagram.

 

Detail of “You are stronger than you think, You are more than you know,” stoneware, raku, oxides, multiple glazes, fired multiple times, 77 x 39 x 37 centimeters

Detail of “When the sun comes out, the moon disappears, No. IV” (2022), Jingdezhen porcelain, stoneware, midfire, black stoneware, scava, raku, various glazes, lustre, fired multiple times, 70 x 84 x 15 centimeters

Detail of “When the sun comes out, the moon disappears, No. IV” (2022), Jingdezhen porcelain, stoneware, midfire, black stoneware, scava, raku, various glazes, lustre, fired multiple times, 70 x 84 x 15 centimeters

Detail of “All will reveal itself when you dive in and dive in deep, No. 3” (2022), black midfire clay, raku, stoneware, and oxides, 76 x 36 x 34 centimeters

Detail of “The conditions of possibility” (2022), porcelain, stoneware, raku, various glazes, fired multiple times, 47 x 51 x 14 centimeters

“The Sanctuary; All That Is Monument” (2021), Jingdezhen porcelain and timber, 120 x 45 x 58 centimeters

“The Future is Your Ocean Oyster, No. II” (2023), Jingdezhen porcelain, reclaimed vintage rabbit fur coat, hand-formed Murano glass, Indonesian recycled building glass, hand-blown glass, resin, marine ply, and treated pine, 91 x 96 x 55 centimeters

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Flower Press Studio’s Colorful Compositions Preserve Botanicals and Bouquets for Posterity

All images © Flower Press Studio, shared with permission

Knowing that flowers only blossom for a short time, there is romance in their ephemerality. Naturally, we want to preserve their characteristics; we bottle up floral fragrances, and the practice of pressing flowers dates back to time immemorial. It’s thought that the Japanese first elevated the process to an art form with a 16th-century tradition known as oshibana. The practice spread worldwide, and by the late 19th century, it was a popular pastime in England and the U.S. Flower Press Studio keeps this tradition alive through preserving delicate petals, stems, and fronds beneath glass.

A thriving small business run by Rachel Parri and Keith Kralik, Flower Press Studio began as a hobby that quickly blossomed into a full-time occupation. In 2019, they purchased a house in Denver and xeriscaped the front yard, a landscaping method that reduces the need for irrigation by planting flora naturally suited to drier climates. They planted vegetables, flowers, and added two beehives. By the summer of 2021, the garden was producing quantities of calendulas, sunflowers, poppies, and other wildflowers, and Kralik began to press them. He then started designing and gluing the flattened blossoms onto paper and constructing hardwood frames. By the end of that year, demand had grown to a point where the business was formally born.

 

“Wildflowers are our favorite, but that’s probably because we are in a state that grows absolutely sensational wildflowers,” the pair tells Colossal. “But really anything with color—we look for variety. Size, shape of petals, dying flowers, straight stems versus twisty-turny ones, foliages… non-perfect flowers are some of the best.” A bridal bouquet, for example, typically takes about three hours to deconstruct piece by piece, then it takes several days—often weeks—to make sure the flowers have properly dried and flattened into the desired shape: “We check the presses regularly throughout the first week, going through every page of flowers and adjusting petals, changing out all paper, chipboard, cardboard, and using alternative methods to get excess moisture out.”

Parri and Kralik want to make sure their work remains sustainable and environmentally responsible, and they often practice on flowers that would otherwise be discarded after weddings. The pair’s short-term goal is to work with Colorado-based flower farms, collaborate with other makers and designers, and focus on producing limited-edition prints and online workshops.

You can follow updates on Instagram, where the studio often shares before-and-after images of the elaborate, reinterpreted bouquets.

 

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Intricate Sculptures by Zheng Lu Suspend Splashes of Water in Stainless Steel

“Water in Dripping – Group of Warblers” (2022), stainless steel, 102 3/8 x 68 7/8 x 122 inches. All images © Zheng Lu, shared with permission courtesy of HOFA Gallery

Harnessing the energy of water in motion, Zheng Lu’s metallic sculptures appear frozen in time. The Beijing-based artist defies utilitarian or industrial associations with steel, creating tension between the material and the fluid forms. Challenging our expectations and understanding of physics, smooth, chrome-like surfaces reflect the surroundings and change in the light as the viewer moves around them, further adding to the perception that the sculpture itself is in motion. In some of the works, Zheng composes surfaces of thousands of Chinese characters derived from historical texts and poems, nodding to early Chinese philosophers who studied physical principles of the natural world to better understand cosmological mysteries.

Zheng’s exhibition Liquid Narratives runs March 16 to 29 at HOFA Gallery in London, marking the artist’s first show in the U.K., and you can find more of his work on his website.

 

“Water in Dripping – Heartflower” (2022), stainless steel, 39 3/8 x 35 3/8 x 61 3/8 inches

Detail of “Water in Dripping – Heartflower”

“Water in Dripping – Yong” (2019), stainless steel, 92 7/8 x 30 1/4 x 40 1/2 inches

“Water in Dripping – Music and Dance” (2022), stainless steel, 59 x 40 1/8 x 76 inches

“Water in Dripping – Water is Silent” (2022), stainless steel, 61 x 48 3/8 x 92 1/2 inches

Detail of “Water in Dripping – Water is Silent”

“Water in Dripping – Winter Rain” (2019), stainless steel, 46 1/2 x 48 x 76 3/4 inches

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In ‘Dyal Thak,’ Photographer Kin Coedel Offers an Intimate Glimpse of Life on the Rapidly Changing Tibetan Plateau

All images © Kin Coedel, shared with permission

Nestled between the Himalayas and the Taklamakan Desert, the Tibetan Plateau is sometimes referred to as the “third pole.” The vast region harbors the largest source of fresh water outside the arctic and supplies 20 percent of the global population with the vital resource. Due to rising temperatures, though, these stores are under threat. The plateau is the fastest-warming region on the planet, and as the Himalayan glaciers melt and infrastructure projects crop up across the landscape, the people living in the area are forced to migrate.

Throughout five visits to the plateau in 2021, Kin Coedel created an intimate series of photographs that document the lives of several nomadic communities. Titled Dyal Thak, a Tibetan word that translates to “common thread,” the images depict people with profound ties to the land and animals, particularly the long-haired yak, a long-essential source of food, clothing, and economic production. The rapidly progressing effects of the climate crisis are changing agricultural patterns and thus the natural cycles that have been part of life for centuries.

 

Coedel spent three months living in Ritoma Village, a small nomadic agricultural community with a rich textile and weaving history, where he established important relationships with the atelier Norlha. Opened in 2007, the studio boasts a robust ecosystem of women-led artisanal work, much of which focuses on traditional systems and sustainability.

Demonstrating a mutual trust between photographer and subject, many of Coedel’s images show caretakers on the grassland with the animals, alongside the women who lead the fiber production. “At first, the photos were more documentary, and as we got to know each other, and they trusted me, the pictures became a collaborative back and forth,” he told WePresent. “Working with people who trust you and will chase an idea with you is so fun—we made this project together.”

 

The series is also part of Coedel’s broader effort to present a more faithful view of eastern cultures that have largely been defined by western viewpoints. He shares in a note to Colossal:

The truth is, Tibet is a place far from most people’s understanding. Western media only talks about this region when it pops up on political news, or when celebrities express their support, most of the time to associate themselves with certain agendas and appeal. But Tibetans’ everyday lives are so much more than that. In fact, all the narratives the western media present have little to do with their daily realities. Politics is always an undercurrent when it comes to photographing people and culture, but I want to present a vision beyond that, finding all the beauty and magic in small moments, everyday living.

Currently based in Paris, Coedel travels frequently and is planning to visit rural communities across China in the coming months. He was recently named a finalist in the annual Hyères competition, which will exhibit his work in a group show this October. You can find more of his work on his site and Instagram.

 

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Expressive Portraits Emerge from Pieces of Cardboard in Josh Gluckenstein’s Wildlife Sculptures

All images © Josh Gluckenstein, shared with permission

Since childhood, London-based artist Josh Gluckenstein has been fascinated by the incredible diversity of our planet’s wildlife and inspired to make sculptures of animals from found materials. He often uses discarded or recycled materials like clothing from thrift shops or wood from old furniture, and an important aspect of his practice is concern for the environment. “I have travelled through Asia, Latin America, and East Africa, and have been fortunate enough to have some incredible wildlife encounters,” he says. “However, on my travels, even in the most remote locations, I was shocked by the huge amounts of plastic waste.”

Much of the garbage that washes up on shorelines around the world is due to an unregulated system in which richer countries export waste to developing countries because it is often cheaper than developing better infrastructures to handle it. Many of the thousands of shipping containers exported each year are often dumped illegally. Gluckenstein shares:

I remember going to the Galapagos Islands and visiting a beach famous for a large population of sea lions. It was indeed incredible to see them in the wild, but on every inch of sand not covered by sea lions, there were plastic bottles and cans. It was a heartbreaking sight. I knew I wanted to create artwork that didn’t create waste and harm our planet.

Gluckenstein fashions life-like portraits of elephants, primates, pangolins, and big cats out of cardboard by tearing, cutting, and gluing pieces together into expressive visages, sometimes applying thin washes of paint for added depth and detail. He often works on multiple sculptures at a time, and a piece can take between a week or several months to complete depending on the scale or amount of detail. “In lockdown, at home and out of my studio, I was very keen to get to work, but didn’t have the access to the materials I would usually use,” he says. “That’s when I discovered cardboard, which was readily available, and I found it to be an incredibly versatile medium.”

A new series called Gold focuses on trafficked animals by applying gold leaf to their bodies, highlighting the reasons they are poached. The pangolin, for example, is critically endangered because it’s illegally hunted primarily for its meat and unique scales. Gluckenstein plans to show these works next month at Woolff Gallery in London, with a portion of sales donated to the WWF. Follow updates on Instagram, and see more of the artist’s work on his website.

 

 

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Blu’s Refreshed Mural in Barcelona Bites into Ravenous Capitalism and Nature’s Brute Force

All images © Blu, shared with permission

An updated mural from the anonymous Italian street artist Blu (previously) sinks its teeth into capitalistic greed and nature’s unparalleled capability for destruction.

Originally painted in 2009 following the Spanish financial crisis of 2008, the first mural likened the insatiable capitalist appetite to that of the aggressive fish, which stretched across a 25-meter section of wall at the intersection of Barcelona’s Carrer del Santuari and Carrer de la Gran Vista. Crews painted over the work in 2021 as part of a city project, and after hearing that neighbors wanted the piece back, Blu painted a second iteration earlier this year.

Retaining the bank-note shark of the 2009 work, the 2023 version adds an arsenal of nuclear missiles and warplanes to the central creature. The expansive mural continues to unfold like an exquisite corpse of global maladies with raging forest fires and floods encroaching on civilization, leaving mass chaos and ruin in their wake.

See the full mural here, and follow Blu’s latest projects on Instagram.

 

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