Through Metaphorical Illustrations, Owen Gent Unveils Difficult Psychological Experiences

All images © Owen Gent, shared with permission

For Owen Gent, texture and shadow are essential narrative tools. The Bristol-based artist fosters a robust personal practice and works with commercial clients, authors, and various publications to create moody illustrations rich with metaphor. In one work evoking the emotional toll of cancer, trauma, and depression, a figurative silhouette draws back a woman’s hair to survey the surroundings while still protected by the strands. An unsettling piece takes a similarly introspective and psychological approach as black crows circle a subject, one on fire and another grasping at the person’s eye.

Gent tells Colossal that his works begin with analog techniques like painting, and digital manipulation comes later. “It’s a constant push and pull between the two, and I try and be conscious of not losing too much of the original piece when editing,” he says.

Prints are available in Gent’s shop, and his illustrated children’s book That’s Nice, Love is out now. Find more of his work on Behance and Instagram.

 

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Cut a Rug in These Socks Designed Like an Iconic Green Cutting Mat

Image © Nikolas Bentel

This new pair of socks from designer Nikolas Bentel (previously) helps guide you down angular paths, through difficult dance moves, and sets you straight as you navigate the chaos of modern life. Evoking the green cutting mat beloved by artists and makers, the playful stockings feature a signature white grid and measurement markings. Pick up a pair from Present & Correct or Bentel’s shop, which includes other gems like the Extra Time Timer and a puzzle with early aughts nostalgia.

 

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A Veritable Aviary of Birds and Pollinators by The Paper Ark Are Small Enough to Perch on the Tip of a Finger

Peahen. All images © Nayan Shrimali and Venus Bird, shared with permission

Nayan Shrimali and Venus Bird, of The Paper Ark, approach conservation and environmental activism on a tiny scale. The artists (previously) create miniature renditions of flora and fauna that harness the textured, buildable potentials of paper to showcase the beauty and singularity of threatened and endangered species.

After cutting and layering tiny bits of the material, Shrimali and Bird add details with watercolor, whether on the striped quills of a crested porcupine or the regal crown of the peahen. While largely true to life in anatomy and color, most of the portraits are small enough to fit on the tip of a finger.

Shrimali shares that The Paper Ark has started to create hand-cranked wildlife automata, which you find along with an extensive archive of creatures on Instagram. Shop prints and available originals on Etsy.

 

Albino ruby-throated hummingbird

Crested porcupine

Endangered pollinators

Madagascan sphinx moth

Glorius scarab beetle

Cape sugarbird

Great egrets

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A New Camera Lucida Redesigns a Centuries-Old Artist’s Secret that Lets Users Draw What They See

Ten years after Pablo Garcia released the NeoLucida, a modern iteration of a centuries-old drawing tool, the Chicago-based artist and designer has a new model. The NeoLucida Plus works similarly to the original tabletop device: simply peer into the small eyepiece, and see a shadow image superimposed onto the surface below.

Camera lucidas emerged in the early 19th century, and today, most vintage models come with large price tags. To use the device, artists look through a small prism of glass or mirror tilted at 45 degrees, which creates an inverted reflection of the scene directly in front of them. Rather than relying on freehand sketching, the aid allowed users to trace an image and easily create accurate and proportionate drawings.

Garcia’s new model includes a redesigned prism that produces a brighter image, with an optional shade lens and aperture control to adjust the light. The NeoLucida Plus is currently funding on Kickstarter, and rewards are going quickly.

 

All images © Pablo Garcia, shared with permission

 

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A New Video Reveals How a Traditional Japanese Noh Mask Emerges from a Block of Cypress

Noh is the earliest theatrical art form in Japan and is still performed today. Developed in the 14th century, it often focuses on tales in which a supernatural being has transformed into a human and is narrated from the hero’s perspective. A core facet of the costumes is highly stylized Noh masks, which represent characters like deities, ghosts, and other figures, subtly emphasizing expression and emotion as their wearers turn in the light. A short documentary by Process X explores how the craft of carving the props by hand is kept alive by artisans like Mitsue Nakamura.

Starting with a block of Japanese cypress, Nakamura chisels the round face, eyes, nose, and teeth. Coated with a lacquer traditionally derived from crushed seashells mixed with glue, the form is then dried before being pierced on each side with a hot awl to tie strings through. The artist mixes pigments by hand to add color to the features, including blackening the teeth in a practice known as ohaguro, a fashion that was popular in Japan during the Heian period.

For some families and institutions, Noh carries a timeless and important legacy, and many historically significant and valuable masks, such as those made by the 15th-century Konparu school, are preserved in collections. “The term ‘face like a Noh mask’ is often used as a metaphor for expressionlessness, but the major characteristic of the world of Noh is that it expresses human feelings and inner thoughts rather than storytelling,” says Nakamura in a statement. “The better the mask is, the more the expression changes with a slight difference in angle.”

Process X frequently goes behind the scenes with makers and artisans, including in this video documenting the making of artistic manhole covers in Japan. (via Kottke)

 

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Sunlight Illuminates Undulating Kelp Forests in Underwater Photographs by Douglas Klug

All images © Doug Klug, shared with permission

If you’ve walked along an ocean shoreline, chances are you’ve stumbled upon the crumpled, brownish-green tendrils of kelp washed up at high tide. Despite appearances, the otherworldly seaweed is not a plant but rather a type of algae. Leaf-like forms called blades soak up sunlight to photosynthesize, and gas-filled bladders hold the structures close to the surface. Underwater, they grow in elegantly swaying forests, providing nourishment and shelter to marine wildlife. For Douglas Klug, these graceful, undulating ecosystems provide endless inspiration and surprising interactions.

Based in Santa Barbara, California, Klug is an avid scuba diver and photographer who focuses on submarine life, highlighting schools of fish and myriad textures as they interact in the rippling sunlight. Most of the kelp forests he explores are within Channel Islands National Park near where he lives. “All my diving is within what is considered ‘recreational’ limits at depths shallower than 130 feet. The water is cold, and the ocean has strong energy called surge, so the conditions can be challenging to work in,” he tells Colossal.

 

Klug pays attention to changes in the ecosystem, noting that “kelp forests themselves are living, thriving environments that can wax and wane with currents, water temperature, or other factors,” providing clues to the ocean’s health and the trickle-down effect for animals and humans that rely on its food sources. Not only is some of the seaweed edible, it provides safe haven and nurseries for fish, while large concentrations of the algae are powerful carbon sinks able to sequester millions of pounds of carbon dioxide. Due to the effects of the climate crisis and human inference with fragile aquatic ecosystems, the forests are suffering.

Klug shines a light on the marine world with the hope that viewers will gain understanding and appreciation for critical habitats. “I love shooting the kelp forests because it lets me highlight one of nature’s most important resources,” he says. “Kelp forests are important to all of us as they contribute to our world’s health and stability.” Along with other wildlife like seals, sea lions, and nudibranchs—a group of particularly colorful, tiny molluscs—the ocean challenges the artist to find the right conditions for lighting and exciting encounters, and to be in the right place at the right time.

Find more of Klug’s nature photography on his website and Flickr.

 

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Emerging into a New World, Small Figures Explore Seonna Hong’s Dreamlike Landscapes

“Atmospheric River” (2023), mixed media on canvas, 30 x 24 inches. All images © Seonna Hong, courtesy of Hashimoto Contemporary, shared with permission

Connection and interaction are at the heart of Seonna Hong’s latest body of work, which positions minimally rendered figures amid abstract landscapes. Through patchy brushstrokes of acrylic and oil pastel, the Los Angeles-based artist contrasts the opaque colors of the subjects’ limbs or garments with the rough, mottled environments they occupy. Generally diminutive in comparison to their surroundings, the figures remain anonymous and adventurous, exploring ethereal expanses. Voluptuous fields of orange, large stones in pinks and reds, and mountains of haphazard markings appear like distant figments of a dream.

The works shown here are on view this week as part of Murmurations, Hong’s latest solo show at Hashimoto Contemporary in New York. Comprised of vibrant paintings and drawings in grainy colored pencil, the exhibition reflects the experience of re-emerging into public space following the pandemic. Firmly in discovery mode, the figures traverse the unearthly landscapes and tempestuous weather events and convene with each other as they form new bonds between humanity and nature.

Murmurations is on view through July 1. Find more from Hong on her site and Instagram.

 

“People Person” (2023), acrylic and oil pastel on canvas, diptych, 48 x 72 inches

“Quiet Day” (2023), mixed media on drywall, 23 3/4 x 23 3/4 inches

Left: “Memory Catalog” (2023), acrylic and oil pastel on canvas, 60 x 48 inches. Right: “Murmurations” (2023), acrylic and oil pastel on canvas, 60 x 48 inches

“Super Position” (2023), mixed media on wood, 8 1/2 x 11 inches

“Do You Believe In People” (2023), mixed media on wood, 8 1/2 x 11 inches

“Warm Storm” (2023), acrylic and oil pastel on wood, 10 x 8 inches

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