Sthenjwa Luthuli Evokes Ancient African Traditions and Spirit Worlds in Meticulously Carved Paintings

“Inzalo Yelanga” (2023), hand-carved super wood block and mixed media, 184 x 136 x 4 centimeters. All images © Sthenjwa Luthuli, courtesy of Unit London, shared with permission

In the Mpumalanga region of South Africa, a mysterious, human-built structure known locally as Inzalo Ye Langa rests in the hills. Three monolithic dolomites complement a network of stone circles, which like other monuments of its kind around the world, align with the celestial calendar. Also referred to as “Adam’s Calendar” or the “Birthplace of the Sun,” the site provides a well of inspiration for artist Sthenjwa Luthuli’s newest body of work, now on view at Unit London.

Luthuli’s exhibition Inzalo Ye Langa: Birthplace of the Sun draws on the rich fabric of African culture, history, and folklore, exploring ancestral connections and ancient heritage. He creates meticulously hand-carved surfaces from wood in a meditative process that reveals intricate geometries and fluid figures. The painted circular patterns are influenced by traditional African healing methods, which often utilize colorful beads arranged in various formations to treat ailments and chase away bad spirits.

Representing the missing identities of the artist’s forebears, headless figures appear to dance, roll, or slip through Luthuli’s compositions as if out of control and lost in time. Separating the head from the body also connects to ideas around the human spirit. Drawing on tales of ancient African birth rites, the artist considers how elders often recognized the reincarnation of past generations in newborns as part of a continuous cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Without faces or consciousness, each figure represents the essence of an individual before they transform into flesh and blood.

Inzalo Ye Langa: Birthplace of the Sun is on view in London through August 24, and you can see more of Luthuli’s work on Instagram.

 

“Great Pyramid” (2023), hand-carved super wood block, mixed media, and paint, 92 x 136 x 4 centimeters

“Izimpande” (2023), hand-carved super wood block, mixed media, and paint, 92 x 136 x 4 centimeters

Left: “Spirit Before Flesh” (2023), hand-carved super wood block and mixed media, 136 x 92 x 4 centimeters. Right: “AbaseKhemu” (2023), hand-carved super wood block and mixed media, 136 x 92 x 4 centimeters

“The Presence of the Physical” (2023), hand-carved super wood block and mixed media, 184 x 136 x 4 centimeters

“Ububele” (2023), hand-carved super wood block and mixed media, 136 x 92 x 4 centimeters

“Umcebo Wokhokho” (2023), hand-carved super wood block and mixed media, 184 x 136 x 4 centimeters

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Using Red Thread, Rima Day Intertwines History, Nature, and Human Experience in Striking Embroideries

All images © Rima Day, shared with permission

Pondering the beguiling aspects of human experience, artist Rima Day (previously) embroiders a labyrinth of undulating root systems and sinuous veins. The Tennessee-based artist entwines fleeting sentiments of humanity with bodies and nature, using a range of surfaces that converse with red thread. “I imagine that the needle for me is like a writer’s pen. The shape represents the transience and vitality of the human mind and body, but at the same time, I suggest the similarity to trees and other aspects in nature,” she tells Colossal.

Cascading across a cyanotype, surging from the center of a delicate corset, or proliferating from the gutter of an open book, each of Day’s fiber iterations call to the notion of connection. “I felt like if I could see love, this is how it should look like,” she says. “Just like tree roots or blood vessels, my thread matrix split into thinner appendages as if to absorb or distribute nutrition. It translated into human passion and desire in my mind.” Although these threads formally mimic capillary connections and circulatory systems, they simultaneously ponder the microcosmic relationship between emotions and the entangled pathways that frame our world and bodies.

With a background in fashion design and garment construction, Day is also inspired by 17th to 19th-century sartorial history. Considering feminine garments worn during this time period, the artist contemplates emotions that women may have felt while they wore complicated and restrictive attire. Portraying passion through the color red and using clothing as her canvas, she reflects on how women often had to conceal their true desires, hopes, and liveliness under the constrictions of social standards that dictated their clothing.

Day will be participating in Museum of Contemporary Art Nashville’s pop up exhibition TMP2: Up in Arms this August. You can buy her stitched cyanotype prints on Etsy, and view more artwork on Instagram and her website. 

 

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Emotional Faces Fuse with Flora and Fauna in Abi Castillo’s Playful Ceramics

From the series ‘Sea Creatures.’ All images © Abi Castello, shared with permission

Oh, to be a flower allergic to pollen! In Abi Castillo’s playful ceramics, flowers sprout from the tops of expressive heads, blossoms sniffle, and vases contend with their contents—and the bees they attract. The Galicia, Spain-based artist creates characters that reflect her own experiences and emotions, becoming what she describes as alter-egos into which she can pour all of her feelings. She describes a “need to give life to objects, always looking for eyes to look at. That’s why faces are very important.”

Interested in the relationships between mysticism, drama, beauty, and the grotesque, Castillo imbues a growing cast of personalities with organic qualities, from coral to sprouting cheeks. She focuses on faces as a way to express humor or irony, and begins by making sketches that illustrate the final assembly. “The ceramic work is a slow process, where it is the clay that marks the drying times and where patience is very important,” she says. “The process can last from a few weeks to several months.”

Find more of Castillo’s work on her website and Instagram.

 

From the series ‘Drama.’ Photo by Sandra MG

Pieces from ‘Allergic Party.’ Photo by Emma Ovin

Flowers from the series ‘Allergic Party.’ Photo by Sandra MG

Photo by Sandra MG

Left: “A moco tendido.” Right: “Nómada con lunares”

“Nómada”

‘Drama’ series. Photo by Sandra MG

“Seres da noite”

Detail of “Seres da noite”

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Aqueous Photographs by Maria Svarbova Synchronize Swimmers Within Cavernous Soviet-Era Pools

All images © Maria Svarbova, shared with permission

Perched along the edges of swimming pools or bobbing just above the water’s surface, the subjects of Maria Svarbova‘s photographs enliven the interiors of vintage swimming pools. Focusing primarily on Soviet-era architecture (previously), the artist carefully composes figures wearing bathing suits and caps within the colorfully tiled, cavernous spaces. Digitally manipulated to accentuate repetition and precise symmetry, the figures align perfectly as if frozen in the moment just before diving in.

Svarbova often captures a mood of detachment through the expressionless faces of her subjects and an aqueous color palette, blurring the distinction between the past, present, and future. Routine actions “are reframed with a visual purity that is soothing and symmetrical and at times reverberant with an ethereal stillness,” reads a statement. “The overall effect evokes a contemplative silence in an extended moment of promise and awareness—a quality difficult to achieve in the rapid pace of contemporary life.”

Find more work on Svarbova’s website, Behance, and Instagram.

 

 

 

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August 2023 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists

“Universe of Words” by Emmanuelle Moureaux

Every month, Colossal shares a selection of opportunities for artists and designers, including open calls, grants, fellowships, and residencies. If you’d like to list an opportunity here, please get in touch at hello@colossal.art. You can also join our monthly Opportunities Newsletter.

 

Open Calls

SculptureCenter In Practice 2024 Open Call (International)
In Practice 2024 invites artists who have not yet had an institutional solo exhibition in New York City to submit proposals for solo shows in designated gallery spaces at SculptureCenter. Proposals for off-site projects, publishing initiatives, performances, and nontraditional formats are also accepted. Up to seven applicants will be chosen and receive $6,000 project budgets and $1,000 honorariums.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. ET on August 6, 2023.

Nest Heritage Craft Prize (Texas)
Applications should represent heritage craft found across Texas, which includes but is not limited to: pottery, enamelwork, quilting, woodworking, leathersmithing, basketry, lampworking and glassblowing, silverwork, embroidery, textile creations, and visual arts.
Deadline: August 21, 2023.

Malta Biennale Open Call (International)
Artists in any stage of their career and working in any medium are invited to apply to exhibit at the 2024 Malta Biennale. Awardees are provided with a stipend of up to €13,000.
Deadline: August 25, 2023.

L+A+N+D: An Experience of Discovery—Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest (International)
Located just outside of Louisville, Kentucky, Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest’s new initiative L+A+N+D (Landscape + Art + Nature + Design) invites proposals for immersive outdoor installations. The organization will provide creative outdoor experiences with topics addressing humans’ connection to nature, beauty in the landscape, biodiversity, conservation, sustainability, and climate change, along with a stipend and a construction budget for fabrication and installation expenses.
Deadline: September 4, 2023.

Passepartout Photo Prize (International)
Open to photographers at any stage of their careers, the Passepartout Photo Prize is accepting submissions for its seventh edition. Winners receive exhibition and publication opportunities, with one 500 Euro award. There is a 25 Euro entry fee.
Deadline: October 10, 2023.

Sony Future Filmmaker Awards (International)
The Sony Future Filmmaker Awards elevates voices that bring a fresh perspective to storytelling. The shortlisted filmmakers are flown to Los Angeles for an exclusive four-day event to gain unparalleled insight into all aspects of the filmmaking process to advance their careers.
Deadline: February 15, 2024.

 

Grants

2024 Joyce Awards (Great Lakes region)
The final 2024 funding cycle for the Joyce Awards is now open to cultural workers and organizations working toward racial equity and economic mobility.
Deadline: September 11, 2023.

$1,800 Innovate Grants for Art + Photo—Summer 2023 Open Call (International)
For its Summer 2023 cycle, Innovate Grant will offer two awards of $1,800 each to one visual artist and one photographer. Six honorable mentions are also featured on the Innovate Grant site. Applications are open to anyone 18 and older from anywhere in the world.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. PST on September 14, 2023.

Foundwork Artist Prize (International)
The Foundwork Artist Prize is an annual juried grant that recognizes outstanding practices by emerging and mid-career artists working in any media. The 2023 honoree will receive an unrestricted $10,000 grant.
Deadline: September 26, 2023.

The Adolf and Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant  (International)
The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant program provides one-time interim financial assistance to qualified painters, printmakers, and sculptors whose needs are the result of an unforeseen catastrophic incident and who lack the resources to meet that situation. Awardees typically receive $5,000, up to $15,000.
Deadline: Rolling.

Adobe Creative Residency Community Fund (Ukraine or refugee)
Adobe’s Creative Residency Community Fund commissions visual artists to create company projects on a rolling basis. Awardees will receive between $500 and $5,000.
Deadline: Rolling.

Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (International)
The Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant is open to mid-career professional artists with demonstrable financial need. Awardees receive between $5,000 to $30,000 depending on need and circumstance.
Deadline: Rolling.

 

Residencies, Fellowships, & More

The Farm Margaret River (International)
Open to all disciplines, individuals, and collectives, this residency focuses on site-specific projects created during eight weeks at The Farm Margaret River in Australia. Chosen applicant(s) will receive lodging, studio space, and a $7,500 grant.
Deadline: August 1, 2023.

Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts Residencies (International)
The Bemis Center has two residencies open, one 18-month program for curators and another for artists. One chosen curator will receive private living and workspace, a $40,750 stipend, a research budget, a curatorial honorarium, and a $750 travel stipend. Artists receive private live and work studios, a $1,250 monthly stipend, and a $750 travel stipend. There are $40 application fees for both programs.
Deadline: August 1, 2023.

Peters Valley School of Craft (International)
Artists working in blacksmithing, ceramics, fibers, fine metals, wood, drawing, painting, collage, or printmaking are eligible for this two-week to one-month program. Residents receive a private room in a shared house, studio access, and stipends ranging from $500 to $1,000. Chosen applicants must have access to a car.
Deadline: August 1, 2023.

First Peoples Fund Artists in Business Fellowship (National)
First Peoples Fund welcomes submissions from artists who are also enrolled members or can provide proof of lineal descendancy of a U.S. or state-recognized tribe, or are an Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian. The program provides technical support, professional training, and working capital needed to pursue arts business development goals. The award is $7,500-$10,000.
Deadline: August 8, 2023.

First Peoples Fund Cultural Capital Fellowship (National)
This fellowship provides grant funding for artists whose practice is centered on cultural heritage and community, furthering the work of passing on ancestral knowledge and cultural practices within tribal communities. This award is between $7,500 and $10,000.
Deadline: August 14, 2023.

Centrum Residency Programs (International)
Centrum has several residencies open for artists, writers, and curators. All are funded, last one to four weeks, and come with honorariums.
Deadline: August 15, 2023.

Corning Museum of Glass BIPOC Residency (International)
The BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) Residency allows artists to spend a month at The Corning Museum Studio exploring new directions in glassmaking or expanding on their current bodies of work while using the resources of the world’s leading glass museum.
Deadline: August 31, 2023.

Willapa Bay AiR: 2024 Residencies (International)
These month-long residencies are open to emerging and established artists, filmmakers, writers, playwrights, scholars, singer/songwriters, and musical composers. Each month, six chosen applicants receive lodging, meals, and workspace at no cost. There is a $30 application fee.
Deadline: August 31, 2023.

Bryn Du’s Artist in Residence Program (International)
Artists working in visual arts, literature, music, theater, fashion, dance, storytelling, and audiovisual studies are eligible for this eight or 12-week residency. Stipends range from $2,000 to $3,000, and lodging and studio space are provided. There is a $15 application fee.
Deadline: August 31, 2023.

Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts Artist Residency (International)
Open to visual artists, composers, and writers, this program offers two to eight-week residencies with private studio space, housing, and a $175 per week stipend.
Deadline: September 1, 2023.

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 August 2023 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists appeared first on Colossal.

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An Offshore Wind Farm in England Hosts Hundreds of Potential Nests for Endangered Kittiwakes

All images © Ørsted and Red7Marine, shared with permission

The name kittiwake, which describes two related species of seabird that are common along the shores of Europe and North America, comes from its distinctively shrill call that sounds like, “kittee-wa-aaake, kitte-wa-aaake!” The coastal breeding birds are reliant on a steady diet of small fish and crustaceans, but overfishing and rising water temperatures due to climate change have contributed to shrinking colonies. As a result, scientists are rushing to research and monitor the remaining populations.

Kittiwakes typically nest on steep sea cliffs, while at least one colony has adapted to an unusual inland location in Newcastle, bedding down on the corners of buildings and under the Tyne Bridge. The RSPB estimates a global drop in the birds by more than 40% since 1970. Some of the most alarming decreases have been seen in the U.K., particularly in the northern archipelagos of Orkney and Shetland, where numbers have declined by 87% since 2000. St. Kilda, an island in Scotland’s Western Isles, has lost a staggering 96% of the breeding population.

With a little help from unique collaborators—wind farm maker Ørsted and marine engineer Red7Marine—the avians can now make use of three new structures installed just off of England’s East Coast. These installations, placed along one of the fastest eroding coastlines in Europe, provide shelter for the seabirds while simultaneously producing clean and renewable electricity.

Off the shores of South Beach, Lowestoft, and the Minsmere Nature Reserve, Suffolk, each of the artificial nesting structures provide hundreds of small ledges designed to mimic the birds’ steep cliff dwellings. Every year, a team will monitor how many nests are occupied and how productively the kittiwakes are able to breed. The studies will be shared with local wildlife trusts like the Lowestoft Kittiwake Partnership, which just opened a series of bird hotels. (via designboom)

 

Left: Underside view. Right: Interior wall view. Photo by NEUBAU

Photo by NEUBAU

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 Offshore Wind Farm in England Hosts Hundreds of Potential Nests for Endangered Kittiwakes appeared first on Colossal.

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Music, Magic, and Machines: Exquisite Details Unfurl From Chris Millar’s Phantasmagoric Sculptures

Detail of “ADIT 42” (2019), brass, aluminum, resin, electronics, and glass, 42 x 38 x 16 inches. Photo by Jacques Bellavance. All images © Chris Millar, shared with permission

Worlds within worlds emerge from the kaleidoscopic visions of Canadian artist Chris Millar, whose meticulous sculptures encompass a range of materials, mechanisms, and sound. Using clockmaking components along with cast resin, electronics, styrene, acrylic paints, and other materials, he constructs science fiction-inspired microcosmos in which enigmatic narratives unfold.

Through painstaking attention to detail, Millar creates each piece entirely from scratch. “Eclipse at Arc Valley,” the artist’s first exploration into work accompanied by music, took one-and-a-half years to complete and includes a handmade music box, bells, and gongs. “‘ADIT 42’ was started when I moved to Montreal and took two-and-a-half years to complete,” he tells Colossal. “It’s a kinetic sculpture that opens a vault door to reveal an entryway to a phantasmagorical otherworld.”

Spurred by ideas around portals and secret gateways, magic, and non-linear storytelling, Millar describes his approach as “kenophobic,” or characterized by an aversion to empty spaces. He densely fills tiny vignettes, platforms, and compartments with gem-like shapes, cameo portraits, architectural features, lighting elements, clocks, dials, and miniature landscape paintings. He says, “My practice has evolved into a highly detailed, high-craft process that pushes materiality and an excess of imagery to the limits of saturation.”

Millar recently moved his studio to Delson, Québec, and is currently working on two new pieces. While one is fashioned like a giant, ornate book inset with tiny paintings and sculptures, the other incorporates sound and clockwork with a music machine that is even more complex than “Eclipse at Arc Valley.”  The artist is represented by TrepanierBaer, and you can explore more of his work in detail on his website.

 

“ADIT 42.” Photo by Jacques Bellavance

Detail of “ADIT 42.” Photo by Jacques Bellavance

Detail of “ADIT 42.” Photo by Jacques Bellavance

“Eclipse at Arc Valley” (2021-22), resin, acrylic paint, brass, aluminum, steel, and glass, 57 x 19 x 14 inches. Photo by Jacques Bellavance

Details of “Eclipse at Arc Valley.” Photo by Jacques Bellavance

Detail of “Eclipse at Arc Valley.” Photo by Jacques Bellavance

Detail of “Eclipse at Arc Valley.” Photo by Jacques Bellavance

“370H55V” (2011), acrylic paint, styrene, ABS, brass, glass, and wood, 68 x 40 x 31 inches

Detail of “370H55V”

Details of “370H55V”

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