Discover a Global Collective of Artisans and Makers at elk & HAMMER

elk & HAMMER founder Ashley Childs forging hammers in Washington State. Photo by Garrett Grove

It all starts with a story. That’s the premise behind elk & HAMMER, an online gallery featuring a global collective of artisans and makers redefining what it is to live and work, finding a symbiosis between the two in a manner both new and very, very old.

After jewelry designer, blacksmith, knife-maker, and gallery founder Ashley Childs produced her final jewelry collection, she followed a passion years in the making and launched elk & HAMMER. The innovative online gallery connects artists with one another and their respective artforms, those artforms with an audience, and that audience with a story. “We are a world of one-click shopping, everything fast and faceless,” says Childs. “But to pick up a knife every morning and butter your bread is an experience, made even more lovely when that butter knife was hand-forged by a blacksmith who spent decades refining their craft, whose story you know, whose face you’ve seen. That is a beautiful thing.”

elk & HAMMER currently features a growing body of work from sculptors, ceramicists, designers, painters, metalsmiths, and more. Each addition to the gallery represents another story in an ever-evolving tome exalting both the maker and the made. One of those makers is Childs’ oldest friend and mentor, Steve Schwarzer, a hall-of-fame bladesmith who has spent the past 50 years learning from those that came before, honing his craft, and redefining the art of mosaic Damascus steel.

U.K. leather worker and designer Otis Ingrams is similarly inspired by the godfathers of his craft and design vernacular. Ingrams established OTZI Studios in 2013 and has since been carefully handcrafting distinctive British, Spanish, and Italian utility goods.

 

Otis Ingrams, two Quarto Leather Baskets in tan and black. Photo by Mitchell D. Cohen

T.A.G. (Tom) Smith taught himself the deep-rooted art of intarsia as a teenager, slowly curating the craft into a unique celebration of the feathers and fowl he has loved just as long. Smith’s hanging wooden sculptures marry the natural artistry of wood grain with his own brand of inspired vision.

Genso and Asemi Co.—two Japanese enterprises connecting Bizen pottery with households worldwide—showcase the finest in traditional Japanese craftsmanship and the range of makers reimagining its centuries-old presence for the contemporary world.

Contemporary design innovation is at the heart of British luxury brand founder and creative director Tom Dixon’s vision. An industry maverick since the 1980s, Dixon’s furniture, lighting, and accessories aim to demonstrate the transformative nature of art in utilitarian contexts.

Whether it’s fine jewelry from Kabana or Kurtulan, knives and tools from Banshu Hamono or Messermeister, Kindrie Grove’s bronze sculptures or Nest Homeware’s cast iron kitchenware, the elk & HAMMER gallery hopes to offer an evocative, globally-informed collection that inspires presence and connection with shared stories of everyday life, through traditions dating back to humanity’s inception.

Visit elkandhammer.com to view the gallery and follow them on Instagram @elkandhammer.

You can also find more stories and videos on elk & HAMMER’s Vimeo and YouTube.

 

Steve Schwarzer, mosaic Damascus gentleman’s folders with gold lip pearl, with canister mosaic Damascus Wharncliffe blades. All photos by Ashley Childs unless otherwise specified

T.A.G. (Tom) Smith of the U.K., “Great Grey Owl Tail Feather” in ash, walnut, sycamore, and Swiss pear wood

Genso, Sangiri and Goma mugs, cups, and Saki cup

Tom Dixon, Brass Bash Bowl & Tray and Large Aluminum Cloud Bowl

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 Discover a Global Collective of Artisans and Makers at elk & HAMMER appeared first on Colossal.

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Countless Astonished Faces Emerge from Driftwood in Expressive Sculptures by Marc Bourlier

“Écran plat” (1999), driftwood and linen twine, 60 x 50 x 7 centimeters. All images © Marc Bourlier, shared with permission

Characterized by elongated noses and tiny, punched eyes and mouths, Marc Bourlier’s expressive figures gather in a perpetual state of curiosity and surprise. The artist scours the beaches near his home in Normandy for driftwood, gathering an incredible variety of sizes and shapes to take back to the studio. He complements the weathered grain with carefully whittled heads and long, limbless bodies, packing the individuals tightly together on platforms or organizing them into compartments.

The nuances of color play a role in Bourlier’s work, as he explores the relationship between naturally occurring tones and subtle background hues. Recently, the artist has composed tree motifs grounded by warm, brown surfaces filled edge-to-edge with drawn linear patterns and hundreds of faces. Figures stand around the trunks and balance in the boughs, captured in an enigmatic narrative.

See more of Bourlier’s work on his website and Instagram.

 

“Le Grand Cloisonné” (2017), driftwood, linen twine, and wallpaper, 120 x 90 x 5 centimeters

“L’arbre Voyageur” (2023), driftwood, wallpaper, and drawing, 50 x 40 x 6 centimeters

“Fétiches Arumbaya” (2020), driftwood, wallpaper, and drawing, 80 x 60 x 5 centimeters

“Cloisonné” (2017), driftwood, linen twine, and wallpaper, 40 x 40 x 5 centimeters

“L’arbre Sous le Lune” (2023), driftwood, linen twine, wallpaper, and drawing, 40 x 30 x 5 centimeters

“Portraits de Fétiches” (2019), driftwood, wallpaper, and drawing, 50 x 40 x 6 centimeters

“Nuages” (2017), driftwood, 80 x 70 x 7 centimeters

“Tous Dehors” (2015), driftwood, linen twine, and wooden box, 35 x 15 x 12 centimeters

“L’étrange véhicule” (2023), driftwood, wallpaper, and drawing, 40 x 40 x 5 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 Countless Astonished Faces Emerge from Driftwood in Expressive Sculptures by Marc Bourlier appeared first on Colossal.

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Tatiane Freitas Meticulously Splices Contemporary Acrylic Elements Onto Traditional Wooden Furniture

All images © Tatiane Freitas, shared with permission

Hitting peak popularity in the mid-20th century, acrylic furniture—sometimes branded as Lucite—represented a fresh, modern take on traditionally functional objects, from tables to headboards to kitchen chairs. The clear thermoplastic can easily steal the show in a room, drawing attention to its own silhouette and contrasting the furnishings that surround it. São Paulo-based artist Tatiane Freitas taps into the legacy of the material and the relationship between past and present in her ongoing My New Old Series.

Redolent of kintsugi, a Japanese philosophy that embraces breakage and repair as part of the history of objects, Freitas molds strikingly transparent replacements for chair arms, spindles, and seats. The artist “aims to explore the dynamic between the past versus present, old versus young, and how this tension can be presented in a physical state,” she says in a statement. The plastic fits precisely into place and mirrors its wooden counterparts, creating an effect that is both solid and spectral.

Freitas has recently translated her full-size sculptures into miniature versions that appear to float on the wall, several of which are currently on view at Guy Hepner in New York City through the end of this month. You can also find more work on the artist’s website and Instagram.

 

“The Ripple Effect”

“The void created”

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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

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 Sthenjwa Luthuli Evokes Ancient African Traditions and Spirit Worlds in Meticulously Carved Paintings appeared first on Colossal.

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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”

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 Emotional Faces Fuse with Flora and Fauna in Abi Castillo’s Playful Ceramics appeared first on Colossal.

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