Karen Navarro Puzzles and Stacks Fragmented Portraits Into Explorations of Identity

“Fragment” (2019), from ‘The Constructed Self,’ archival inkjet print, wood, acrylic paint, and epoxy, 56 x 48 inches. All images © Karen Navarro, shared with permission

Stacked, spinning, and puzzled together, Karen Navarro’s vibrant portraits explore myriad facets of identity. Photography provides the foundation for the Houston-based artist’s practice, which often encompasses sculpture, text, and collage to examine ideas around self-representation, gender, race, and a sense of belonging. In two of her recent series, The Constructed Self and Neither Here Nor There, Navarro slices bold portraits into cubes or strips, then rearranges the pieces into shape-shifting patterns.

Born in Argentina, Navarro later immigrated to the United States, and in 2014, she discovered that she could trace her ancestry to the Mapuche culture. “I have always been interested in identity, but this piece of information shook my past understanding of who I was,” she says. The Constructed Self developed from an interest in the simultaneously personal and universal human experience of building and exuding a persona. She is also interested in how one’s perspective can alter what one sees.

Through fragmenting, layering, and reassembling, Navarro splices images with bright edges that draw attention to negative space, uneven surfaces, and intersections. She captures digital portraits of her sitters in front of solid backgrounds, emphasizing their direct gazes and garments. While she focuses on others, she sees the work as self-reflective and driven by “the need to celebrate diversity to reframe the representation of historically marginalized identities.”

 

“Untitled (rearranged)” (2021), from ‘The Constructed Self,’ archival inkjet print, wood, acrylic paint, and epoxy, 30 x 24 inches

Neither Here Nor There centers on first, second, and third-generation immigrants and reconfigures the images to visualize the endless process of forming one’s identity. “I’m attracted to the contradiction of creating work that is made out of a photograph but ceases to be one when I separate it into pieces and add other materials like wood, paint, and resin,” she says. “It’s no longer a photograph, but it doesn’t become a sculpture either…The hybridity of the final artwork conceptually embodies how I feel, that I don’t belong here or there.”

Navarro recently traveled to Argentina to photograph people reconnecting with their Indigenous heritage, and she plans to return to present an exhibition of the final works. To help fund the project, she will launch a series of prints on Indigenous Peoples Day (October 9). “The work is about reconnecting with my Indigenous identity and celebrating its beauty,” she tells Colossal. “For me, reconnecting with that part of my identity is a profound act of resilience, resistance, and reclamation.”

Find more of Navarro’s work on her website, and follow Instagram for updates about the print release and future projects.

 

“Untitled (perspective)” (2021), from ‘The Constructed Self,’ archival inkjet print, wood, acrylic paint, and epoxy, 35 x 28 x 3 inches

“Displaced” (2022), from ‘Neither Here Nor There,’ archival inkjet print, wood, acrylic paint, , and epoxy, 24.75 x 23 inches

“Rearranged ll,” (2021), from ‘The Constructed Self,’ archival inkjet print, wood, acrylic paint, and epoxy, 32 x 30.5 inches

Left: “Fractured” (2021), from ‘The Constructed Self,’ archival inkjet print, wood, acrylic paint, epoxy, and vinyl, 50 x 40 inches. Right: “Twisted” (2020), from ‘The Constructed Self,’ archival inkjet print, wood, epoxy, acrylic paint, and metal rope, 52 x 18 x 18 inches

“Puzzled” (2020), from ‘The Constructed Self,’ archival inkjet print, wood, acrylic paint, and epoxy, 50 x 36 inches

“Untitled (perspective ll)” (2021), from ‘The Constructed Self,’ archival inkjet print, wood, acrylic paint, and epoxy, 30 x 24 x 3 inches

“Twisted variation” (2021), from ‘The Constructed Self,’ archival inkjet print, wood, gesso, metal, acrylic paint, and epoxy, 24 x 24 x 15 inches

“Sliced” (2022), from ‘Neither Here Nor There,’ archival inkjet print, wood, acrylic paint, and epoxy, 27 x 27.5 inches

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Whimsical Creatures, Mechanics, and Celestial Details Collide in Ori Toor’s Frenzied Illustrations

“TJF.” All images © Ori Toor, shared with permission

Tucked in the cramped confines of a rectangular form, the lively and fantastical illustrations of Tel Aviv-based artist Ori Toor (previously) are suffused with chaotic energy. Set on solid backdrops, the works are a frenzied mishmash of overlapping mechanical components, cartoonish characters, and natural elements like flowers with faces or pill-shaped planets. Toor plays with scale and perspective in a way that creates several winding narrative paths throughout each piece, along with seemingly endless visual intrigue.

While the artist often works digitally, he shares that he’s returned to doodling in ink in his sketchbooks. “It’s something I used to do all the time but suddenly stopped a few years ago. It’s a lot of fun and takes off the pressure of posting everything you make—when it’s on the computer, it’s already one step away from Instagram—but still very challenging,” he says. “Things look different when you can’t use undo.”

Toor was recently commissioned to illustrate a map of the multiverse for the collector’s edition of A24’s award-winning Everything Everywhere All At Once, in addition to a soothing, black-and-white piece for WeTransfer’s new coloring book. He currently has a limited-edition print available through Massbase and a few other works on Society6. You can follow his latest illustrations on Behance and Instagram.

 

“GHFHJ”

“Inside the Flamingo Cloud”

“Plant Friends”

“Ride”

“Salads”

“Dogwalking Machine”

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Elaborate Flower Arrangements by Lewis Miller Design Cascade From Fixtures of New York City Streets

All images © Lewis Miller Design, shared with permission

Sprays of vibrant blooms and foliage erupt from New York City trash cans, trucks, and road signs by Lewis Miller Design (previously). Known for his temporary Flower Flash installations, Miller sees phone booths and stacks of pallets as vessels for enormous floral arrangements, which often remain in place for only a few hours before they disappear. He delights in setting the scene for unexpected encounters and often collaborates with local businesses, events, and other artists, like in a series of cascading displays around artist Scott Froschauer’s reimagined road signs for L.E.A.F. Flower Show.

Find a variety of vivid arrangements on Miller’s Instagram and website.

 

 

    

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Sangmin Oh Illuminates Otherworldly Textiles in His Sculptural ‘Knitted Light’ Series

All images © Sangrim Oh, shared with permission

Supple textures meet bold hues in Sangmin Oh’s elegant Knitted Light series. Drawn to relationships between sculptural forms, textile techniques, and architectural elements, the Netherlands and Korea-based artist developed a collection of soft lamps designed to suspend from the ceiling or sit on chunky, rough-hewn pedestals.

Oh founded Osangmin Studio in 2021, which “focuses on observing trivial and small empty spaces” like the corners of rooms or nondescript alcoves that can be elevated with the addition of color, shape, and illumination. The Knitted Light series takes inspiration from the diversity of sea life and coral, evoking scaled tendrils or slim funnels. The fixtures often appear to float in the dark as they transform from standalone objects into glowing, functional installations.

Find more of Oh’s work on Instagram. (via Yellowtrace)

 

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The Glowing, Prismatic Nervous System of a Sea Star Wins the Scientific Image of the Year

Laurent Formery, U.S., the nervous system of a juvenile sea star. All images courtesy of Evident

Science meets psychedelic color in the 2022 Evident Image of the Year awards. From the vibrant, feather-like crystals of a topical medicine to the shimmering scales of a Urania ripheus moth, the winning works unveil a slew of vibrant, microscopic wonders found around the world. This year’s top image comes from molecular biologist Laurent Formery, who documented the spindly, spiky nervous system of a young sea star. Reaching approximately one centimeter wide, the minuscule specimen glows with kaleidoscopic hues under a color-coded Z-projection.

The award, which focuses on scientific imaging and light microscopy, garnered 640 submissions from 38 countries. Find out more about the winning images and see the honorable mentions on Evident. (via PetaPixel)

 

Shyam Rathod, India, the crystal of a topical medicine used to treat warts

Igor Siwanowicz, U.S., depth color-coded projection capturing a morning glory pollen grain as it germinates

Javier Ruperez, Spain, Urania ripheus moth wing scales

Jiao Li, China, edelweiss stamens

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The Adorably Whimsical ‘Deer Train’ Transports Visitors to Japan’s Famed Nara Park

All images courtesy of Marei/@mareiii04, shared with permission

Sacred in the Shinto religion and an officially designated national treasure, the deer in Nara, Japan, are widely known for roaming a public park and bowing for treats—although the animals in recent years have been dubbed the “devious deer” because of their increasingly demanding behavior.

Those traveling to the region to fawn over the uncharacteristically mannered creatures can now ride in an equally adorable coach. Operated by Kintetsu Railways, the Deer Train is decked out with lush, spotted seats, grassy flooring, handles shaped like pudgy animals, and illustrations by Tokyo-based artist Gemi that transform the cars into a whimsical, cervine world.

The specially designed transit started operating in late 2022 and runs between Nara, which is about 45 minutes south of Kyoto via rail, and Sannomiya. (via Spoon & Tamago)

 

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Quirky Collections of Found Objects Preoccupy the Anatomical Sculptures of EMXW’s ‘Heads’

All images © EMXW, shared with permission

If you’ve ever felt like your head is full of cotton—or sea shells or dryer lint—well, you’re not alone. For the better part of a decade, Chicago-based artists Edwige Massart and Xavier Wynn (previously) have been creating sliced sculptural skulls full of everything from yarn and river rocks to crayon tips, shattered car windows, circuit boards, and sleeping pills. The occupied minds are part of the ongoing series Heads, which distills the complexities of relationships into dense, topographical psyches.

Working as EMXW, the duo begins each piece with a mishmash of found objects that together, create a narrative or “topic of conversation.” They each create simultaneously, adding red LEGO for teeth or shaping a jawbone with the broken handle of a cup to render a thematic collection that relates to an imagined dialogue between the two. The resulting works are playful and rich with texture and color as they explore the inner workings of the mind and the unique makeup of our emotional landscapes.

Some of EMXW’s most recent sculptures are on view through the end of the month at Gallery 901 in Evanston, Illinois. Find more of the duo’s work on Instagram.

 

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