Through Gilded Portraits, Tawny Chatmon Envisions a Dazzling Future

“Iconography/A Hopeful Truth” (2022-2023), 24k gold leaf, 22k moon gold, acrylic paint, semi-precious stones, and other mixed media on archival pigment print, 56 x 42 inches. All images © Tawny Chatmon, shared with permission

“Whenever I think about the future, I think about my children and the fact that I feel that the future does not belong to me; it belongs to them,” says Tawny Chatmon (previously). “The work I’m creating now is what I’m manifesting for their present and future.”

Often centering her portraiture on adolescents, Chatmon is visionary, imagining a time when children are “living in peace, being safe, being protected, being free of stereotypes, living freely and joyously, being treated gently by the world.” This dream is rooted in a long-held desire for young Black people to be recognized as inherently valuable and significant, visualized through the artist’s signature glimmering embellishments.

Reminiscent of Gustav Klimt’s works and pastiglia, or low-relief decorations, of 15th-century Italian artists, Chatmon’s Remnants and Pastoral Scenes series overlay portraits with gold leaf, acrylic paint, semi-precious stones, and other mixed-media. The gilded additions often cloak garments and sometimes the backdrop, while the works retain the original photographic depiction of the sitter’s face and limbs.

Remnants contains cut-and-pasted scraps from the artist’s early paintings, and Pastoral Scenes positions the figures against distant landscapes. Both series, though, honor ancestral ties and emphasize the need to break free from outdated modes of being. “My work is a beautiful resistance simply because it exists,” she says. “Existence, by definition, is the state of being alive or being real, and despite early depictions of Black bodies as background or ‘other’ in Western art, while primarily centering whiteness, we are real. We always have been.”

 

“Iconography/In honor of the sacred divinity that exists within us” (2023), 24k gold leaf, paper, acrylic on archival pigment print, 47 x 35 inches

Chatmon takes a similar approach in her ongoing Iconography series, which evokes Byzantine-era works that depict religious figures through dense mosaics. “These visual declarations were used to assist the observer in focusing on all things sacred and were viewed more as literal prayers than art. Believed to serve as conduits to the divine, each was meticulously crafted by an iconographer embarking on a journey of prayer and meditation,” she shares.

Her pieces draw on this tradition through swaths of gold tesserae that transcend the earthly. In “A Hopeful Truth,” Chatmon fashions flowing, metallic garments for two young girls, who embrace in front of a tiled backdrop with blue, floral filigree. Another work, “In honor of the sacred divinity that exists within us,” features the artist’s daughter wearing a robe draped over her shoulders and a gown with a portrait of Harriet Tubman near her heart. “Just as Byzantine icons serve as windows to the spiritual realm, may my icons serve as means of sending gratitude to our ancestors and a connection to those who helped shape our lives throughout history,” the artist says.

And the devotional nature of these early Roman works isn’t lost on Chatmon. For each piece, she pre-determines what she’s hoping to communicate and when complete, considers “what I want the work to do once shared with others by saying a prayer over the work and setting intentions.”

Chatmon currently has a limited-edition print available through Art + Culture to support The Last Resort Artist Retreat, a residency for Black creatives. She also has work in several exhibitions opening in the coming weeks, including group shows at Galerie Myrtis in Baltimore, the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, and Florida State University’s Museum of Fine Arts. You can follow her latest endeavors on Instagram.

 

“Remnants/I Was Born to Stand in the Light” (2020-2022), 24k gold leaf, paper, acrylic, other mixed media on archival pigment print, 63 x 41 inches

“Pastoral Scenes/Ralisha” (2021-2022), 24k gold leaf, acrylic, semi-precious stones, thermoplastic polymer resin, and other mixed media on archival pigment print, 56 x 36 inches

“Bridgetower Frieze” (2021), 24k gold leaf and acrylic on archival pigment print, 40 x 30 inches

“Remnants/Aunt Mattie’s Beloved Frock” (2021), 24k gold leaf, paper, acrylic on archival pigment print, 30 x 24 inches

“Iconography/And All Generations Shall Call Us Blessed (before completion)” (2022), 24k gold leaf, paper, abalone shell, and acrylic on archival pigment print, 44 x 36 inches

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Interview: Amy Sherald On Bearing Witness, Social Anxiety, and Finding Respite in Her Work

“The lesson of the falling leaves” (2017), oil on canvas, 54 x 43 x 2 1/2 inches. Photo by Joseph Hyde. All images © Amy Sherald, courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth, shared with permission

Here’s what painter Amy Sherald has always known about herself: She was born to be an artist.

In a new conversation with Colossal contributor Paulette Beete, Sherald says that she was born to bear witness to Black life, with painting becoming a “corrective” to the struggle story that’s often the only one told about Black communities.

Portraiture, for me, is having the opportunity to tell a story, to tell my story, to tell our story (as Black people), to have the portrait work in ways that are creating a counter-narrative, a corrective narrative, but then also a narrative that can carry us into our future selves. They have the capacity to be mirrors for today and also vessels to look through to see into the future.

Sherald discusses her early desire to work with her hands, why she prefers removing context and instead painting solid backgrounds, and how her practice offers a place of rest and hope in a heartbreaking world.

Read the conversation.

 

“They Call Me Redbone but I’d Rather Be Strawberry Shortcake” (2009), oil on canvas, 54 x 43 inches, National Museum of Women in the Arts

 

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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

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 Karen Navarro Puzzles and Stacks Fragmented Portraits Into Explorations of Identity appeared first on Colossal.

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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”

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 Whimsical Creatures, Mechanics, and Celestial Details Collide in Ori Toor’s Frenzied Illustrations appeared first on Colossal.

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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

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 The Glowing, Prismatic Nervous System of a Sea Star Wins the Scientific Image of the Year appeared first on Colossal.

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