Matt Roussel Blends Woodblock Printing and Painting Into Beguiling Portraits

“L’Oisleuse.” All images © Matt Roussel, shared with permission

An avid printmaker with a love for experimentation, French artist Matt Roussel constantly craves new challenges. In his series of painted woodblocks (previously), he starts with a traditional printing block and carves away the negative space, but rather than applying ink and transferring the image to paper, he transforms an element of the process into the artwork itself.

As Roussel carves each piece, the gouges reveal a tantalizing texture. In his new works, the faces of his subjects remain smooth and rely entirely on painting to bring them to life, while the grooves are reserved for enormous flowers, ornate garments, and dreamy surroundings. “I wanted to put myself to the test of painting,” he tells Colossal. “I’m quickly bored when I make same things.”

The inspiration for his subjects starts with a series of prompts that he plugs into an AI tool, generating arrangements and patterns. “For me, it’s a work base that allows me to do by hand what I see…This is a new tool which helps me, like the computer, when I started to make 3D (work) in the ’90s,” he says. Each piece takes between three to six days to complete, depending on the size.

Roussel regularly makes prints, too, and several are usually available in his shop. This fall, he will be in a number art fairs, including Affordable Art Fair Singapore. Find more of his work on Instagram.

 

“Blanche 2”

“Le Poisson”

“Fleurs”

“Le Manteau du Prince”

“Blanche”

“Le Bourgeon”

“Loup”

“Scarabe”

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In ‘Fancy Pigeons,’ Brendan Burden Captures the Flair of Underappreciated Birds

Jacobin pigeon. All images © Brendan Burden, shared with permission

Often seen clambering for scraps on city streets, pigeons tend to be an overlooked and even despised species. The birds’ ubiquity in urban areas, and their colloquial characterization as “flying rats,” have given them a lackluster reputation that Brendan Burden upends in his ongoing series of portraits.

The Ottawa-based photographer originally encountered the crest of the Jacobin pigeon, a lavish crown of plumage that wraps around its neck like a voluminous garment. “I had no idea pigeons could look this way and started doing some research and came to find out that there is a wide variety of pigeons, wild and domestic, many of which are quite beautiful,” he says. “I wondered whether I could apply more formal portrait techniques to these birds.”

After Ottawa Magazine commissioned him to shoot some creatures for a story on the Canadian Pigeon Fancier’s Association, the Fancy Pigesons series began to take shape. “My intention was to juxtapose the lowly pigeon with formal portraiture techniques and provide a new perspective on something ubiquitous, bordering on completely invisible,” Burden shares. Set against solid, paper backdrops resting in a large, show cage, the images evoke studio shots and capture each creature’s unique features. The Kormorner tumbler, for example, appears as if it’s wearing a turtleneck of brown feathers with a puffy collar, while the Moden’s gleaming, iridescent neck contrasts the soft, black and orange plumes of its body.

 

Left: English long-faced tumbler. Right: Lavender racing homer pigeon

As Burden photographed the birds—all are in the care of fanciers and avian enthusiasts rather than breeders—he learned about the unique relationship they have with humans. Pigeons are likely the first species to be domesticated, a history reflected in Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets and Egyptian hieroglyphics that suggest the practice was likely happening more than 5,000 years ago. He explains:

Had you asked me prior to undertaking this project, where they came from, I would have just assumed that they were wild and had some kind of symbiotic relationship with humans, like rats or mice or any number of other creatures. But in fact, they’re feral domesticated birds, and the reason they’re everywhere is in part because humans have been breeding them, often for nothing other than their beauty, for thousands of years.

As Burden adds to the Fancy Pigeons series, he’s shifting to photographing wild species, a change that requires more travel, time, and patience. “Being that they’re birds, sometimes you just don’t get what you hoped for and have to reshoot,” he says. You can follow his progress on Instagram, and shop limited-edition prints on his site. (via PetaPixel)

 

Kormorner tumbler

Bald head roller

Top left: Crested pigeon. Top right: Copper black wing archangel. Bottom left: Egyptian swift. Bottom right: Crested pigeon

Domestic flight

Ring necked dove

Left: Show homer pigeon. Right: Racing pigeon

Indian fantail

Moden

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It’s a Snail World After All: Tiny Molluscs Slide Around Town in Nostalgic Miniature Sets

All images © Aleia Murawski and Sam Copeland, shared with permission

The minuscule worlds designed by Sam Copeland and Aleia Murawski (previously) are just like ours—only a little bit slimier. Creating small, nostalgic dioramas for the past few years, the pair has a robust collection of sets fit for their tiny snail pals. The mollusks are caught slithering up to a video rental spot to browse horror films like The Snexorcist and Shellraiser, taking a snooze at their office job, and giving themselves a pep talk in the pink-tiled bathroom of a dive bar. Puns and adorable miniature renditions of common objects like a bulky desktop computer and bottles of nail polish fill the scenes, which feel like they’re plucked straight from the 90s.

Copeland and Murawski will have work in a group exhibition opening September 30 at Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, California, and have a follow-up to their book, Snail World: Life in the Slimelight, slated for publishing in 2024 by Broccoli. They’re currently in progress on a few video projects, which you can find on Instagram.

 

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Elaborately Detailed Illustrations of Japanese Hotel Rooms by Kei Endo Highlight Architecture and Ornament

Imperial Hotel Toyko. All images © Kei Endo, shared with permission

The finer points of key fobs, towels, and tea cups make their way into Kei Endo’s meticulously detailed floor plans of Japanese hotel rooms (previously). Carefully measured, the interior diagrams depict the furnishings, amenities, and layouts of various rooms, from corner suites to intimate sleeping pods. Endo elaborates on style elements like creative wall decor or unique views, including dimensions for every aspect of the room, right down to the height of the wine glasses.

The images here are part of a vibrant collection comprising Endo’s new book, Tokyo Hotel Sketch ,just released in Japan by Gakugei Publishing. Find more of the artist’s work on her website, and follow updates on X and Instagram.

 

The Aoyama Grand Hotel

Hilltop Hotel

Hotel Hisoca Ikebukuro

Hotel K5

9h Akasaka Sleep Lab

The Yokohama Bay Hotel Tokyu

Shiroiya Hotel

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Luminous Birds Strike Toward a Better Future in Stephanie Brown’s Tattooed Aviary

American redstart. All images © Stephanie Brown, shared with permission

“The birds are the underdogs,” says Stephanie Brown. “They co-exist with us almost invisibly in our lives if you aren’t looking for them. They’re small but full of attitude and powerful in great numbers.”

Brown returns to the tiny, yet commanding creatures in her ongoing series, The Torchbearers. Comprised of well over 100 tattoos in full color, the collection features common species like sparrows and starlings grasping lit matches in their beaks. The Troy, New York-based artist, whose practice spans drawing, painting, and the inked pieces shown here, began the series in 2019 after about a year of studying and rendering the specimens within the Field Museum’s Bird Division. She explains:

Spending time in that collection helped me understand their role not just as scientific artifacts but how these preserved bodies can help contemporary scientists in their study, often in the effort of conserving what populations are left. Looking back it feels quaint, but in 2019 it felt like the climate crisis had reached maximum volume, with the hottest years on record at the time. Around the same time, I had found an old Victorian Christmas card of these sparrows marching in a procession through the snow, holding tiny torches in the dark night, an image I immediately loved and wanted to adapt into a tattoo.

Melding these sources sparked what’s now a robust aviary that’s both an ode to the beauty and singularity of each creature and a beacon of hope. “There are so many analogies to be made,” the artist says. “The smallest light can lead the way in the darkness. It only takes a spark to start a fire; size does not matter. Natural wildfires even have a regenerative purpose: to clear crowded brush and return nutrients to the earth only to have more biodiversity return its wake.”

 

Bluebird and quail

While tattoos naturally fade and lose detail over time, Brown’s paintings are exemplary of her profound consideration of the animals themselves. With luminous color and delicately fringed feathers, the birds in “In the Dark” and “Chimney Swift” are elegant and active, leading the charge toward something new. These features echo the inked Torchbearers. The works are “a symbol of perseverance for the sheer willpower it takes to survive in this world either personally, socially, or environmentally—a reminder to be vigilant against the systems that exist and maybe just holding hope for a cleansing fire to free us from them and make room for a better world.”

While Brown is largely booked for tattoos at the moment—keep an eye on her Instagram for openings—she does have originals, prints, stickers, and more available in her shop. You can also see her work later this year at Antler Gallery in Portland and Living Room Gallery in Chicago.

 

Sparrows

Sparrows

Top left: Magpie. Top right: English robin. Bottom left: Female bluebird. Bottom right: Starling

Barnswallow

Fighting sparrows

“In the Dark”

“Chimney Swifts”

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In Remarkably Realistic Sculptures, Brock DeBoer Preserves Quotidian Objects in Porcelain

All images © Brock DeBoer, shared with permission

What do skateboarding and ceramics have in common? Artist and avid skater Brock DeBoer discovered the medium as a teenager during a requisite stint in summer school, and he latched on to learning something new. “When I sat at the potter’s wheel, I was challenging myself almost the same way as I did skateboarding,” the Los Angeles-based artist says. “Like, okay, next one is gonna be taller or wider, or I’m going to make this shape I saw in a book, and almost overnight, I had found something that would change my life.”

DeBoer attended ceramics classes in community college while he was still in high school, and as a student at the Kansas City Art Institute, he was introduced to porcelain. It sparked a practice he has pursued since. Portraying objects we typically associate with heavy use, like sneakers, radios, and basketballs, the artist elicits a playful tension between fragility and function. “The subjects, such as the sneakers, have a shelf life before the soles crumble and bubbles pop, and having the ability to preserve them and give them a new life is interesting to me,” he says.

 

Each piece’s decor harkens back to popular traditions in pottery like blue-and-white Chinese porcelain, which emerged in the 14th century and was wildly popular in Europe, spurring subsequent styles like Royal Delft. “Adding this surface decoration also folds a layer of history into the sculptures, which I think is even more impactful when on these common objects,” he says.

DeBoer chooses everyday, recognizable items as a way to emphasize the medium itself. “Presenting something familiar allows the viewer to experience and be absorbed in the exactness of the sculpture before reading too much into it,” he says. “There’s a challenge to capturing objects like this. And in this way, because there is no room for shortcuts, every detail has to be perfect.”

Recently, DeBoer has been learning glass casting and is looking forward to incorporating new techniques into his work, along with creating larger-scale installations inspired by his time in L.A. See more on his website, and follow updates on Instagram. You might also enjoy Brendan Lee Satish Tang’s porcelain-inspired drawings or Helena Hauss’ Delft-style weaponry.

 

 

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Celebrate Creativity and Community at the Detroit Month of Design Festival

All images courtesy of Design Core Detroit

The Detroit Month of Design Festival is a citywide celebration of creativity that gathers designers and the greater community to celebrate Detroit’s role as a national and global design capital. Every September, partners across the city—from emerging studios to established companies and educational institutions—come together to show off their latest works and ideas. These cross-disciplinary events take place in all corners of the metropolis, highlighting the talent and innovation that makes Detroit the first and only UNESCO City of Design in the U.S.

With over 80 events put on by hundreds of creatives, the 13th Annual Detroit Month of Design festival is expected to engage over 50,000 attendees in various neighborhoods throughout September.

For more information, visit detroitmonthofdesign.org.

 

Dress by Detroit designer Nabeela Najjar from the Building a Lasting Impact exhibition at the 2022 Detroit Month of Design. Photo by Christian Najjar

The Detroit Month of Design is presented by Design Core Detroit. As the steward of the UNESCO City of Design designation, Design Core champions the transformative power of design by supporting creative problem-solvers using myriad solutions to improve our city’s economy.

Through UNESCO, Detroit is part of an elite network of cities around the world that harnesses design to improve the lives of everyday people. The designation puts Detroit’s assets to work, ensuring a more sustainable and equitable future for all residents.

Follow along with all things Detroit Design on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

 

Outdoor Gazebo by Sean Hages

Image of conference room at design studio PopHouse

Image from “313 030 PROJEKT” by The Container Globe

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 Celebrate Creativity and Community at the Detroit Month of Design Festival appeared first on Colossal.

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