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Friday, September 8, 2023

It’s a Zoo in Here! A Diverse Cast of Whimsical Animals by Yen Jui-Lin Emerge From Wood

All images © Yen Jui-Lin, shared with permission

Yen Jui-Lui instills a growing group of characters with playful wiles and whimsy in an ongoing series of wooden toys (previously). Just a few of the artist’s recent creations portray pudgy bears that double as receptacles for spare change or fruit, a downcast rabbit enduring an inner tube, and birds that sprout dried flowers from the tops of their heads. Using a variety of wood types local to his home in Taiwan, he repurposes segments of cypress, cinnamon, and beech, among others.

Yen is currently working on a series inspired by the zoo, which has been in progress for more than two years. “This series is not imitating real animals; it’s more reshaping the imagination of the animals in cute and interesting shapes,” he says. You can find more of the artist’s work on Instagram.

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 It’s a Zoo in Here! A Diverse Cast of Whimsical Animals by Yen Jui-Lin Emerge From Wood appeared first on Colossal.

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Two Dozen Artists Gather a Diverse Flock of Avians at Brassworks Gallery for ‘Birds Rising’

A painting of a Peregrine Falcon on a vintage envelope.

Diana Sudyka. All images © the artists, shared with permission courtesy of Brassworks Gallery

Mixed-media pieces by two dozen artists take flight in Birds Rising at Brassworks Gallery in Portland, Oregon, this month. Curated by artist Heiko Müller, a vibrant selection of works take feathered creatures as a starting point, showcasing a range of styles that reference mythology, fairytales, and quickly-changing habitats. Works by Diana Sudyka, El Gato Chimney, and Caitlin McCormack—among many others—highlight a variety of media almost as diverse as the avian world itself.

Birds Rising opens with a preview on September 9, and you can find more information on the gallery’s website and Instagram.

A painting of an Emperor Penguin with an argyle chest in front of a magenta cloud.

Richard Ahnert

Alexandra Lukaschewitz

A paper collage with pencil drawings of birds.

Eiko Borcherdin

A painting of a young penguin with coral sprouting from its back.

Ki Sung Koh

A drawing of a bird in a nest made of bones, its feathers resembling a skull, holding a burning bone in its beak.

Ana Juan

A drawing of a bird on a geometric form, surrounded by pins, a thimble, and a heart-shaped potion bottle releasing a cloud.

El Gato Chimney

An abstract, featherless, orange bird standing on an outcrop, with two babies by its feet.

Mario Klingemann

A fantastical painting of a female figure that is half-bird, with a multi-headed swan next to it.

Ryan Heshka

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 Two Dozen Artists Gather a Diverse Flock of Avians at Brassworks Gallery for ‘Birds Rising’ appeared first on Colossal.

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Thursday, September 7, 2023

Ememem Playfully Revitalizes Cracked Pavement With Vibrantly Patterned Tiles

A crack in street pavement filled with colorful tiles.

Lyon, France. All images © Ememem, shared with permission

No crack in a wall, step, or curb is safe from Ememem’s delightful interventions. The Lyon-based artist (previously), also known as “the pavement surgeon,” continues to scout out gaps in sidewalks that he fills with colorful tiles. Akin to kintsugi, the Japanese practice of repairing broken pottery with gold to embrace the history of the object, Ememem’s technique doesn’t hide imperfections so much as highlight their possibilities. While making the surfaces safer to traverse, he adds gives new life to decaying urban walkways.

Find more of the artist’s work on his website, and keep track of new pieces on Instagram.

Corse, France

Decazeville, France

Arles, France

Marseille, France

Modena, Italy

Nantua, France

Paris, France

Zagreb, Croatia

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 Ememem Playfully Revitalizes Cracked Pavement With Vibrantly Patterned Tiles appeared first on Colossal.

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Enigmatic Wonder and Magic Envelop Sarah Lee’s Illuminated Landscapes

small glowing moths fly around trees at night

“Luna Moths” (2023), oil on canvas, 70 x 60 inches. Photo by Thomas Müller. All images courtesy of the artist and albertz benda, New York | Los Angeles, shared with permission

Mysterious magic emanates from Sarah Lee’s scenes. Often working at night in her East Village studio, Lee envisions quiet, unpopulated landscapes that become an escape from the electrifying energy of the city. Tempestuous storms, glowing Luna moths, and shooting stars enliven the serene vistas and illuminate what would otherwise be shrouded by the darkened skies. Each oil painting, rendered in a palette of cool tones, contains an element of surreal surprise, whether a graceful fowl floating on the clouds in “Black Swan” or a pocket of snowy earth opening to reveal the stars in “Among Trees.”

The works shown here are a fraction of those included in Lee’s solo show, Two Skies, on view now through October 14 at albertz benda in New York. Explore more of the artist’s work on her site and Instagram.

“Two Skies” (2023), oil on canvas, 70 x 80 inches. Photo by Adam Reich

A band of light shoots across a night sky with waves in the foreground

“Rainbow” (2023), oil on canvas, 14 x 13 inches. Photo by Thomas Müller

A pocket snow opens to reveal shooting stars in the sky wiht a green hill in the background

“Among Trees” (2023), oil on canvas, 50 x 52 inches. Photo by Adam Reich

a swan floats on the clouds in a night sky

“Black Swan” (2023), oil on canvas, 44 x 40 inches. Photo by Thomas Müller

A curtain like expanse of norther lights glows above a quiet landscape

“Northern Lights” (2023), oil on canvas, 9 x 12 inches. Photo by Adam Reich

A red star studded sky above a green grassy landscape

“Endless Night” (2023), oil on canvas, 70 x 80 inches. Photo by Thomas Müller

the moon glows behind tall trees with a small reflective puddle in the foreground

“The Trees of Secrets” (2023), oil on canvas, 12 x 9 inches. Photo by Thomas Müller

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 Enigmatic Wonder and Magic Envelop Sarah Lee’s Illuminated Landscapes appeared first on Colossal.

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Caitlin McCormack Crochets a Speculative Future in the Wake of Environmental Catastrophe

A circular composition of crocheted fiber that looks like tiny skeletons on the ground.

“Swim Team.” Photo by Jaime Alvarez for Fleisher Art Memorial. All images © Caitlin McCormack, shared with permission

From humble, crocheted thread emerges Caitlin McCormack’s alternate reality featuring tiny carcasses, encased objects, and mysterious figures. Ideas related to the cycle of death and life, mutation, and overgrowth permeate her work, most prominently through her ongoing series of skeletons (previously) resting on beds of botanicals, often arranged in groups as if a single event wiped them out simultaneously.

Through a speculative view of a post-human world, McCormack imbues her work with a sense of foreboding that contrasts the medium of crochet and its comforting, nostalgic associations. Her current exhibition at Elijah Wheat Showroom titled SOUVENIRS OF THE WASTELAND, a duo show with Kat Ryals, also considers ideas around tacky novelties, sci-fi, and the impact of textile industry waste.

SOUVENIRS OF A WASTELAND is presented through the lens of “a pseudoscientific museum exhibition chronicling the influx of strange new life forms that have appeared in the wake of humanity’s demise,” McCormack tells Colossal. “The concept explores our complicity in environmental destruction and questions what will happen to our trash when we are gone. Turns out, things will get real weird.”

A crocheted figure wearing a hat with fringe on his arms.

“Libidinous Drifter.” Photo by Stacey Evans for Second Street Gallery

Increasingly focusing on freestanding, sculptural works reliant almost exclusively on stiffened, crocheted material, McCormack has started to depart from her earlier wall-mounted relief compositions. “In 2020, I started building assemblages out of found objects, carefully upholstering the structures with hand-sewn velvet and adorning them so that their surfaces grew heavily-textured with an abundance of fiber sculptural relief forms,” she says. “The crocheted cotton is occasionally dyed with natural pigments sourced from my surroundings during hikes and time spent in the woods at rural residencies.”

McCormack will include a large-scale piece at the Jewish Museum Milwaukee as part of Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse, which opens September 8. And at SPRING/BREAK Art Show in New York, she has co-curated a presentation titled Come, Dance With Us and Our Dead in the Rainbows (If It Makes You Feel Good) alongside Heather Renée Russ and Christopher M. Tandy, which will be on view through September 11.

SOUVENIRS OF THE WASTELAND continues in Newburgh, New York, through October 1. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

An abstract crocheted sculpture of a hand-like green feature with mushrooms growing from each digit.

“Manicure at the End of the World.” Photo by Jason Chen

A circular composition of crocheted fiber that looks like tiny skeletons on a neon yellow background.

“Go Home Magna Mater, You’re Drunk.” Photo by Jason Chen

Detail of a composition of crocheted fiber that looks like tiny skeletons on the ground.

Detail of “Swim Team”

Crocheted fiber that looks like tiny skeletons on the ground.

“The Only Witness to a Vanished World”

Detail of “The Only Witness to a Vanished World”

Embroidered pillow with a fringe on the bottom. Text on the pillow reads "You Know He Told Everyone"

“You Know He Told Everyone.” Photo by The Wassaic Project

Crocheted netting around a cluster of objects.

“They Come Back, But They’re Never the Same.” Photo by Jason Chen

“Prince of Nothing”

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 Caitlin McCormack Crochets a Speculative Future in the Wake of Environmental Catastrophe appeared first on Colossal.

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Take Your Practice to New Heights With SVA Continuing Education

Artwork by Selena Pacheco, Artist Residency Alumnus ‘23. Image courtesy Xuemeng Zhang

Ready to take your practice and creativity to new heights? The Division of Continuing Education at the School of Visual Arts (SVACE) has the resources and expertise to help you go to the next level. With more than 200 courses and 10+ artist residency programs, you’ll find everything you need to achieve your goals and actualize your potential. Whether you’re looking to advance your career, explore new artistic avenues, or simply deepen your practice, our experienced faculty will provide the guidance and support you need to grow.

Head to sva.edu/ce to explore our offerings and get started.

Artist Residency Programs & Intensives

Online and on-campus courses are available in:

Registration Details

Course Advice
If you need advice or have questions please email ce@sva.edu to connect with one of our course advisors.

About the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts has been a leader in the education of artists, designers, and creative professionals for seven decades. With a faculty of distinguished working professionals, a dynamic curriculum, and an emphasis on critical thinking, SVA is a catalyst for innovation and social responsibility. Comprising 6,000 students at its Manhattan campus and 35,000 alumni in 100 countries, SVA also represents one of the most influential artistic communities in the world. For information about the College please visit sva.edu.

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 Take Your Practice to New Heights With SVA Continuing Education appeared first on Colossal.

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Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Florals and Landscapes Redefine Vintage Portraits in Han Cao’s Embroidered ‘Silhouettes’

Known for her signature embroidered photographs, Han Cao (previously) examines intersecting ideas of identity, memory, and nostalgia. In her new body of work, the artist begins with vintage images, replacing faces and garments with flowery landscapes and sweeping skies.

Comprising the exhibition Silhouettes at Paradigm Gallery + Studio, the portraits overflow with foliage, storm surf, and bucolic meadows. The show marks a new direction for Cao’s practice, expanding her interest in introspection and internalization, especially over time. She explores “how our sense of self can be affected by memory, social structures, and a connection to nature,” says a statement.

For the first time, Cao has produced double-portraits that incorporate the same photographs, scaled up and applied with the same embroidery patterns as the smaller original. She draws attention to the materiality of fiber, emphasizing how its detail and immediacy read differently depending on the size, inviting the viewer to consider similarities and differences between nearly identical representations.

Replacing faces with trees, fields, and surging waves, Cao visualizes the metaphorical emotional capacity of each figure, likening the depths of their memories, feelings, and thoughts to traversable terrain that is deep and lush with color. Cao says, “I am always trying to change the story of the photo, but this method allows me to transport the figure into a different world.”

Silhouettes is on view in Philadelphia through October 1. You can view and purchase pieces on the gallery’s website, and find more work from Cao on her site and Instagram.