A Choir From Clay: Colorful Textures Swathe Carlos Cabo’s Ebullient Ceramic Figures

All images © Carlos Cabo, shared with permission

Elegant, richly textured garments cloak artist Carlos Cabo’s enchanting ceramic figures (previously), showcasing the endless possibilities of clay. Tall and slender, the figures sport a wide variety of styles, donning button-down tunics, dresses, neck ties, and hats. While each one is unique, they are drawn together by a synchronic gesture: mouths open wide, they sing toward the sky.

Cabo gathers his material from the countryside around his home in Salinas, Spain, then works it into column-like figures and geometric forms. He considers the texture to be “the skin of the piece,” differentiating each from its companions while also emphasizing their similarities and a sense of unity.

Find more on Cabo’s website and Instagram.

 

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Toon Joosen Splices Snapshots of ’60s Life into Tongue-in-Cheek Collages

“Oh, island in the sun.” All images © Toon Joosen, shared with permission

Artist Toon Joosen (previously) continues his retro mashups, splicing two distinct images into ironic and amusing juxtapositions. Having amassed an enormous archive of magazines and newspapers from the 1960s, Joosen tends to identify a pair of clippings “that together strengthen or alienate the whole,” he says. Through warped perspectives and exaggerated scales, the resulting collages reveal the artist’s signature wit as they depict people lounging on massive lilypads, a young boy spraying whipped cream on a beach, and a fisherman reeling in love.

Joosen sells his collages as prints, cards, and more on Etsy, and you can follow his latest creations on Instagram.

 

“Let’s take the stairs”

“Let’s make a story of our own!”

“It’s the same boy who puts snow on mountaintops”

“True love that’s a wonder these days …”

“Hold on, I’m coming …”

“I still haven’t found what i’m looking for…”

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 Toon Joosen Splices Snapshots of ’60s Life into Tongue-in-Cheek Collages appeared first on Colossal.

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Open Planet Is a Growing Library of 4,500 Free Videos Documenting Nature and Climate Issues Around the World

Climate science has a communication problem. Abstract data, figures, and projections into the distant future can be tough to comprehend. Without effective storytelling tools to convey the severity of the crisis and what’s at stake if we don’t act, it can be difficult to motivate the broader public to advocate for change.

The team at Open Planet wants to bridge that gap. A collaboration between Studio Silverback and  Carnegie Mellon’s CREATE Lab, the new digital library contains a growing collection of climate and nature footage available for free use. Open Planet currently boasts some 4,500 clips that travel around the globe, from Bird Island off the Georgian coast to Brazil’s Jamari River to Pangti Village in western India. Documenting animals, plants, landscapes, and more, the footage is diverse in subject matter and captures visual evidence of some of the most pressing issues facing the world today. Director Colin Butfield shares:

As filmmakers, we know stories can be powerful agents of change, and with the window for action rapidly closing to address the planetary emergency, there’s never been a greater need for compelling, authentic storytelling. Open Planet will not only present the causes and impacts of climate change and nature loss but also the incredible ingenuity of those driving innovation to keep crucial sustainability targets within reach.

While some videos were created specifically for the platform, others are submitted by filmmakers, broadcasters, and production companies, and new footage is added daily. “Our immediate focus is to significantly grow the Open Planet footage library to cover a wider range of issues and regions globally so that more stories can be told to more audiences,” says Bethany Hutchings, who leads communications and content. “Crucially, our content needs to then reach changemakers around the world to deliver impact on a greater scale.”

Open Planet recently released its first collection focused on India, which has already reached more than 400 million viewers, and the full library is set to launch early next year.

 

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Tender Moments, Vibrant Plants, and Georgian Culture Adorn the Tbilisi Streets for the Annual Mural Fest

Milu Correch. All images courtesy of Tbilisi Mural Fest, shared with permission

Since launching five years ago, Tbilisi Mural Fest has transformed the streets of Georgia’s capital into a vivid, outdoor gallery featuring dozens of large-scale works in myriad styles. The 2023 event—which expanded to the city of Kurasisi, as well— wrapped up this month with a similarly eclectic collection of works, including Thiago Mazza’s vividly painted botanicals (previously), a realistic rendering of a grandmother pressing dough by Sasha Korban, and Milu Correch’s touching portrait of a mother grasping her two young children. Find a selection of the 2023 murals below and check out the festival’s Instagram for more.

 

“Grandma” by Sasha Korban

Thiago Mazza

Telmo & Miel

Chertova Tina

“Mokhevian” by Gera 1

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Touch the Rainbow: Trippy Rugs Weave Kaleidoscopic Color into Plush Floor Coverings

The Rain Rainbow Carpet. All images ©˙Ken Kelleher

The days are getting shorter here in the Northern Hemisphere, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the cheery colors of a summertime rainbow. From the studio of artist Ken Kelleher, a trio of rugs weaves bright, bold hues into organically shaped floor coverings. Hand-dyed, carved, and tufted, the vibrant designs are made with New Zealand wool and evoke rain, drips, and puffy clouds, all rich with kaleidoscopic color.

Shop the collection on Ken Kelleher Sculpture. (via swissmiss)

 

The Cloud Rainbow Carpet

The Drip Rainbow Carpet

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In Meticulous Paper Portraits, Yulia Brodskaya Coaxes Visions of a Compassionate Future

“Northern Lines.” All images © Yulia Brodskaya, shared with permission

For millennia, cultures across the globe have venerated mother goddesses who embody maternal roles and symbolize fertility and cosmological creation. For the Inuit, Nerrivik is known as the sea mother and provider, and another deity associated with the sky, Pinga, watches over the hunt. In the Odinani tradition of the Igbo people in southeast Nigeria, Ala presides over the underworld and observes morality, fertility, and creativity. And in Greek mythology, Gaia is poetically portrayed as the personification of the Earth and the ancestor of all living beings.

For artist Yulia Brodskaya, the unequivocal power of Mother Earth encompasses a vibrant series of quilled paper portraits (previously) that celebrate cultural diversity and women around the world. She says:

I create from the place of honoring history and the past—drawing lots of inspiration from various cultures existing on the planet, but at the same time, making a conscious choice to bring forward a new vision of the future: a future when we, as a collective, have healed our past, released the pain, and integrated all the lessons that brought us all here to this moment in time: unified humanity—people of Gaia.

In her new pieces, Brodskaya continues to explore resilience and hope through dreamlike portraiture. She meticulously cuts, creases, and curls thin pieces of paper to build up a relief one strip at a time, adding mystical elements like swirls and geometric shapes. In “Envisage,” a human profile merges with that of a horse, while in “Mother Energy,” leaping dolphins reflect the strength, connection, and joy of motherhood.

Brodskaya portrays a future she desires, one of brightness, openness, and compassion. She says that “this is a personal exploration of how this new reality would feel like. How would it feel to interact with a human being from this version of the future?”

Find more on the artist’s website, and follow on Instagram and TikTok, where she often shares insights into her process.Yulia

 

“Mother Energy”

Detail of “Mother Energy”

“Envisage”

Detail of “Envisage”

“Light as a Feather”

Detail of “Light as a Feather”

Detail of “Light as a Feather”

“Starseed”

Detail of “Starseed”

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Olga Prinku Grafts Blooms and Branches Into Expansive Embroideries

All images © Olga Prinku, shared with permission

Using a vibrant array of real flowers and foliage, North Yorkshire-based artist Olga Prinku (previously) designs intricate embroideries that explode with natural colors and textures. The artist embraces experimentation at a large scale, challenging the traditionally more intimate surfaces of embroidery.

In addition to blooms and leaves, Prinku has recently focused on branches in a new series called Graft. Using primarily silver birch, she describes the works as “a reference to the horticultural process of transferring twigs from one setting to another but also a nod to the slang meaning of ‘hard work’—it takes a lot of time and patience!”

Prinku’s embroideries are currently on view in a group exhibition at Contemporary Applied Arts in London through November 18, and a piece selected for the SCAF Emerging Artist Award is on view until January at Lawrence Batley Theatre Gallery. She is currently working toward a major exhibition for Hidcote in the Cotswolds next year. Find more on her website, and follow her on Instagram for updates.

 

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