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All images © Tùng Nâm, shared with permission
Felines Evoke ‘A Floating World’ in Tùng Nâm’s Whimsical Illustrations
February 19, 2025
ArtIllustration
Kate Mothes
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Accompanied by delicate insects and social betta fish, the cats in Tùng Nâm’s illustrations (previously) alternate between curiosity, serenity, friskiness, and determination. The artist portrays a diversity of feline natures, merging their likenesses with flowers, waves, foliage, and clouds.
Nâm’s characters are playfully anthropomorphized, donning patterned kimonos and hair ornaments. The series emerged organically from practice sketches of flowers in the ukiyo-e style.
“I felt like it was missing something, so I tried to add a cat as the protagonist,” Nâm tells Colossal. “Somehow it still doesn’t feel right, so I think of adding a companion—fishes, butterfly, dragonfly—like they were encountering each other in a specific moment.” Fittingly, he called the series An encounter.
An accompanying collection, A Floating World, takes further inspiration from the genre, directly referencing the Japanese word ukiyo. The term describes a hedonistic lifestyle in Edo—now called Tokyo—in the 1600s, spawning a style of art that captured the mood and interests of the period. Famed artists like Hokusai or Hiroshige focused on woodblock printing and painting to represent scenes from history, folk tales, kabuki actors, flora and fauna, landscapes, and more.
For Nâm, ukiyo-e provides the starting point for exploring a range of subject matter. He’s currently exploring ideas for further illustrations that incorporate different animals and visual cultures.
Find more on the artist’s Behance and Instagram.
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All photos by Christopher Jobson, courtesy of Joy Machine, shared with permission
70+ Artists Transform Matchboxes for Joy Machine’s ‘General Strike’
November 13, 2025
ArtPartner
Joy Machine
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Joy Machine is excited to present General Strike, an exhibition of 70+ matchboxes, opening on November 21 in Chicago.
What does solidarity mean for the artist? Or, what can art do in a time of crisis? The concept of a general strike is appealing to many advocates and activists because, in the face of oppression or inequality, it’s one of the few options available to the general public. General strikes are sometimes thought of as the “people’s veto,” and for the un-unionized among us, are less about joining our colleagues on the picket lines and more a call for solidarity. They ask us to pinpoint our strengths and identify how our skills can best be of use.
Christina Keith
Writing about the need and dream of solidarity, activist and novelist Sarah Schulman describes recognition, risk, and creativity as the essential tools in harnessing “the people power necessary to reach the tipping point that transforms lives and, in the most extreme conditions of brutality, actually saves lives.” For artists, these three tenets–recognition, risk, and creativity–are often already the building blocks of a practice. Discerning eyes and trenchant observations, personal sacrifices and provocative positions, combined with a wealth of imagination, are evident in both the studio and the streets. Artists are in many ways world-builders, helping to illuminate what’s previously gone unnoticed or otherwise been thought impossible.
In General Strike, we witness more than 70 approaches to a singular object: a large, wooden matchbox. Containing purple-tipped matchsticks, these vessels of potential display a wide array of mediums and methodologies offered by artists across North America. While some revel in whimsy, beauty, and the pleasures of life, others direct us toward bold, decisive action. All, in their own ways, speak to an innate impulse to transform something simple into another thing entirely.
Like any crisis, whether tangible or of conscience, what’s required is a variety of responses, the best of which fan the flames of courage and ultimately insist on our shared humanity. The particularities of such approaches–and those stoking their creation–are what make this fight worthwhile, especially when we’re all striking together.
A portion of the proceeds from all work sold in General Strike will be donated to the ACLU. RSVP to the opening reception.
Andrew Hem
Barry Hazard
Stevie Shao
Graham Franciose
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“Reef.” Photo by Alexandre Vazquez, © Michelangelo Foundation. All images courtesy of Josh Gluckstein, shared with permission
Josh Gluckstein Crafts a Teeming Reef from Recycled Cardboard
September 24, 2024
Art Nature
Kate Mothes
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For the past four years, London-based artist Josh Gluckstein has highlighted the potential of an everyday material—recycled cardboard—to bring animal sculptures to life (previously). In his most recent piece, “Reef,” he expands on individual portraits to create a meticulously detailed two-and-a-half-meter-tall marine habitat teeming with a variety of fish and coral.
“I fell in love with scuba diving ten years ago and was amazed that there was an entirely new world to discover underwater,” Gluckstein says. “I wanted to bring that experience to life on dry land.”
Photo by Alexandre Vazquez, © Michelangelo Foundation
Gluckstein was invited to participate in Homo Faber 2024 in Venice, which this year traces the theme, “The Journey of Life.” Among the work of more than 400 artisans from around the world, “Reef” is Gluckstein’s most ambitious piece to date, featuring more than 50 different marine species.
Sea turtles, an octopus, clown fish, and a blue spotted ray are among the creatures that swim around a column of coral. “The piece celebrates the wonder and rich biodiversity of our oceans, while raising awareness for the fragility of—and challenges facing—our marine life,” Gluckstein says.
Homo Faber 2024 continues through September 30. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.
You might also enjoy Ghost Net Collective’s marine animal sculptures made from the salvaged ocean waste that endangers them.
Photo by Alexandre Vazquez, © Michelangelo Foundation
Photo by Alexandre Vazquez, © Michelangelo Foundation
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