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“American Crow” (2025),
acrylic on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. All images courtesy of Vasilisa Romanenko and Arch Enemy Arts, shared with permissionVasilisa Romanenko’s Lush Portraits Wrap Common Birds in Decadent Patterns
March 11, 2025
ArtNature
Grace Ebert
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Beauty and nature’s resilience are at the core of Vasilisa Romanenko’s work. The Connecticut-based artist paints faithful depictions of common yet dignified birds amid clusters of fruits and flowers, exploring the power of opulence in times of upheaval.
A stately crow poses amid rust-colored roses, a great blue heron poses amid clusters of tangerines and lilies, and a small warbler perches amid pink poppies. Referencing the defiantly decorative works of English textile designer William Morris (1834–1896), Romanenko embraces the entrancing nature of decadent patterns.
“Great Blue Heron” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 22 x 28 inches
“I want my work to feel like an escape from everyday life, like taking a moment to be still and appreciate nature,” she says about her solo exhibition, BIRDS & BLOOMS, at Arch Enemy Arts. Enveloped by flora at full bloom, the winged subjects exude a sense of calm and strength as they perch and prepare for their next flight.
BIRDS & BLOOMS is on view through March 30 in Philadelphia. Find more from Romanenko on her website and Instagram.
“Northern Mockingbird” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 11 x 14 inches
“Black-capped Chickadee” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 5 x 7 inches
“Orange-crowned Warbler” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 5 x 7 inches
“Dark-eyed Juncos” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 9 x 12 inches
“Palm Warbler” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 8 x 10 inches
“Brewer’s Blackbird” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 9 x 12 inches
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Art#architecture
#cameras
#Jeff Bartels
#oil painting
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#surrealOctober 5, 2022
Grace Ebert More
Detail of “Breathing Caprice A,” paint on Torreya, 135 x 75 x 55 centimeters. All images courtesy of the artist and FUMA Contemporary Tokyo, shared with permission
Yoshitoshi Kanemaki’s Sculptures Sport Kaleidoscopic Expressions in Their Search for a ‘True Self’
September 2, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
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Yoshitoshi Kanemaki is no stranger to human emotions, imbuing his playful sculptures with not one but several expressions all at once. The Tokyo-based artist is known for his “glitched” sculptures carved from single pieces of timber, and in his ongoing current series Prism, he continues to explore the nature of distortion, reflection, and self-consciousness.
Insight Prism, the artist’s solo exhibition opening at FUMA Contemporary this month, combines two concepts the artist dovetails in his chiseled-wood compositions.
“Insight Prism,” paint on Japanese nutmeg and katsura, 170 x 72 x 67 centimeters
“The word ‘insight’ carries the meaning of seeing into the essence of things with clarity, while ‘prism’ metaphorically refers to elucidating what is complex,” Kanemaki says. Through a fragmented triangular motif, he highlights warped features that refract, separate, and reassemble—much like the ever-evolving nature of human consciousness and social interactions.
Insight Prism marks the artist’s first solo exhibition in two years, presenting the largest sculpture he’s yet created in the Prism series—the namesake of the show. Kanemaki delves into the multiple roles we all play in our daily lives, switching between different versions of ourselves to contend with different situations or environments. He says:
While such shifts can be seen as a necessary social manner to keep life running smoothly, there are times when we lose the vision of our “true self.”… The idea for my new sculptures began with the question: What might the form of searching for one’s “true self” look like?
Insight Prism opens on September 12 and continues through September 27 in Tokyo. Find more on the artist’s Instagram.
“Breathing Caprice A,” paint on Torreya, 135 x 75 x 55 centimeters
Detail of “Insight Prism”
“Reflection Prism,” paint on Torreya, 170 x 53 x 51 centimeters
Detail of “Reflection Prism”
“Ulala Caprice 3rd,” paint on Japanese nutmeg and camphor wood, 100 x 34 x 34 centimeters
Detail of “Ulala Caprice 3rd”
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