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Art
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Nature#installation
#Laura Ellen Bacon
#sculpture
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#weavingJuly 3, 2024
Jackie Andres More
Detail of “Through the Groves.” All images courtesy of Heron Arts, shared with permission
Magic and Mystery Illuminate Hari & Deepti’s Paper-Cut Dioramas
December 20, 2024
Art
Grace Ebert
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For more than a decade, we’ve been following the intricate dioramas by Hari & Deepti (previously). The Mumbai-based husband and wife are known for their elaborate narratives of cut and layered paper, which they tuck inside frames and backlight with soft LEDs. In recent years, the duo has gravitated toward tiny, delicate patterns while making the overall scenes more minimal.
Their new exhibition, Forgotten Places of Beings and Things, opens today at Heron Arts in San Francisco and presents a collection of enchanting works. Minuscule figures navigate lush woodlands and windswept dunes that, when illuminated, appear like worlds of magic and intrigue.
“The Walk to Two Ponds”
“What amazes us about the paper-cut light boxes is the dichotomy of these pieces in their lit and unlit states. The contrast is so stark that it has this mystical effect on the viewers,” the artists say.
Forgotten Places of Beings and Things is on view through January 25. Hari & Deepti recently published an illustrated children’s book titled The Seekers, and you can follow the latest in their collaborative practice on Instagram.
“The Stories They Told Us”
“Through the Wind Swept Field”
“A Forest Structure”
“Time Keepers 1”
Detail of “A Forest Structure”
“Under the Vine Forest”
“Under the Vine Forest”
Detail of “It Passes and We Stay”
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Art#butterflies
#murals
#public art
#street art
#trompe l’oeilOctober 15, 2020
Grace EbertTorino, Italy. All images © Mantra, shared with permission
Working with entomologists around the globe, the French street artist known as Mantra (previously) transforms brick facades and concrete walls into massive studies of local butterfly specimens. With framed outer edges that mimic a wooden box, the trompe l’oeil murals render the winged insects in detail, depicting their richly hued scales and delicate antennae. Each artwork features species native to the area, making it possible that a live specimen might flutter by its enormous counterpart.
In a conversation with Colossal, Mantra said he’s harbored a lifelong fascination with entomology that stems from spending hours in French gardens and bucolic areas as a kid. “As a child, I was interested, curious, and focused on the small life forms in those places,” he says. His current practice hearkens back to those carefree hours and connects with an adolescent desire to become a naturalist. “My approach is as a scientist,” the artist says, noting that education about environmental care and issues is part of the goal.
Although Mantra considers all insects and natural life beautiful and crucial to maintaining biodiversity, the focus on butterflies revolves around his artistic ambitions because the vivid creatures allow him to experiment with color, shape, and texture. Each specimen is rendered freehand before the artist adds detail and the illusory shadows that make them appear three-dimensional. By painting various Lepidoptera species again and again, the artist is “repeating a mantra,” a detail of his practice that informs the moniker he works under.
In recent months, Mantra has traveled to Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden, in addition to various locations throughout France, to complete public artworks, and he’ll be in Arkansas this month for two projects curated by Just Kids. Follow all of the artist’s entomological murals on Instagram.Rombas, France
Cancún, Mexico. Image by Gino Caballero
Silkeborg, Denmark
Las Vegas, Nevada
Dijon, France
Jacksonville, Florida
Brooklyn, New York
Dallas, Texas. Image by Chop’ em Down
Overum, Sweden
Indianapolis, Indiana
Cancún, Mexico. Image by Gino Caballero
Torino, Italy. Image by Martha Cooper#butterflies
#murals
#public art
#street art
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