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Magic and Mystery Illuminate Hari & Deepti’s Paper-Cut Dioramas

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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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  • 113 Shares27 Views

    in Art

    Magic and Mystery Illuminate Hari & Deepti’s Paper-Cut Dioramas

    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”

    Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.

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    Save your favorite articles

    Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop

    Receive members-only newsletter

    Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms

    Join us today!

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    Psychedelic Distortions and Glitches Streak Across Alexis Mata’s Bold Paintings

    All images courtesy of Alexis Mata and The Hole, shared with permission

    Psychedelic Distortions and Glitches Streak Across Alexis Mata’s Bold Paintings

    December 20, 2024

    Art

    Grace Ebert

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    From digital glitches to mind-bending distortions, Mexico City-based artist Alexis Mata is interested in how visual information gets lost or skewed as it shifts from one context to another. In his oil paintings, bouquets and vast desert landscapes spread across the canvas as if melting or stretching into unrecognizable forms. “When your eyes look too long at the same thing, your mind makes the change,” he shares.

    Mata excavates the relationship between analog and digital realms, and his process incorporates both modes of artmaking. Preliminary sketches fill notebooks that travel everywhere the artist does, while he continually snaps photos and records video as references.

    AI experiments help Mata better translate the strange, disorienting outcomes that these rapidly evolving tools can produce. But his research isn’t just visual. “I enjoy experimenting by writing poems or haikus in AI and seeing what emerges. It’s an exploratory process,” he notes.

    Rendered in bold color palettes, the trippy paintings draw connections between digital mishaps and the ways our brains warp an image, whether in moments of intense focus, dream states, or with the help of hallucinatory substances. “I like to think that entire worlds are created within dreams, and these worlds ask to be brought into the light,” he says.

    Many of the paintings shown here are on view in Fata Morgana through January 25 at The Hole in Tribeca. Explore more of Mata’s work, which spans stained glass and textiles to drawing and sculpture, on his website and Instagram.

    Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.

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  • 113 Shares36 Views

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    MonkeyBird’s Majestic Murals Bend Time Through Elaborately Stenciled Compositions

    Detail of “Le Présage,” Metz, France (2023). All images courtesy of MonkeyBird, shared with permission

    MonkeyBird’s Majestic Murals Bend Time Through Elaborately Stenciled Compositions

    December 19, 2024

    Art

    Grace Ebert

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    For more than a decade, French artists Louis Boidron and Édouard Egea have been collaborating as MonkeyBird (previously). The pair are known for their large-scale stenciled murals rich with symbolism, architectural structures, and elaborate motifs, many of which reach for timeless themes related to human emotion, experience, and the inevitability of change.

    “The Arch of Peace” is one of their most recent pieces and transforms the facade of an Aarhus building into a monumental homage to peace and justice. Commissioned for the 17 Walls Project, the mural draws on one of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals to create a more inclusive and resilient future.

    “The Arch Of Peace,” Aarhus, Denmark (2024)

    “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose origins lie in France, served as our central inspiration,” the artists shared. “We reinterpreted the ornamental framework of the original engraving: angels, arches, and colonnades symbolize the moral pillars essential for stability in a constantly changing world.”

    As is typical in a MonkeyBird mural, two anthropomorphized creatures donning robes stand at the center of the composition, guarding a library based on that of Trinity College Dublin. “Their attributes of power and intellect take on true meaning only when guided by reason and ethics,” the artists add.

    Similarly mythic and majestic figures appear in a pair of murals in Fontainebleau and Metz, France, the latter of which features an avian creature holding an hourglass high in the air. Titled “Le Présage,” or “The Omen,” the piece directly points to the artist’s interest in the passage of time and collapsing the boundaries between past, present, and future.

    In February, the pair will join the Montgomery Art Project in Alabama to create a mural and immersive installation of their papercuts. If you’re local, keep an eye out for opportunities to participate in one of MonkeyBird’s workshops, which will engage the community in cutting their stencils and creating public paste-ups. Until then, pick up a print in their shop, and follow their latest projects on Instagram.

    “Le Présage,” Metz, France (2023)

    Detail of “The Arch Of Peace,” Aarhus, Denmark (2024)

    Fontainebleau, France (2023)

    Aubervilliers, France (2022)

    Fontainebleau, France (2023)

    Fontainebleau, France (2023)

    Fontainebleau, France (2023)

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  • 163 Shares30 Views

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    Coiled Fishing Rope Sculptures by Joana Schneider Twist Organic Shapes into Otherworldly Forms

    “Healing Blossom” (2023). Photos by Pearl Sijmons, courtesy of the artist, shared with permission

    Coiled Fishing Rope Sculptures by Joana Schneider Twist Organic Shapes into Otherworldly Forms

    December 19, 2024

    Art

    Grace Ebert

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    When Joana Schneider moved to The Hague, she began to visit the beach regularly. Having spent her childhood in Munich, the sea was a novel and a fruitful source of inspiration. Soon, the fishermen working in the harbor caught her eye.

    “There was something so intriguing about their world, which seemed to straddle this line between rugged labor and delicate artistry,” Schneider tells Colossal. “They were using knotting techniques, traditionally seen as feminine and delicate, but on a much larger scale, with heavy-duty ropes.”

    “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” (2024)

    The artist quickly connected what the anglers created with the traditions of textile art and began to source their leftover rope. Now based on KNSM Island in Amsterdam, Schneider continues to utilize the mariner material in her large-scale sculptures. “I spend days untangling the nets before I can start working with them. Then, I dry the ropes in the sun, which gives them this oceanic scent,” she adds.

    Once desiccated, the materials often become the structure for thin, colorful yarn the artist wraps around the strands. The finished works are sometimes abstract and others boldly figurative, portraying exaggerated facial features in coiled, hand-stitched patchwork.

    The process is labor-intensive, but the slow, methodical movements are part of what Schneider is drawn to. “Each turn of the yarn around the rope is a quiet, focused act. There is something very grounding about it. The rhythm of wrapping, the gentle tension of the yarn, and the soft texture of the fibers create a peaceful space where the world outside seems to fade away,” she says. The resulting works retain evidence of this meticulous process as coils large and small swell outward in perfectly concentric circles.

    Currently, Schneider is working toward a solo exhibition titled Otherworldly that will open in April at the Groniger Museum in The Netherlands. Blurring the line between the real and the fantastic, the project draws on the artist’s fascination with hybridity and includes a performative element, a harbinger of where her practice is headed. She shares:

    When I think of the natural world, I often think of the Renaissance tradition of grotesque art. It fascinates me how, in that period, artists mixed human, animal, and plant forms in intricate ways…The result is a hybrid environment that is at once familiar and alien. That is something I try to achieve in my work, a sense of wonder and a bit of disorientation as if stepping into a place where the boundaries of the natural world are deliberately blurred.

    Schneider’s sculptures are currently on view at the FITE Textile Biennial in Clermont-Ferrand, France, and will be included in a 2025 group exhibition at König Galerie in Munich. Until then, find more of her work on her website and Instagram.

    “Sugarfly” (2024)

    Detail of “Sugarfly” (2024)

    “Freckles” (2022)

    Detail of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” (2024)

    Light Child” (2023)

    Detail of “Light Child” (2023)

    “The Good Farmer” (2023)

    “Red and Blue Iris Wave” series (2022). Photo by Pim Top

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  • 125 Shares40 Views

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    Döppel Studio’s ‘Néophore’ Vessels Illuminate Ancient Pottery Traditions with Neon

    Photos by Ophélie Maurus. All images courtesy of Döppel Studio and ToolsGalerie, shared with permission

    Döppel Studio’s ‘Néophore’ Vessels Illuminate Ancient Pottery Traditions with Neon

    December 18, 2024

    ArtCraftDesign

    Kate Mothes

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    In ancient Greece, amphorae were commonly used for carrying or storing liquids and grains like wine, oil, or cereal. A narrow neck and a large, oval body were easily moved with handles on each side. For Paris-based Döppel Studio, a collaboration between Lionel Dinis Salazar and Jonathan Omar, a millennia-old form inspires a contemporary collection.

    Néophore is a series of terracotta and enamel vessels intersected with looping, handle-like tubes of glowing neon. Situated between sculpture, vessel, and lamp, the series takes a sophisticated yet playful approach to the relationship between form and function.

    Salazar and Omar teamed up with ceramicist Aliénor Martineau, who specializes in mineral-based natural glazes, to customize a reflective enamel that would come alive under the light. Find more on Döppel Studio’s website, and if you’re in Paris, you can see Néophore at ToolsGalerie through January 11.

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  • 175 Shares47 Views

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    Tropical Birds Burst to Life in the Intricate Paper Cutouts of ‘The Parrot Project’

    All images courtesy of The Paper Ark, shared with permission

    Tropical Birds Burst to Life in the Intricate Paper Cutouts of ‘The Parrot Project’

    December 18, 2024

    ArtCraftNature

    Kate Mothes

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    The Paper Ark, a collaboration between Nayan Shrimali and Venus Bird (previously), celebrates the diverse beauty of our planet’s wildlife. In The Parrot Project, a new series of intricate paper-cut pieces, the striking creatures take center stage in vivid color.

    “This series focuses on the vibrant beauty of parrots and their contribution to the ecosystem,” say the Ahmedabad, India-based artists, who created 40 different species during the course of one year. Each piece is meticulously hand-cut and painted, realistically depicting the feathered beings.

    The Paper Ark’s collection captures the vibrancy of myriad tropical avian varieties, from the bright blue, yellow, and red of the macaw to the dramatic flash of color in the red-tailed black cockatoo.

    “We want our audience to not just appreciate the beauty of this wonderful species but also understand its importance in nature,” the pair says. Ten percent of proceeds from sales of this series will be donated to a parrot conservation organization.

    See more on The Paper Ark’s website and Behance, and follow updates on Instagram.

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  • 113 Shares88 Views

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    Guadalupe Maravilla’s Volcanic Rock Sculptures Invoke Resilience and Regeneration

    “Dream Backpack 1” (2023), volcanic rock and objects collected from a ritual of
    retracing the artist’s original migration route, 16 1/4 x 12 1/4 x 4 1/2 inches. All photos by JSP Art Photography, courtesy of Guadalupe Maravilla and P·P·O·W, shared with permission

    Guadalupe Maravilla’s Volcanic Rock Sculptures Invoke Resilience and Regeneration

    December 13, 2024

    Art

    Grace Ebert

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    With the region’s smallest geographic footprint, El Salvador boasts the second-highest number of volcanos in Central America. The country is located on the Ring of Fire, a tectonic band that encircles the Pacific Ocean and houses about two-thirds of all volcanos worldwide. Given its eruptive landscape, much of the soil is rich in ash.

    In a series of sculptures, Guadalupe Maravilla (previously) draws on his home country as he sculpts backpacks and enlarged hands from volcanic rock. The works reference the artist’s migration from civil war-era El Salvador as an unaccompanied minor, a traumatic journey that remains a central theme in his practice.

    “Luz y Fuerza” (2024), oil on volcanic rock, 14 x 14 x 4 inches

    A trio of pieces, titled Dream Backpacks, refers to “how we immigrate to the U.S. by land and carry everything we own in a backpack in search of the American Dream,” Maravilla writes in a statement. Embellished with pink, purple, and blue paints, the poignant works display a variety of charms—feathers, a small cat figure, and metal details like a spigot—the artist collected while retracing his childhood route.

    Other works take the form of a burly hand cradling smooth shapes featuring pieces redolent of retablos, small devotional paintings often invoking protection during times of hardship. Lightning bolts, stars, and snakes recur throughout the compositions, along with references to the artist’s colon cancer diagnosis, which he has long linked to the trauma he suffered as a child.

    December 12 is special to Maravilla and titles one recent work featuring linked wishbones, crystals, and the children’s rhyme “Sana, sana, colita de rana,” which translates to “heal, heal, little frog’s tail.” As Maravilla shares on Instagram, “On 12/12/12 I found out I had cancer. 12/12/13 I overcame cancer. Today, I am starting a new chapter 12/12/24 with a special meditation.” Similarly, a cake with a “0” candle appears in “Luz y Fuerza,” which resembles a pastry the artist once used to celebrate both his birthday and what he considers his rebirth as cancer-free.

    Citing resilience amid struggle, Maravilla’s sculptures call on healing and regeneration. Volcanic ash, after all, is one of the most potent natural fertilizers and a key factor in sparking new growth.

    Maravilla is represented by P·P·O·W Gallery in New York, where you can find more of his work.

    “12/12/24” (2024), oil on volcanic rock, 13 3/8 x 13 3/8 x 4 1/8 inches

    “Dream Backpack 3” (2023), volcanic rock and objects collected from a ritual ofretracing the artist’s original migration route, 16 1/4 x 12 x 4 3/4 inches

    “Self Love” (2024), oil on volcanic rock, 13 3/8 x 13 3/4 x 4 7/8 inches

    “Heal Seven Years Back” (2024), oil on volcanic rock, 13 3/8 x 13 3/4 x 5 1/2 inches

    “Dream Backpack 2” (2023), volcanic rock and objects collected from a ritual of retracing the artist’s original migration route, 16 1/2 x 12 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches

    “Sana 7 Años Atras” (2024), oil on volcanic rock, 14 1/8 x 14 x 4 3/4 inches

    “Si No Sanas Hoy Sanarás Mañana” (2024), oil on volcanic rock, 13 3/8 x 14 1/8 x 4 3/8 inches

    “Sana Sana Colita de Rana” (2024), oil on volcanic rock, 14 1/8 x 13 3/4 x 4 7/8 inches

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  • 63 Shares74 Views

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    Our Favorite Stories of 2024

    All images © Todd Antony, shared with permission

    Our Favorite Stories of 2024

    December 13, 2024

    ArtColossalHistoryPhotographySocial Issues

    Colossal

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    As we look back at the hundreds of remarkable initiatives, artworks, discoveries, and events we’ve chronicled throughout 2024, we’re continually awed by the creative work we’re able to write about everyday. It’s a privilege to be able to share so much creativity with you, and we thought we’d compile a list of our favorites.

    Below, you’ll find eight picks—two from each of us—that showcase just a few of the remarkable projects we published over the past twelve months. Many of these articles impart deeper context, delve into personal experiences through interviews, and highlight important stories that may have flown under the radar.

    You might also enjoy our readers’ choice top articles of the year and Colossal’s favorite books of 2024. Happy reading!

    —Christopher, Grace, Kate, and Jackie

    Image © Irina Werning

    Jackie’s Pick: In ‘Las Pelilargas,’ Irina Werning Celebrates the Impeccably Long Hair of Latin American Women and Girls

    For the last 17 years, Irina Werning has traveled throughout Latin America photographing women and girls for her ongoing series, Las Pelilargas, or The Longhairs. Shot in color and black and white, the portraits document a distinct cultural practice through an incredibly alluring, even surreal lens.

    L.V. Hull at her home in Kosciusko, Mississippi, in 2002. Photo by Bruce West. Image courtesy of the L.V. Hull Legacy Center

    Grace’s Pick: The Home Studio of the Late Artist L.V. Hull Is Added to the National Register of Historic Places

    Kosciusko is a small town in the center of Mississippi with just under 7,000 residents. Known as the birthplace of Oprah Winfrey, Kosciusko was also home to the late artist L.V. Hull (1942–2008) who devoted her life to painting and assembling found objects.

    Ellie Hannon works on one of her paintings on the aft deck during sunset on the Timor Sea around Ashmore Reef. Images © Schmidt Ocean Institute

    Kate’s Pick: Art and Science Set Sail in Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Artist-at-Sea Program

    “There are many ways to tell a story or to document and share research and discoveries,” says artist Ellie Hannon, one of 54 artists who have embarked on a unique residency organized by the Schmidt Ocean Institute. From slip-cast porcelain and painting to 3D printing and virtual reality, the storytelling possibilities are endless in the Artist-at-Sea program, which invites artists to work alongside scientists on weeks-long expeditions into some of the least-explored areas of our oceans. More