Aurelia Butler

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    Colorful Glazes Coat Exquisite Vessels Sculpted with Smooth Sloping Porcelain

    
    Art
    Craft

    #ceramics
    #porcelain
    #vessels

    May 24, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Sophie Cook, shared with permission. Photo by Josephine Cottrell for Maud and Mabel
    Sophie Cook sculpts delicate porcelain into teardrops, bottles, and pods with swollen bases and long bowed necks. Often evoking the colors of the Suffolk landscape surrounding her studio, the elegant vessels have smooth exteriors coated in matte and glossy glazes that range from coral to graphite and sage. The pieces vary in height and width and are designed to be displayed in groups as “a three-dimensional still life,” she says in a statement.
    Cook’s practice is meticulous and regimented—watch the short video below to see her at the wheel—and frequently results in loss, which she describes:
    Every piece is a challenge to make as porcelain is such a fluid medium on the wheel. I throw four pieces a day, which are left to dry for two days and are then carved to refine the shape. Once sprayed they dry for a week. It is an incredibly delicate process. Rarely, if ever, do all four pieces survive the carving and firing processes.
    Browse available vessels in Cook’s shop, and follow her work on Instagram.

    Photo by Layton Thompson for Ceramic Review
    Photo by Josephine Cottrell for Maud and Mabel
    Photo by Josephine Cottrell for Maud and Mabel

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    #ceramics
    #porcelain
    #vessels

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    Color-Changing Canopies Glow with LED Lights in a Fantastical Meadow in San Francisco

    
    Art

    #installation
    #LED lights
    #light
    #trees

    May 24, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    “Entwined Meadow” at Golden Gate Park. All images © Charles Gadeken, shared with permission. Photo by Allen Mort
    Charles Gadeken’s “Entwined Meadow” converted an outdoor greenspace at Golden Gate Park into an enchanted grove of color-changing light. Branching 30 feet across in thick canopies, three metal trees and scattered shrubbery populated the whimsical garden that merged nature and technology to create an otherworldly environment. Thousands of flickering LED cubes topped the plant forms, which stood as high as 20 feet, casting Park Meadow in a kaleidoscopic glow.
    “Entwined Meadow” recently closed at the San Francisco space, although Gadeken says the installation might make another appearance at the location in the future. See more views of the illuminated project, in addition to an archive of the Bay Area artist’s light-based works, on Instagram.

    Photo by Jason Chinn
    Photo by Jonathan Condit
    Photo by Jason Chinn

    #installation
    #LED lights
    #light
    #trees

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    Sculptural Portraits Fashion Raw Wool into Expressive Figures by Salman Khoshroo

    
    Art

    #portraits
    #sculpture
    #wool

    May 24, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Salman Khoshroo, shared with permission
    Iranian artist Salman Khoshroo (previously) continues his wool portraiture series with dozens of new sculptural works. Chunky, dyed rovings stretch and curl into facial features, beards, and coifs that pair the supple shape and color of the raw materials with a unique expression.
    This nuanced set expands on the original collection he created last year in response to quarantine and personal trauma, although they deviate with more stable and durable structures and new materials like velvet and synthetic fur. Khoshroo describes this evolved process as therapeutic and indicative of wide-spread change:
    Weaving inanimate fibers into faces has brought me comfort and helped with overcoming my own experience of contracting the virus. These portraits are delicate and vulnerable and resonate with my own precarious situation. We live in fragile times, and I feel the need to find new materials and the mindset to reinvent my practice. Wool brings warmth and intimacy to these portraits and plays with provoking the nurture instinct.
    In addition to shaping unspun wool into the portraits shown here, Khoshroo also has been creating full busts with the natural fiber along with sculptures made of foam paint, all of which you can see on his site and Instagram.

    #portraits
    #sculpture
    #wool

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    An Expansive Exhibition Pairs Two Indigenous Artists to Explore the Power of Socially Engaged Artmaking

    
    Art

    #animals
    #collaborative
    #found objects
    #installation
    #portraits
    #sculpture

    May 21, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    “Each/Other,” (2021) about 700 bandannas, approximately 16 x 9 feet, a collaboration between Marie Watt and Cannupa Hanska Luger
    A monumental patchwork wolf, warriors sparring with a fang-bearing snake, and an abstract woolen tapestry made of restored blankets comprise Each/Other: Marie Watt and Cannupa Hanska Luger, which opens this weekend at the Denver Art Museum. The expansive exhibition—featuring 26 mixed-media sculptures, installations, and wall hangings—joins two of the leading Indigenous artists working today in a manner that distinguishes both the connective threads and nuances within their bodies of work.
    Situated at the center of the space is the 16-foot creature the pair created together by fashioning about 700 patterned bandannas submitted by an international crew around a steel armature. The collaborative installation, titled “Each/Other,” physically tethers Watt’s and Luger’s individual artworks while drawing on the socially engaged aspects inherent to both of their practices.

    Cannupa Hanska Luger, “Every One” (2018), ceramic, social collaboration, 12 x 15 x 3 feet. Image courtesy of Marie Walsh Sharpe Gallery of Contemporary Art at Ent Center for the Arts, UCCS, Colorado Springs, Colorado
    Based in New Mexico, Luger is a multi-media artist of Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota, and European descent whose projects often speak to contemporary life within Indigenous communities. For example, his 2018 piece “Every One” strings together 4,096 ceramic beads into a pixelated portrait of a young figure. Each individual orb represents one of the women, girls, and queer and trans folks who have been murdered or gone missing in Canada.
    Watt, who is a member of the Seneca Nation and has Scottish and German heritage, utilizes everyday objects steeped in historical narratives and collective memory. Whether presented through leaning, stacked towers or smaller wall hangings, the Portland-based artist primarily works with materials gathered from the community, like blankets stitched in sewing circles.
    Following the end of its run in Denver on August 22, Each/Other will visit the Michael C. Carlos Museum in Atlanta from September 25 to December 12, 2021, and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem from January 29 to May 8, 2022. Find out more about Luger and Watt on their sites.

    Marie Watt (Seneca), “Butterfly” (2015), reclaimed wool blankets, satin binding, thread, cotton twill tape, and tin jingles, 94 x 126 inches. Image © Marie Watt
    Cannupa Hanska Luger, “This Is Not A Snake” (2017-2020), ceramic, fiber, steel, oil drums, concertina wire, ammunition cans, trash, found objects, 78 x 36 x 600 inches. “The One Who Checks & The One Who Balances” (2018), ceramic, riot gear, afghan, wool surplus industrial felt, beadwork by Kathy Elkwoman Whitman; 6-1/2 feet x 12 inches x 8 inches (each, approximate). Image © Cannupa Hanska Luger, courtesy of the Heard Museum, Craig Smith
    Marie Watt “Companion Species (Radiant)” (2017), crystal and western maple base, 8 x 27 x 16 inches. Image © Marie Watt and Kevin McConnell. Made in collaboration with Jeff Mack, Glassblower, and Corning Museum of Glass Hot Glass Team in Partnership with the Rockwell Museum, Corning, New York
    Cannupa Hanska Luger “Mirror Shield Project” (2016), drone operation/performance organization by Rory Wakemup., at Oceti Sakowin camp, Standing Rock, North Dakota

    #animals
    #collaborative
    #found objects
    #installation
    #portraits
    #sculpture

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    ‘Banksy Graffitied Walls and Wasn’t Sorry’ Is a Cleverly Illustrated Book Introducing Kids to the Elusive Artist

    
    Art
    Illustration

    #books
    #kids
    #street art

    May 21, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    All images courtesy of Phaidon
    Banksy Graffitied Walls and Wasn’t Sorry introduces the life and work of the anonymous street artist to some of the youngest readers. The 48-page book is cleverly written as a plainspoken autobiography, detailing both Banksy’s aesthetic sensibilities and surveying his decades-long career, including references to Dismaland, his “Better Out Than In” residency in New York, signature rats, and the subversive, overtly political messages of his pieces and antics. Illustrated in Fausto Gilberti’s whimsical style, the largely black-and-white drawings are playful and humorous and contextualize Banky’s profound impact and mysterious, unapologetic reputation in a manner fit for kids.
    Published by Phaidon, Banksy Graffitied Walls and Wasn’t Sorry is Gilberti’s fourth in a series exploring the legacies of some of the most well-known artists, including Yayoi Kusama, Jackson Pollock, and Yves Klein. Shop the complete collection on Bookshop. (via Kottke)

    #books
    #kids
    #street art

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    New Articulate Cardboard Sculptures by Greg Olijnyk Populate Miniature Worlds of Fantasy and Science Fiction

    
    Art
    Craft

    #cardboard
    #insects
    #light
    #robots
    #science fiction
    #sculpture

    May 20, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    “DvG 2.0.” All images by Griffin Simm, © Greg Olijnyk, shared with permission
    An eerie pair of buildings, a jet-powered dragonfly, and a sci-fi-inspired retelling of David and Goliath complete with an oversized robot and samurai comprise the latest cardboard sculptures by Greg Olijnyk (previously). Fully articulate and outfitted with LED lights and glass where necessary, the extraordinarily detailed works are futuristic, slightly dystopic, and part of larger world-building narratives. The architectural constructions, for example, are “the start of a series of pieces exploring the fear, fascination, and curiosity aroused by the stranger in our midst. The weird presence out of place. The building of unknown purpose with no windows and with lights flickering at night,” he says. “What’s going on in there?”
    Olijnyk is based in Melbourne and shares works-in-progress and more photos of the machine-like sculptures shown here on his Instagram.

    “DvG 2.0”
    Detail of “DvG 2.0”
    “Dragonfly Bot”
    “The New Neighbours,” 80 x 75 x 30 centimeters
    “The New Neighbours,” 80 x 75 x 30 centimeters
    Detail of “The New Neighbours,” 80 x 75 x 30 centimeters
    Detail of “Dragonfly Bot”
    “Dragonfly Bot”

    #cardboard
    #insects
    #light
    #robots
    #science fiction
    #sculpture

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    Coronavirus Satirically Tops Kitsch Figurines Sculpted with Porcelain

    
    Art

    #ceramics
    #COVID-19
    #porcelain
    #satire

    May 20, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    “Holland” (2021). All images © Chrystl Rijkeboer, shared with permission
    Artist Chrystl Rijkeboer contemporizes sentimental porcelain figurines with a present-day twist: spiky COVID-19 molecules obscure the characters’ facial features, rendering the largely wealthy and ornately dressed figures both anonymous and commonplace in modern contexts.
    Whether posing for a portrait or mid-curtesy, Rijkeboer’s pieces satirize the long-crafted Meissen figurines, which have been in production since the 18th Century and often romanticize an antiquated world “where women do not represent any relevance but being nice and glamourous,” she tells Colossal. “For me, it is mostly about the position as a woman and an artist. The pandemic made it quite clear that artists are the first to be labeled as unnecessary.”
    Living and working in Haarlem, The Netherlands, Rijkeboer has crafted an extensive COVID-themed collection, which includes ubiquities like Zoom calls and masks, all of which you can see on her site. (via Lustik)

    “Alice” (2021)
    “Will we ever play and dance again together?” (2020)
    Left: “Covid Duet #2 Brown” (2021). Right: “Dangerous Liaisons” (2020)
    “Girl with Carrots & Rabbit” (2021)
    Left: “Covid Couple” (2020). Right: “Covid Duet Blue” (2021)
    “La Famiglia” (2021)
    Left: “Covid Symphony #3” (2021). Right: Left: “Covid Symphony #4” (2021)
    “Music Friends, boy with guitar & girl with flute” (2021)

    #ceramics
    #COVID-19
    #porcelain
    #satire

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    Capricious Characters Express Emotional Ambivalence in Yoshitoshi Kanemaki’s Glitched Sculptures

    
    Art

    #emotions
    #portraits
    #sculpture
    #wood

    May 19, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    “Fleeting Moment Caprice.” All images @ Yoshitoshi Kanemaki, courtesy of FUMA Contemporary Tokyo, shared with permission
    Japanese artist Yoshitoshi Kanemaki (previously) carves fickle, ambivalent, and even contradictory sentiments in his figurative sculptures that embody a range of emotions. The wooden characters are surreal in form with multiple limbs, duplicate features, and recurring faces that wind entirely around their bodies. Whether conveyed through kaleidoscopic or blurred techniques, each portrait “expresses the dignity of life as a human being, the hate and harassment that people experience, and the importance of environmental awareness,” the artist says, explaining:
    It’s the hesitation, contradiction, two-sidedness, or multi-sidedness, double standard. These are the problems that all people have, and I express them as sculptures under the concept of “ambivalence.” I want to portrait a modern person, who visualizes the “ambivalent” state that everyone has.
    Kanemaki is based in Nagareyama City and is currently altering one of his older works titled “Memento Mori” to deepen its sentiments and add more complexity. Explore an archive of his glitched figures at Fuma Contemporary Tokyo.

    “Singing in Rounds Geometry”
    “All Day Believing”
    “Singing in Rounds Geometry”
    “Swing Caprice”
    “Swing Caprice”
    “Repetition Geometry”

    #emotions
    #portraits
    #sculpture
    #wood

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