Aurelia Butler

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    Antidote: Organic Lifeforms Rendered with Prussian Blue Create Vivid Ecosystems by Yellena James

    
    Art

    #acrylic
    #coral
    #flowers
    #gouache
    #ink
    #nature
    #painting

    October 6, 2020
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Yellena James, courtesy of Stephanie Chefas Projects, shared with permission
    Using a combination of acrylics, gouache, and ink, Yellena James cultivates brightly-hued ecosystems ripe with lines, patterns, and nature-based motifs. The Portland-based artist paints organic forms that resemble both marine species like coral and kelp in addition to full-bloom flowers, creating brilliant, labyrinth-like ecosystems. Although Prussian blue ink has been a mainstay in James’s practice for years, she recently discovered that the specific color serves as a remedy for certain toxic metal poisonings. This realization spurred the series shown here, which is aptly named Antidote. Each work features the vibrant hue in some capacity.
    If you’re in Portland, check out James’s solo show at Stephanie Chefas Projects through October 10. To see the artist’s works in progress, head to Instagram, and try your hand at similar drawings with James’s book, Star, Branch, Spiral, Fan: Learn to Draw from Nature’s Perfect Design Structures. (via Supersonic Art)

    #acrylic
    #coral
    #flowers
    #gouache
    #ink
    #nature
    #painting

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    Minimal Female Figures Explore Community, Identity, and Connection in Laura Berger’s Paintings

    
    Art

    #body
    #identity
    #painting

    October 5, 2020
    Grace Ebert

    “In my feelings” (2020), oil on canvas, 30 x 30 inches. All images © Laura Berger, shared with permission
    In Laura Berger’s minimalist paintings, female figures entwine together in abstract formations. Their dark locks flow with the curves of their bodies, which are posed in relaxed, natural stances. Using tight color palettes of muted tones, Berger works mostly in acrylic, although she’s ventured into oil since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’m not sure if it’s related to everything that’s been going on in the world or to the shift in medium itself, but my ideas have been moving in a more narrative direction which has really opened up a lot of new things for me to work with,” she tells Colossal.
    The Chicago-based artist (previously) continues to explore themes of identity, community, and connection, in addition to more abstract conceptions of energy and quality of life, throughout her largely geometric body of work. “As a woman, I usually paint from that perspective point, but the figures are really meant mostly to serve as characters through which to explore our collective humanity and shared experience,” she says.
    If you’re in New York City, check out Berger’s solo show, which is open from November 21 to December 12, at Hashimoto Contemporary. Otherwise, follow her on Instagram to see her latest considerations of the female experience.

    “We wanted to feel the light” (2019), acrylic on canvas, 16 x 20 inches
    Left: “If I were you” (2019), acrylic on wood panel, 30 x 40 inches. Right: “If I were you 2” (2019), acrylic on wood panel, 30 x 40 inches
    “Mood” (2020), oil on canvas, 16 x 12 inches
    Left: “If I were you 3” (2019), acrylic on wood panel, 30 x 40 inches. Right: “Night fruit” (2020)
    “Strata” (2019), acrylic on cradled wood panel, 16 x 20 inches

    #body
    #identity
    #painting

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    Miniature Mixed Media Lace Works Depict Pastoral Scenes in New Work by Ágnes Herczeg

    
    Art
    Craft

    #found objects
    #lace
    #mixed media

    October 2, 2020
    Christopher Jobson

    All photos © Ágnes Herczeg, shared with permission
    Working within a scale of just a few small inches, Hungarian artist Ágnes Herczeg (previously) threads together fragments of wood, seeds, and wire with delicate lace work to form pastoral scenes inspired in part by her surroundings in a small town near the river Danube. This year Herczeg utilized more tree bark and golf leaf, and developed her abilities with silk thread to create pieces even smaller than before. In a note to Colossal she shares this challenge to work increasingly smaller is “a very good mind game.” You can see lots of her new work on her website, and several pieces are for sale in her online shop.

    #found objects
    #lace
    #mixed media

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    An Intricate Lace Mural Envelops the Facade of a French Fashion Museum

    
    Art

    #lace
    #murals
    #public art

    September 29, 2020
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Nespoon
    On France’s northern shores lies the port city of Calais, a municipality that once was a destination for lace manufacturers. To escape economic and social difficulties, English textile artists and engineers immigrated in the late 19th Century, often establishing clandestine operations that defied patent laws by bringing specialty machines and practices to the region. Soon after, Calais became an industrial hub for lace manufacturing, employing around 40,000 residents.
    A new mural by Warsaw-based artist Nespoon (previously) celebrates that rich history through an oversized textile that envelops the facade of a factory. The public artwork features delicate mesh and floral elements that cover the side of the Cité de la Dentelle et de la Mode, the city’s fashion and lace museum. Nespoon chose this particular motif, which dates back to 1894, from the institution’s archive before spray painting its intricate details onto the building.
    Check out the video below to see the lace motif in-progress, and find more of the artist’s textile-based pieces on Behance and Instagram.

    #lace
    #murals
    #public art

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    Affected by a Central Force, Dancers Perform Implausible Bends on a Perpetually Spinning Stage

    
    Art
    Dance

    #performance art
    #video

    September 29, 2020
    Grace Ebert

    
    “Celui qui tombe,” or he who falls, is an illusory performance from self-described circus artist Yoann Bourgeois (previously) that opens with six dancers on a spinning platform. As the central stage turns, the performers run forward to fight the perpetual motion, even though their efforts keep them in the same spot. The sextet moves easily throughout the performance, grasping onto each other and stopping in neat lines as they respond to the stage’s revolutions. As Kottke notes, the centripetal force of the platform makes it possible for the dancers to contort their bodies into seemingly implausible positions, like the acute bends shown below, and remain standing.
    Bourgeois created “Celui qui tombe” in 2014 and shares an extensive collection of similar illusions on YouTube. You also can keep up with his work on Instagram.

    #performance art
    #video

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    Chrome Faces Protrude from Drippy, Graffiti Backdrops in Hyperrealistic Paintings by Artist Kip Omolade

    
    Art

    #chrome
    #hyperrealism
    #masks
    #painting
    #portraits

    September 28, 2020
    Grace Ebert

    “Luxury Graffiti Kace I,” oil, spray paint and acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 inches. All images © Kip Omolade, shared with permission
    Set on a graffitied backdrop, the chrome masks Kip Omolade (previously) paints appear to emerge from the canvas, jutting out from the vibrant display to confront the viewer. The Harlem-born artist layers dripping colors and typographic markings that contrast the smooth, gleaming faces protruding from the center for his new series Masks: Portraits of Times Square and Luxury Graffiti, which he completed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, he explains the history of the collection:
    In New York City during the ’80s, my tag was ‘Kace’ and I would ‘get up’ on MTA subway car interiors, public walls in Brooklyn, and graffiti black books. Throughout the ’90s, I never stopped tagging. Even when I was painting from life, I was still tagging here and there in random spaces. Years later, I produced a real-life ‘Kace’—when my twin sons were born, I named them Kent and Kace. The ‘Kace’ tags in these paintings reference NYC subway ‘bombing’ of the ’80s, but mostly it’s about legacy. I want my work to represent our shared experiences of the past, present, and future.
    Omolade’s process includes sculpting a resin mold of a chosen subject, which he then covers with chrome and uses as a reference for his hyperrealistic portraits. Many of the masks are reflective, revealing a hidden landscape. In Omolade’s self-portrait (shown below), an American flag in the shape of a bullseye marks his forehead, a nod to racial injustices in the United States.
    To see more of Omolade’s works, check out his virtual solo show at Jonathan LeVine Projects through October 4 and head to his Instagram.

    “Luxury Graffiti Self-Portrait (COVID-19),” oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches
    “Luxury Graffiti Kent I,” oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches
    “Luxury Graffiti Kent I,” oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches
    “American Love,” oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches
    “Red Stare,” oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches
    

    #chrome
    #hyperrealism
    #masks
    #painting
    #portraits

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    Colorful, Geometric Stitches Embolden Black-and-White Photographs of Historical Figures and Cultural Icons

    
    Art
    Craft
    Photography

    #celebrities
    #embroidery
    #found photographs
    #portraits

    September 24, 2020
    Grace Ebert

    Yayoi Kusama. All images © Victoria Villasana, shared with permission
    When Victoria Villasana (previously) lays a long stitch on a vintage photograph, she’s connecting the pattern or geometric shape to a piece of history, culture, or philosophy. The Mexican artist transforms found black-and-white images of cultural icons and historical figures through vibrant embroideries. Turquoise fibers radiate from Nelson Mandela’s fist, a gold, chevron collar lines Chadwick Boseman’s shirt, and Yayoi Kusma sports a multicolor garment with varying dots and stripes. Emboldened by stitches that often breach the photograph’s edges, the multi-media artworks exude power, strength, and beauty.
    Villasana sources many of the images from the public domain, although she sometimes collaborates with photographers, as well. “I think color helps us to connect emotionally and I like to look at the past and merge tradition and vanguard. I’m also interested in symbolism and geometry in art as a way to communicate deeper meanings with each other,” she shares with Colossal.
    To explore more of Villasana’s geometric additions, head to Instagram, and see the originals and prints available in her shop.

    Chadwick Boseman
    Federica Violi
    Kara Walker
    Nelson Mandela
    Left: Miles Davis. Right: Harriet Tubman
    Ryu Gwansun
    Yayoi Kusama

    #celebrities
    #embroidery
    #found photographs
    #portraits

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    Revealing Struggles and Joy, Expressive Portraits Are Superimposed onto Watercolor Foliage

    
    Art

    #flowers
    #plants
    #portraits
    #watercolor

    September 24, 2020
    Grace Ebert

    “Being true to your nature III.” All images © Àngela Maria Sierra, shared with permission
    Spanish artist Àngela Maria Sierra, who works as Riso Chan, explores the human psyche through subtly layered foliage. “I always imagine that they are someone’s soul, what we don’t see, our nature,” Sierra says of the delicate botanical assemblages that she overlays onto her subjects’ faces and torsos. Each portrait begins with a focus on texture and pattern as the artist paints clusters of twigs and leaves with watercolor. She then scans those botanical elements and uses Procreate to superimpose the figure onto the original piece.
    Alongside their simple beauty, the pastel paintings, some of which are self-portraits, reflect the narratives and worries that consume the artist’s daily life. She describes her work as “a journal where I express moments or feelings that are important for me during those days. It’s a way to give those feelings space and then let them go.” Tied to both struggles and joys, topics include finding freedom through creativity during lockdown, growing up in an drug-filled home, and the bravery required to move forward.
    Based in Amsterdam, Sierra is the founder of Bloom Art House, which hosts creative workshops throughout the capital city. Keep up with her expressive artworks on Instagram.

    “Freedom”
    “Being true to your nature II”

    “Spring”
    Left: “Turning on the lights inside.” Right: “Being true to your nature I”
    “New Path”
    “Toxic home”

    #flowers
    #plants
    #portraits
    #watercolor

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