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    Kandy G. Lopez Embroiders Striking, Life-Size Yarn Portraits Highlighting BIPOC Narratives

    Detail of “City Girls” (2025), yarn, acrylic, and spray paint on hook mesh canvas, 102 x 168 inches. All images courtesy of the artist and ACA Galleries, shared with permission

    Kandy G. Lopez Embroiders Striking, Life-Size Yarn Portraits Highlighting BIPOC Narratives

    May 8, 2025

    ArtCraft

    Kate Mothes

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    On large swaths of colorful mesh, Kandy G. Lopez embroiders large-scale portraits of people from historically marginalized communities. “Her works are created out of the necessity to learn something new about her people and culture,” says a statement.

    Drawing on her Afro-Caribbean ancestry, the Fort Lauderdale-based artist celebrates the style, culture, and heritage of individuals as a way to build connections and generate dialogue around representation.

    “R² – Roscoe and Reggie” (2024), yarn and acrylic paint on hook mesh, 90 x 60 inches

    Lopez began working with mesh and fiber almost ten years ago, but she began to approach it more seriously as a major tenet of her practice in 2021 while an artist-in-residence at The Hambidge Center in Georgia. “As a painter, my backgrounds were minimal. Sometimes they would have monochromatic cityscapes,” Lopez tells Colossal, “So, leaving the background rare is something I’m familiar with.”

    Visibility, presence, and representation are vital to the artist’s work. In each composition, she centers vibrantly dressed, life-size figures so their gazes directly meet the viewer. Through the use of material and metaphor — like layered threads suggesting how BIPOC individuals “disappear and reappear” — she intertwines notions of community, resilience, and narrative. “I love the connections and stories that the individuals tell but also how the stories narrate the material,” she says.

    The gridded backgrounds evoke associations with neighborhood street patterns and the overlapping layers of woven warp and weft. “I also love the metaphor in transparency, layers, and vulnerability,” the artist says, sharing that she sometimes still incorporates cityscapes painted onto the mesh.

    Lopez is represented by ACA Galleries. See more on her website and Instagram.

    “Reyna” (2025), yarn and spray paint on hook mesh canvas, 96 x 60 inches

    “City Girls” (2025), yarn, acrylic, and spray paint on hook mesh canvas, 102 x 168 inches

    “Rohan” (2023), yarn and acrylic paint on hook mesh, 96 x 60 inches

    “Miami” (2025), yarn and spray paint on hook mesh canvas, 96 x 60 inches

    “Rohan” (2023), yarn and acrylic paint on hook mesh, 96 x 60 inches

    Detail of “Reyna”

    Installation view of “Tayina”

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    Ethereal Weavings Merge Architecture and Nature in Élise Peroi’s ‘For Thirsting Flowers’

    Installation view of ‘For Thirsting Flowers.’ All images courtesy of the artist and CARVALHO PARK, New York, shared with permission

    Ethereal Weavings Merge Architecture and Nature in Élise Peroi’s ‘For Thirsting Flowers’

    May 8, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    Imagine standing at a window at dawn as the pale yellow morning light filters through the trees, slowly illuminating flower petals and setting the scene for birdsong. As you move around, the light dapples and changes, and details emerge or disappear around other forms. For Élise Peroi, this sensation provides a starting point for elegant textile sculptures.

    Onto graceful wooden frames, the French artist weaves ethereal, layered screens evocative of dreamy portals to nature. “The luminosity of Peroi’s woven paintings is such that we might feel ourselves carried outside to watch the sky brighten, the air soft against our skin,” says Dr. Rebecca Birrell in an essay accompanying Peroi’s solo exhibition, For Thirsting Flowers, at CARVALHO PARK.

    Detail of “Pensée I” (2025), painted silk and linen, 36 x 28 x 3 inches

    The artist taps into the long tradition of European tapestries, which were used for both decoration and to help keep homes and churches insulated. Stitched by hand, the works could reach architectonic proportions and contain highly detailed figurative and narrative scenes. Peroi departs from customary associations with tapestries by removing the pieces from the wall and creating standalone, self-supporting structures.

    She also emphasizes a kind of opening-up of the textile itself. The interactions between warp and weft are loose, delicate, and irregular. And each piece’s depth is determined by the wooden framework, details of which often jut outward in gentle yet willful angles.

    Peroi’s sculptures appear to subtly morph as one walks around, merging internal and external perspectives. The artist explores relationships between emptiness, form, perception, and the built environment, hinting at recognizable shapes like flowers and foliage set against muted diamond-shaped geometric patterns or open spaces in the weave. And the frames serve both as display devices and looms—the process and finished piece merged into one.

    For Thirsting Flowers continues in Brooklyn through May 23. See more on the artist’s website.

    Installation view of ‘For Thirsting Flowers’ at CARVALHO PARK, New York

    “La lune” (2025), silk, silver leaf, gouache, acrylic, and linen, 64 x 55 x 6 inches

    “Pensée I” (2025), painted silk and linen, 36 x 28 x 3 inches

    Installation view of ‘For Thirsting Flowers’ at CARVALHO PARK, New York

    Installation view of ‘For Thirsting Flowers’ at CARVALHO PARK, New York

    “Songes II” (2022), painted silk and linen, 55 x 78 x 6 inches

    Detail of “Songes II”

    Installation view of ‘For Thirsting Flowers’ at CARVALHO PARK, New York

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    An Uncanny Postcard Fit for the Era of Climate Catastrophe

    From left: Sunset, Cyanometer, and Air Pollution postcards

    An Uncanny Postcard Fit for the Era of Climate Catastrophe

    May 7, 2025

    ArtClimateDesignNature

    Grace Ebert

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    Depending on the day, you might look to the sky and see a sea of pale blue or a radiant sunset creeping toward the horizon. If you’re in a major metropolitan area, though, you might also be met with the characteristic red-brown haze of smog.

    Berlin-based artist Macarena Ruiz-Tagle is behind the vibrant Cyanometer and Sunset postcards we’ve featured on Colossal (and that have sold out in our shop several times). But she also created a third version designed for those not-so-bright days.

    Tiananmen Square, Beijing (November 2013). Photo by Macarena Ruiz-Tagle

    The World Health Organization estimates that 99 percent of people on Earth breathe unsafe air, making Ruiz-Tagle’s Air Pollution postcard perhaps the most fitting for our era of climate catastrophe. While a stark contrast to the brilliant blues, yellows, and oranges of the other two, this design is awash in pale pinks and grays to match that of a gloomy, and even soiled, atmosphere. Like the others, the idea is to hold the work up to the sky and mark the corresponding hue before dropping it in the mail.

    The interactive card shifts in meaning depending on whether the opening reveals a misty fog or air thick with chemicals, and it’s part of a growing movement to track climate data in a tangible, grassroots manner. “Separating the visual delight of being immersed in a cloud from the intoxicating reality of breathing heavily polluted air, the postcard evokes both the smog that engulfs global cities and the ethereal beauty of fog,” the artist writes. “In its mesmerizing aesthetic ambiguity, the work sustains a space for contemplation within our troubled atmosphere.”

    Find all three postcards in the Colossal Shop, and explore more of Ruiz-Tagle’s work on her website.

    Air Pollution postcard

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    Isabelle D’s Lush Crocheted Landscapes Intertwine Pain and Pleasure

    From the ‘Bruise’ series. All images courtesy of Gallery Nosco, shared with permission

    Isabelle D’s Lush Crocheted Landscapes Intertwine Pain and Pleasure

    May 6, 2025

    ArtCraft

    Grace Ebert

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    At seven years old, Isabelle D learned to crochet as a means of supporting her family. Taking lessons from her grandmother, the young artist crafted various items to sell at local markets and set herself on a path she continues to follow today.

    From silk, cotton, viscose, and other fibers, Isabelle D crochets innumerable forms evocative of coral, sea sponges, anemones, flowers, molds, spores, and more. Each work comprises a diverse array of sculptural pieces, which nest together in broad landscapes brimming with myriad colors and textures.

    “A Officinalis”

    The artist’s childhood ingenuity has instilled a commitment to care and resilience that appears both materially and metaphorically in her practice. In her new A Officinalis series, the medicinal, anti-inflammatory properties of the marshmallow plant become a symbol for healing and regeneration. Soft, supple forms in pale pinks and blues are met by fuzzy structures in creamy white yarn, creating a quiet, meditative garden for recovery.

    Composed of vibrant reds and purples, the Bruise series takes a converse approach. Color is always critical to Isabelle D’s practice, and these works rely on vibrant, saturated reds, purples, and blues to mimic a damaged body. While the pieces evoke injury, they’re markedly beautiful and a sort of homage to the strength that emerges from trauma.

    In the way that crochet requires an even tension to achieve stitches that aren’t too loose or too tight, Isabelle D strives for a similar balance in her practice and rejects the fast pace at which today’s world moves. Instead, she crafts each piece by hand without the help of assistants, immersing herself in the slow, methodical process of inserting the hook and looping it through the yarn.

    If you’re in Brussels, stop by Gallery Nosco to see the artist’s solo exhibition, Hanging by a Thread, which runs through May 24.

    From the ‘Bruise’ series

    From the ‘Bruise’ series

    Detail of “A Officinalis”

    Detail of “A Officinalis”

    Detail of “Mensonge et Vérité”

    Detail of “Mensonge et Vérité”

    “Mould”

    From the ‘Bruise’ series

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    Adrian Landon Brooks and Jaime Molina Assemble Enigmatic Narratives in ‘No Man’s Land’

    Adrian Landon Brooks. All images courtesy of the artists and Preacher, shared with permission

    Adrian Landon Brooks and Jaime Molina Assemble Enigmatic Narratives in ‘No Man’s Land’

    May 6, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    Within the compartments of reimagined wooden crates or carved sculptures that open on to reveal inner forms, Adrian Landon Brooks and Jaime Molina explore the possibilities of found materials in mixed-media sculptures and paintings. The artists’ duo exhibition No Man’s Land at Preacher Gallery highlights their kindred yet unique approaches.

    Brooks brings found materials to life through collaging and layering, using bold lines, color, and pattern to suggest sacred symbols and merge a sense of newness with age. Molina carves his “cuttys” from hunks of timber, pounding swaths of nails to suggest the hair and beards of solemn male figures.

    Jaime Molina

    An enigmatic narrative undercurrent runs through No Man’s Land, as both artists draw on folk art and craft to explore geometry and assemblage techniques. Cloaked figures and animal-human hybrids nod to the metaphysical in Brooks’ pieces, while Molina’s pensive figures tap into the mysterious of consciousness.

    The show highlights how Brooks and Molina have created “a shared world that feels both ancient and brand new—a thoughtful mix of mysticism, memory, and hand-hewn craft,” the gallery says.

    No Man’s Land opens on May 8 and continues through May 29 in Austin. Find more on the gallery’s website.

    Adrian Landon Brooks

    Jaime Molina

    Adrian Landon Brooks

    Jaime Molina

    Adrian Landon Brooks

    Jaime Molina

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    Vibrant Woodblock Prints Traverse a Bygone Japan in ‘Hiroshige: Artist of the Open Road’

    “Tōkaidō Autumn Moon: Restaurants at Kanagawa, Musashi Province” (about 1839),
    color woodblock print. © Alan Medaugh. All images courtesy of The British Museum, shared with permission

    Vibrant Woodblock Prints Traverse a Bygone Japan in ‘Hiroshige: Artist of the Open Road’

    May 6, 2025

    ArtHistory

    Kate Mothes

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    Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) was born in Japan on the brink of a national transformation. The Edo Period, characterized by the military rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate, had seen economic growth and sustained peace since its establishment in 1603. But 200 years on, the government’s staunch policies, hierarchical structure, and isolation from the outside world was beginning to erode. In 1867, just nine years after Hiroshige’s death, a new emperor restored imperial rule.

    Hiroshige: artist of the open road, which just opened at The British Museum, traces the remarkable variety of locations the artist portrayed, from cherry trees and gardens to pleasure boats in the Ryōgoku district of Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to sweeping views of iconic Mt. Fuji. His woodcuts capture everyday life, landscapes, and culture in 19th-century Japan in vibrant color.

    “Pleasure Boats at Ryōgoku in the Eastern Capital” (1832-34), color woodblock print triptych. Photo by Matsuba Ryōko. © Alan Medaugh

    Along with his contemporary peers like Hokusai, the artist witnessed immense change throughout his lifetime, which he chronicled in thousands of woodblock prints. “As Japan confronted the encroaching outside world, Hiroshige’s calm artistic vision connected with—and reassured —people at every level of society,” the museum says.

    Hiroshige often assembled his prints into collections or folios, and artist of the open road includes examples from 100 Famous Views of Edo (1857), The 69 Stations of the Kiso Highway (late 1830s), and more. The exhibition also marks the artist’s first solo show presented by The British Museum and the first in London in more than a quarter-century.

    Hiroshige: artist of the open road continues through September 7 in London. You might also enjoy perusing this fantastic ukiyo-e print archive.

    “Awa: The Rough Seas at Naruto” from ‘Illustrated Guide to Famous Places in the 60-odd Provinces’ (1855), color woodblock print. © Alan Medaugh

    “Seba” from ‘The 69 Stations of the Kiso Highway’ (late 1830s), color woodblock print. © The Trustees of the British Museum

    “Evening View of the Eight Scenic Spots of Kanazawa in Musashi Province” (1857), color woodblock print triptych. © Alan Medaugh

    “Nihonbashi – Morning Scene” from ‘The 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō’ (c. 1833-35), color woodblock print. © The Trustees of the British Museum

    “Mt. Fuji and Otodome Fall” (about 1849-52), color woodblock print. Photo by Matsuba Ryōko. © Alan Medaugh

    “The Plum Garden at Kameido” from ‘100 Famous Views of Edo’ (1857), color woodblock print. Photo by Matsuba Ryōko. © Alan Medaugh

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    Explore an Incredible 108-Gigapixel Scan of Johannes Vermeer’s Most Famous Painting

    All images courtesy of Hirox, Tuur, and The Mauritshuis

    Explore an Incredible 108-Gigapixel Scan of Johannes Vermeer’s Most Famous Painting

    May 5, 2025

    ArtPhotographyScience

    Kate Mothes

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    One of the inimitable joys of visiting an art museum is being able to view paintings up close—to see their textures, frames, and the way the surface interacts with the light. But even if you had the opportunity to step past security wires and get within inches of an original canvas, you’d still never be able to see the work quite like the new, 108-gigapixel scan of Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” (1665).

    The Mauritshuis has documented its most famous acquisition in unprecedented detail with the help of lens company Hirox, which has produced a video microscope capable of capturing the tiniest speck of paint with astonishing clarity. The outfit was also involved in an earlier reproduction of the same painting, creating an image composed of 10 billion pixels.

    This high-tech collaboration brings a 17th-century masterpiece to life with an interactive site inviting visitors to examine every micro detail. The new image is more than ten times as large as its predecessor—108 gigapixels translates to 108 billion pixels. A standard computer screen ranges from around four to six million pixels in its entirety. As Kottke notes, the resolution is very high, too, at 1.3 microns per pixel. (A millimeter is 1,000 microns.)

    Hirox, in tandem with a company called Tuur, produced a beautiful video and virtual tour. A three-dimensional tool for exploring the topography of the surface highlights Vermeer’s mastery of light, like reflections in the sitter’s eyes, the folds of her head scarf, and the minimal dabs of white paint on the titular pearl.

    This virtual exploration offers art historians and enthusiasts alike a chance to experience “Girl with a Peal Earring” like never before, regardless of where you are. But if you’re in The Hague, it’s also on view in the permanent collection of The Mauritshuis.

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    Discarded Packaging and Labels Find New Life in Kelly Kozma’s Vibrant Patchworks

    “Magma & Reef” (2025). All images courtesy of Kelly Kozma and Paradigm Gallery + Studio, shared with permission

    Discarded Packaging and Labels Find New Life in Kelly Kozma’s Vibrant Patchworks

    May 2, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    From dozens of Chiquita banana labels to toothpaste packaging to color-coded quality control stickers, Kelly Kozma finds beauty in everyday ephemera. “Piece by piece, she saves any colorful or textured box that she encounters, even though most are expected to be discarded after their original use,” says Paradigm Gallery + Studio, which opens the artist’s solo exhibition Watch Me Backflip this weekend.

    Kozma takes an archival and interdisciplinary approach to working with numerous found materials, combining a variety of media into two-dimensional wall works, expansive textile-inspired assemblages, and voluminous suspended installations. “Watch Me Backflip embraces ideas of reusing material, interconnectedness, and the significance of the smallest interaction on a much larger environment,” says an exhibition statement.

    Installation view of ‘Watch Me Backflip’ at Paradigm Gallery + Studio

    “Iguana & Myrrh” and “Magma & Reef” mark the largest compositions Kozma has created. The former spans 22 feet in circumference and comprises more than 30,000 hand-stitched circles cut from a wide variety of greeting cards, found packaging, and other colorful materials. Committed to a minimal-waste practice, the artist incorporates scraps and loose threads into a number of accompanying works in Watch Me Backflip.

    “As she stitches these lovingly collected pieces, Kozma creates connections between the people in her life and the objects she interacts with, inspiring mindfulness against overconsumption and emotional apathy,” the gallery says.

    Watch Me Backflip opens today and continues through June 1 in Philadelphia. See more on the artist’s Instagram.

    “I See Your Beauty” (2025), process control patches and acrylic on panel

    Installation view of ‘Watch Me Backflip’ at Paradigm Gallery + Studio

    Detail of “Iguana & Myrrh”

    Installation view of ‘Watch Me Backflip’ at Paradigm Gallery + Studio

    “Peels So Good” (2025), banana stickers and acrylic on panel

    Detail of “Iguana & Myrrh”

    The artist working on the installation of “Magma & Reef”

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