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Cultural Narratives and Craft Converge in the 2025 World of WearableArt Competition
22 September 2025, 14:29
Faris Fairusham (Victoria University of Wellington, Malaysia), “Wau Bulan.” Photos by Stephen A’Court. All images courtesy of World of WearableArt, shared with permission
Cultural Narratives and Craft Converge in the 2025 World of WearableArt Competition
September 22, 2025
ArtDesign
Kate Mothes
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Wellington’s extravagant World of WearableArt is back for 2025, including pieces by 85 finalists that showcase today’s most elaborate and fanciful costumes. One hundred designers from 17 countries competed for a prize pool of more than $200,000 New Zealand dollars across 25 awards. The competition culminates in an elaborate performance, with this year’s top honor, known as the WOW Supreme Award, handed to design duo Dawn Mostow and Ben Gould.
The U.S.-based designers have been finalists several times since 2017, and this marks their first win. Mostow and Gould’s piece “Tsukumogami” draws on Mostow’s time living in Japan, nodding to the country’s folklore and craft traditions through a reference to mythological tools that can be imbued with a spirit, or a kami. Two figures completely covered in blue-and-white latex stand like elaborate classical vases, with ikebana flower arrangements on their heads.
This year’s runner-up is Fifi Colston’s “Meine Erste Liebe,” a title which means “my first love” in German. The wearer is transformed into a medusa, with an elaborate bodice and globular headdress, plus an elaborate, bell-like skirt embellished with detailed jellyfish.
2025 World of WearableArt Show: RISE performances continue through October 5 at TSB Arena in Wellington. Explore more, including an archive of pieces from earlier shows, on the contest’s website.
Dawn Mostow and Ben Gould (United States), “Tsukumogami”
Fifi Colston (New Zealand), “Meine Erste Liebe”
Evita Camilleri and Dan Draper (Australia), “Fractilians”
Catherine Anderton (New Zealand), “Autumn King”
Vanshika Jain (Indian Institute of Art and Design, India), “Stripy Mischief”
Katherine Bertram (New Zealand), “Drift”
Abhishek Chauhan (India), “Thaliora”
Xuan Jiang, Yuxin Zhou, and Yuhan Lin (Donghua University, China), “Ember”
Anna Hayes-Moeau (New Zealand), “Ko Au Ko Harakeke, Ko Harakeke Ko Au”
Tracey Murphy and Isabel Costley (New Zealand), “See Me in Tokyo”
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In Ethereal Paintings, Calida Rawles Plunges into the Dark Depths of Water
19 September 2025, 16:34
“All is One” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches. All images courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Seoul, and London, shared with permission
In Ethereal Paintings, Calida Rawles Plunges into the Dark Depths of Water
September 19, 2025
Art
Grace Ebert
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In This Time Before Tomorrow, Calida Rawles diverges from the familiar faces—those of her daughters and chosen companions—that characterized her most recent body of work. Instead, the artist returns to rippling abstractions and bubbling textures, obscuring identifiable features with painterly gestures.
Water, for Rawles, is never neutral. In the lineage of scholars like Christina Sharpe and Saidiya Hartman, the artist considers water to be a charged site and vessel for memory. Along with references to texts by Audre Lorde, Octavia Butler, and Albert Camus, among others, she presents this philosophical grounding as a way to consider the inevitability of change and how transformation can inspire hope. “What is the artist’s role in moments of crisis?” she asks.
“Refraction” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 24 x 30 x 2 inches
Mixing her hyperrealistic style with surreal distortions, Rawles always begins with a photo session before turning to the canvas. In this stage, she conjures moments of ambiguity. Glimmering undulations and bubbles cloud the figures’ bodies, while the reflective surface creates the illusion of a double and two forms bleeding into one another. Whether barely breaching the water’s surface or plunging into a pool, the figures appear suspended in a brief moment, their liquid surroundings embracing their relaxed limbs.
Rawles gravitates toward chiaroscuro in these paintings, rendering deep, murky waters in bold acrylic. This dark color palette is also a metaphor for the current moment. She says:
Personally, I’m grappling with the fractures within the American mythos—once rooted in the promises of democracy, inclusion, and justice. Today, that dream feels increasingly elusive. The melting pot that was once a symbol of unity now cracks under the weight of deportations; truth has become subjective; and justice feels subverted. Amidst this cultural disorientation, I find myself untethered—aware of tectonic shifts beneath both my personal and collective foundations.
This Time Before Tomorrow is on view through September 27 at Lehmann Maupin London.
“A Balance of Dawn” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 24 x 30 x 2 inches
“When Time Carries” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 72 x 96 inches
“Through Fury and Beyond Reason” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 x 2 inches
“Musing” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60 x 2 inches
Installation view of ‘This Time Before Tomorrow.’ Photo by Lucy Dawkins
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Elmgreen & Dragset’s Uncanny Sculptures Make Reality Feel Like ‘Alice in Wonderland’
18 September 2025, 19:15
“The Other David” (2025), marble, 33
7/16 × 59 1/16 × 33 7/16 inches. All images © Elmgreen & Dragset/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, courtesy of Pace Gallery, shared with permission
Elmgreen & Dragset’s Uncanny Sculptures Make Reality Feel Like ‘Alice in Wonderland’
September 18, 2025
Art
Grace Ebert
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Dysmetropsia is a neurological condition that distorts size and perception, often causing objects to appear smaller or larger than they really are. Also called Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, the disorder is the basis of a disorienting exhibition by Berlin-based duo Elmgreen & Dragset.
Collaborating since 1995, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset are behind a slew of iconic works, perhaps most famously the full-sized boutique in the middle of the Texan desert known as “Prada Marfa.” This destination installation is representative of the artist’s enduring interest in recontextualizing seemingly common objects to explore how our interpretation and perception change.
“September 2025” (2025), silicone figure, clothing, chair, dimensions variable
For their exhibition at Pace Gallery in Los Angeles—their first solo show in the city—the duo continues this line of inquiry. The Alice in Wonderland Syndrome opens with a silicone gallery attendant dozing on her desk, an undrunk cup of coffee and stack of books nearby. Like the adventurous tale it references, the large-scale show invites viewers to ask whether what unfolds is real or all a hallucinatory dream.
Farther inside is a series of white marble figures recreated on two different scales. Wearing headphones and VR headsets, these nondescript characters appear perpetually distracted and immersed in their technologies of choice. On the gallery walls is a collection of circular works from the artist’s Sky Target series, which varies mirrors and cloudy expanses in stripes or concentric rings. These patterned pieces reflect the wide, open space and fragments of the sculptures, albeit through a distorted view.
As we collectively grapple with the strange, often concerning effects of living in an increasingly digital world, Elmgreen & Dragset prompt us to consider how physical presence shapes our understanding and can lead to an uncanny experience all on its own.
The Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is on view through October 25. Explore more of the artists’ work on the gallery’s website.
Detail of “September 2025” (2025), silicone figure, clothing, chair, dimensions variable
Detail of “September 2025” (2025), silicone figure, clothing, chair, dimensions variable
Detail of “Close” (2025), marble, 71 1/8 × 26 × 20 1/4 inches
“Close” (2025), marble, 71 1/8 × 26 × 20 1/4 inches
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Expressive Kitties Emerge from Energetic Graphite Lines in Drawings by ShouXin
18 September 2025, 13:21
All images courtesy of ShouXin, shared with permission
Expressive Kitties Emerge from Energetic Graphite Lines in Drawings by ShouXin
September 18, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
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From simple yet deft strokes of graphite, ShouXin summons cats that jump, roll, crash, and express their curiosity. Detailed eyes, mouths, and noses complement the artist’s gestural use of pencil for the rest of the felines’ bodies, conveying energy, sounds, and plenty of cattitude through the fundamental use of line.
Prints and occasionally originals are available for purchase in ShouXin’s online shop, and you can follow updates on Instagram.
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Through Illuminated Compositions, Raúl de Nieves Transforms a Hall into a Bold Sanctuary
17 September 2025, 19:44
“In Light of Innocence” (2025). Photos by Dan Bradica, courtesy of Pioneer Works, shared with permission
Through Illuminated Compositions, Raúl de Nieves Transforms a Hall into a Bold Sanctuary
September 17, 2025
Art
Grace Ebert
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In a monumental new installation, Raúl de Nieves brings Catholic imagery, Mexican folklore, and tarot into dazzling view. For “In Light of Innocence,” Pioneer Works’ Main Hall transforms into a vibrant sanctuary complete with 50 stained glass-like panels that reach up toward the heavens. The individual pieces are fitted into the space’s windows, with a larger lightbox mural radiating from below.
De Nieves is known for utilizing common materials, including wood, glue, tape, and, for this project, brilliantly colored acetate that allows light to filter into the open hall. Along with swapping plastic for glass, the artist also upends the typical cathedral environment with non-religious imagery and typographic panels. Included are a skeleton riding a horse—long a symbol of transformation in tarot—and bold phrases like “happiness runs in circular motion” and “words are like weapons they wound sometimes.”
This medley of spiritual references creates a welcoming environment that allows for reflection and connection across belief systems. A statement says, “‘In Light of Innocence’ invites viewers to embrace change not as loss, but as renewal—a passage that leads to deeper insight and inner strength.”
The immersive project marks de Nieves’ first institutional exhibition in New York City and is on view through December 14. Find more of the artist’s work on Instagram.
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Descend into the Underworld via Anish Kapoor’s Sculptural Subway Station Entrances
17 September 2025, 15:01
All images courtesy of Anish Kapoor, shared with permission
Descend into the Underworld via Anish Kapoor’s Sculptural Subway Station Entrances
September 17, 2025
ArtDesign
Kate Mothes
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West of Naples, along the Tyrrhenian coast, sits the storied Lake Avernus. Situated in a volcanic crater, its Latin name is synonymous with hell or the underworld, and to the ancient Romans, it was considered the portal to Hades. Dante Alighieri echoed the belief in his seminal Inferno. More recently, Anish Kapoor set out to explore the notion in a striking new entrance to the Monte Sant’Angelo subway station in central Naples. “In the city of Mount Vesuvius and Dante’s mythical entrance to the Inferno, I found it important to try and deal with what it really means to go underground,” the artist says.
Kapoor is renowned for large-scale sculptures and installations that tap into visceral psychological experiences, from a perpetually swirling whirlpool of black water in “Descension” to a meat-like slab of wax being wedged through a doorway in “Svayambhu,” which references a Sanskrit word meaning “self-born.” And, of course, there’s the iconically mirrored “Cloud Gate,” known fondly as “The Bean,” in downtown Chicago.
University entrance
“At Monte Sant’Angelo station, three integral themes of Kapoor’s practice have coalesced in more potent form than ever: the mythological object, the body, and the void,” a statement says. The artist’s design for two separate entrances, initiated more than two decades ago, tap into his interest in dualistic relationships like internal and external experiences or lightness and darkness.
Kapoor’s two entrances exist in dialogue with one another, as one is made from weathered steel with a rusty patina that suggests an amorphous bodily form. The other is conceived as something of the inverse, where a tubular steel form is presented more smoothly and “cleanly” while likewise hovering over travelers like a mysterious system or gigantic conduit.
“The station is a remarkable symbiosis of sculpture and architecture, a dynamic that has always been a central force in Kapoor’s work,” a statement says. “Kapoor’s work both holds and creates the new space in which it is experienced.”
Explore dozens of works on Kapoor’s website, and discover even more artistic subway stations around the world.
Looking up from within the Traiano entrance
A side view of the university entrance
Looking down into the university entrance
Traiano entrance
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Hangama Amiri Stitches Memories of Migration into Vivid Textile Portraits
16 September 2025, 18:04
“Man with Vase of Tulips” (2024), muslin, cotton, chiffon, velvet, polyester, silk, suede, and linen, 62.5 x 53.5 inches. All images courtesy of Hangama Amiri, shared with permission
Hangama Amiri Stitches Memories of Migration into Vivid Textile Portraits
September 16, 2025
Art
Grace Ebert
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Hangama Amiri translates fragments of her teenage years and family history into quilted portraits and tender tableaus. The artist, who resides in upstate New York and maintains a studio in Red Hook, is interested in recollection and the stories that make us who we are. “There’s an innocence and a special quality in revisiting and reminiscing those memories, especially that my family and I spent those years in migration across Central Asia,” she adds.
At just 7 years old, Amiri left her native Kabul and traveled to various countries before settling in Canada as a teenager. This itinerant experience continues to inform the artist’s work, particularly as she seeks to build a larger narrative about “women’s importance socially, politically, economically, and culturally.”
Detail of “Portrait of Kern Samuel at Yale Art Gallery” (2024), muslin, cotton, chiffon, silk, linen, and velvet, 52 x 34.5 inches
Amiri begins with a drawing that she slices into shapes and traces onto velvet, silk, polyester, and other textiles sourced from Afghan-owned shops, online sources, and the occasional gift from friends and colleagues. Once cut out, these individual pieces layer onto a muslin backdrop, creating vivid portraits and domestic scenes with visible seams. Doing so “adds another layer of mark-making and texture,” she shares, noting that she utilizes a machine for this final step.
Often focusing on the decorative elements of a space or a figure’s sartorial choices, Amiri captures a particular moment in time, highlighting a sense of familiarity and intimacy with her fleeting subject matter. Several works portray a meal shared among friends, while “Man with Vase of Tulips” depicts the titular character cradling a bouquet, a small photograph peeking through the cluster of vibrant flowers.
Although we don’t know the location—perhaps he’s sitting in Afghanistan, Canada, or elsewhere—the piece exudes a sense of longing, exemplifying the artist’s enduring interest in preserving and resurfacing moments otherwise bound to the past.
In addition to her quilts, Amiri has a neon sculpture on view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. She’s working toward several upcoming exhibitions this fall, including at the National Gallery of Canada, Konsthall C in Stockholm, and Paris International Art Fair. Follow along on her website and Instagram.
“Portrait of Kern Samuel at Yale Art Gallery” (2024), muslin, cotton, chiffon, silk, linen, and velvet, 52 x 34.5 inches
Detail of “Dastarkhwān” (2025), muslin, cotton, chiffon, canvas, denim, linen, silk, polyester, suede, inkjet-print on silk-chiffon, block-print, color-pencil, and acrylic paint on fabric, 77.5 x 54 inches
“Dastarkhwān” (2025), muslin, cotton, chiffon, canvas, denim, linen, silk, polyester, suede, inkjet-print on silk-chiffon, block-print, color-pencil, and acrylic paint on fabric, 77.5 x 54 inches
“Still-Life with Sushi and Red Wine” (2025), muslin, cotton, chiffon, linen, silk, polyester, suede, block-print, color-pencil, and acrylic paint on fabric, 47 x 64 inches
“Nakhoonak-e Aroos/ Bride’s Nail” (2022), neon and glass. Image courtesy of John Michael Kohler Arts Center
“Dominic Chambers with His Portrait Painting of Trevon Latin” (2024), muslin, cotton, chiffon, linen, velvet, denim, and silk, 52 x 42 inches
“Departure” (2022), muslin, cotton, polyester, clear vinyl, faux leather, chiffon, and found fabric, 68.5 x 85 inches
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Fragments of the Chinese Diaspora Converge in Stephanie Shih’s Mosaic Sculptures
15 September 2025, 20:15
“Toy Building (1915–1939)” (2025), Chinese export porcelain, crowdsourced and found objects, archaeological ceramic fragments from a Chinese fishing village on Monterey Bay (c. 1850–1906), stained glass, ceramic, polished stones, glass rods, resin, enamel, and grout on ferrocement, steel, and polystyrene. Image courtesy of the artist and John Michael Kohler Arts Center
Fragments of the Chinese Diaspora Converge in Stephanie Shih’s Mosaic Sculptures
September 15, 2025
ArtFood
Grace Ebert
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Known for trompe l’oeil ceramic sculptures of pantry staples and domestic life, Stephanie Shih has further entrenched her largely culinary-focused repertoire in material culture. In two exhibitions, the Brooklyn-based artist (previously) embraces mosaic as she nests small glass fragments and pottery sherds into vivid compositions that explore production and labor.
Shih’s architectural work on view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, draws on the Midwestern grotto tradition with a pagoda-style structure. Broken porcelain dinnerware, polished stone, and ceramic sherds uncovered in a Chinese fishing village on Monterey Bay cloak the facade, while hundreds of crowd-sourced knick-knacks and figures embellish the rooftop.
Titled “Toy Building (1915–1939),” the six-story sculpture reinterprets a historic spot in downtown Milwaukee that a Chinese immigrant owned and once housed a dancehall, restaurant, and various businesses. A collective portrait of the Chinese diaspora, Shih’s work pieces together archaeological, vintage, and contemporary objects into an eclectic array that bridges the mundane and divine.
Detail of “Carolina’s Pride Peaches” (2025), stained glass and cement mortar on aluminum, 18 x 48 inches
The artist continues her more recent venture into mosaic in Invisible Hand, a solo exhibition opening this week at SOCO Gallery. A wide, produce promotional in colorful stained glass, “Carolina’s Pride Peaches” depicts a woman marveling at the ripe fruit. As a statement from the gallery says, Shih directs us to consumption, portraying the luscious commodity once it’s been harvested by an unacknowledged laborer.
Invisible Hand pairs the vintage-style advertisement with the artist’s ceramic fare. Included are typical grocery store finds like a carton of Tropicana and Smucker’s jelly, along with popular fast food remnants like a box from Kentucky Fried Chicken. The seemingly mundane nature of the objects lends itself to one of the artist’s enduring questions: who’s behind the conveniences and sustenance we’ve come to expect and rely on?
As conversations about immigration and labor take center stage, Shih’s work reflects the long history of U.S. policy targeting essential workers. She references the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred Chinese immigration for 10 years and largely targeted those who would occupy low-wage jobs. “This act set the stage for a broader pattern of racialized labor exploitation that continues to shape the U.S.’s immigration and labor policies today,” the artist adds.
Invisible Hand runs from September 18 to November 8 in Charlotte. If you’re in Sheboygan, you can see “Toy Building (1915–1939)” as part of A Beautiful Experience: The Midwest Grotto Tradition through May 10, 2026. Explore more of the artist’s work on her website and Instagram.
A collection of works from ‘Invisible Hand’
“Carolina’s Pride Peaches” (2025), stained glass and cement mortar on aluminum, 18 x 48 inches
Detail of “Carolina’s Pride Peaches” (2025), stained glass and cement mortar on aluminum, 18 x 48 inches
Detail of “Toy Building (1915–1939)” (2025), Chinese export porcelain, crowdsourced and found objects, archaeological ceramic fragments from a Chinese fishing village on Monterey Bay (c. 1850–1906), stained glass, ceramic, polished stones, glass rods, resin, enamel, and grout on ferrocement, steel, and polystyrene. Image courtesy of the artist and John Michael Kohler Arts Center
“Kentucky Fried Chicken” (2025), ceramic, 9 x 9 x 7 inches
“Whitman’s Sampler” (2025), ceramic, 2.5 x 9 x 5.5 inches
“Campbell’s Condensed Soups” (2025), ceramic, 12 x 10.5 x 3 inches
“McCormick Spices” (2025), ceramic, 5 x 9 x 1.5 inches
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Aurelia Butler

More stories

Cultural Narratives and Craft Converge in the 2025 World of WearableArt Competition

In Ethereal Paintings, Calida Rawles Plunges into the Dark Depths of Water

Elmgreen & Dragset’s Uncanny Sculptures Make Reality Feel Like ‘Alice in Wonderland’

Expressive Kitties Emerge from Energetic Graphite Lines in Drawings by ShouXin

Through Illuminated Compositions, Raúl de Nieves Transforms a Hall into a Bold Sanctuary

Descend into the Underworld via Anish Kapoor’s Sculptural Subway Station Entrances

Hangama Amiri Stitches Memories of Migration into Vivid Textile Portraits

Fragments of the Chinese Diaspora Converge in Stephanie Shih’s Mosaic Sculptures

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