Aurelia Butler

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    Naomi Peterson Channels a Sweet Tooth and Sense of Togetherness in Her Vibrant ‘Cup-Cakes’

    “Mud Pies.” All images courtesy of Naomi Peterson, shared with permission

    Naomi Peterson Channels a Sweet Tooth and Sense of Togetherness in Her Vibrant ‘Cup-Cakes’

    February 4, 2025

    ArtCraftFood

    Kate Mothes

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    Frosted sponge and overstuffed pies are just a few of the sweet treats Naomi Peterson crafts from clay. Her playful “cup-cakes” take confectionery as a starting point, adding layers reminiscent of fondant, ice cream scoops, berries, and sprinkles.

    Many of Peterson’s pieces are functional, incorporating lids or handles to be used as vessels or coffee mugs. “I’m drawn to visual sweetness, imagining the potential enjoyment of confectioneries rather than physically consuming them,” she tells Colossal. “I actually prefer savory and salty foods to sweet ones!”

    “Topiary Jar 2”

    Flowers complement playful lattice patterns in vibrant hues, sometimes leaning into a garden theme with topiary forms. Peterson relies on an intuitive approach that combines wheel-thrown techniques with hand-building methods like coils, slabs, and pinching. “I construct different forms and plan surfaces later,” she says. “I find if I pre-plan the surface and shape from the beginning, the process becomes too controlled, limiting spontaneity.”

    Once the basic form is complete, Peterson adds or removes elements through darting—cutting wedge-shaped pieces from a cylinder of clay—and embellishing with sprig or press molds. “My surfaces require many applications and separate firings to achieve vibrant, layered effects,” she says. “Before ceramics, I spent many years painting mainly with oils, influencing much of my surface decisions.”

    We often think of confectionery as a token of joy, celebration, and togetherness. Every cake and bon bon reflects Peterson’s interest in relationships and the way our actions and emotions entwine us with others and our communities. The spaces in between the dot patterns are essential, “not to keep each element distant but to connect them,” she says. “Although not physically connected, each of us is important as part of a whole.”

    Peterson’s work will be part of Dirt Folk: Planted, a pop-up exhibition running concurrently with the 2025 National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts conference in March in Salt Lake City. If you’re on the East Coast, you’ll be able to see her work in Lines and Patterns from March 22 to May 24 at Baltimore Clayworks. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

    Assorted “Cakes”

    “Flower Pot”

    Assorted “Bon Bons”

    “Bloom Cake 2”

    Assorted “Bon Bons”

    “Pluff Jar”

    Confectionery-inspired mugs

    “Harmonia”

    Assorted “Cakes”

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  • 138 Shares144 Views

    in Art

    Simon Laveuve’s 1/35-Scale Dwellings Hint at a Post-Apocalyptic Way of Life

    “Temple” (2025), mixed media. All images courtesy of Simon Laveuve, shared with permission

    Simon Laveuve’s 1/35-Scale Dwellings Hint at a Post-Apocalyptic Way of Life

    February 3, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    Whether slathered with graffiti, overgrown with moss, or decorated with found knick-knacks, Simon Laveuve’s sculptures hint at anonymous lives. Even though we never see those who inhabit the eclectic miniature dwellings (previously), the artist invites us to examine an alternative way of life.

    Crafted at 1/35 scale, tiny tables, windows, paintings, and other objects fill multi-story rooms and mezzanines. In his most recent works, Laveuve continues his characteristic assemblage-like style, imagining a post-apocalyptic reality where basic belongings provide for a simple life.

    Detail of “D’un bout à l’autre”

    In “D’un bout à l’autre,” for example, which translates to “from one end to the other” the structure appears to have risen from the pier of a long-destroyed bridge. Its swampy base contains old tires and other detritus, while above, a narrow, three-story shack includes basic amenities.

    In this imagined existence, there is presumably no electricity grid or internet, a windmill provides enough power for a fan and a refrigerator, and a tank stores water. Laveuve taps into a kind of “future past,” turning to equipment and methods many of us view as obsolete today, like gramophones and metal milk jugs.

    If you’re in Paris, you can see Laveuve’s solo exhibition Voir Loin at Loo & Lou Gallery through March 1. His work is also included in Small Is Beautiful, which is currently on view in Taipei. Discover more miniature worlds on the artist’s website and Instagram.

    “D’un bout à l’autre” (2025), mixed media, 52 x 40 x 31 centimeters

    Detail of “D’un bout à l’autre”

    “D’un bout à l’autre”

    Detail of “D’un bout à l’autre”

    “La Volière” (2025), mixed media

    Detail of “La Volière”

    “Temple” (2025), mixed media

    Detail of “Temple”

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  • 138 Shares144 Views

    in Art

    Suspicious Animals Take Stock of Their Surroundings in Strangford’s Vibrant Prints

    All images © Strangford, shared with permission

    Suspicious Animals Take Stock of Their Surroundings in Strangford’s Vibrant Prints

    February 3, 2025

    Art

    Jackie Andres

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    A posse of vibrant creatures slyly scope out their surroundings in prints by Jo Pearson, a.k.a. Strangford. From pigeons and rabbits to alligators and fish, the artist’s most recent creations expand upon her previous works featuring playful animals.

    In the last year, Strangford has gradually shifted her practice toward carving wood, contrasting her earlier techniques that largely focused on linoleum. “It might seem like a small change, but it makes a big difference to the character and texture of the print,” the artist explains. “The more handmade the finished print looks the happier I am.”

    As Strangford refines her woodblock carving skills, she also explores the possibilities of reduction printing, which refers to the act of gradually carving away more material from the same block after using it to print initial layers. This is one of the ways she can achieve such detailed expressions and more complex patterns.

    Strangford’s work is currently on view for the Lino Print 4 exhibition in the U.K. Follow the artist’s Instagram for peeks at her process, and check out her website for prints.

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  • 138 Shares161 Views

    in Art

    Elemental Shifts and Enigmatic Narratives Anchor Rupy C. Tut’s Mystical Paintings

    “A River of Dreams” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 62 x 42 1/4 x 2 inches framed. Photos by Phillip Maisel. All images courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman, San Francisco

    Elemental Shifts and Enigmatic Narratives Anchor Rupy C. Tut’s Mystical Paintings

    February 3, 2025

    ArtClimateSocial Issues

    Kate Mothes

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    Verdant scenery inhabited by vibrant wildlife and graceful feminine figures center in the work of Rupy C. Tut, whose paintings (previously) draw upon her Sikh ancestry and experiences emigrating from India as a young girl. “As an environmentalist and Indian-American woman, she never takes place for granted,” says a statement from Jessica Silverman Gallery, which represents the artist.

    Tut’s ethereal works tread the boundaries between abstraction, portraiture, pattern, and traditional Indian painting. Her compositions introduce narratives—often captivatingly mysterious—that highlight enigmatic mystical, elemental, and spiritual phenomena.

    “Bursting with Clouds” (2024) handmade pigments on linen, 41 1/2 x 61 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches framed

    The artist’s subjects typically exist front-and-center, like in “A River of Dreams,” in which a figure sits in a stream and observes a lily while dark clouds move in above. Motifs of darkening skies and dramatic change continue in recent works like “Bursting with Clouds” and “The First Rain.”

    Oscillating between idyllic paradises, anxieties around climate disasters, and gender constraints, Tut focuses on female figures, turning the tables on a genre that typically focuses on male achievements. “I question traditional roles and labels while preserving traditional practices,” she says.

    Tut was a 2024 recipient of the Joan Mitchel Foundation Fellowship, and her work is on view in the group exhibition About Place at San Francisco’s de Young through the end of November. You can explore more on her website and Instagram.

    “A Place Dear to Me” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 61 1/2 x 41 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches framed

    “The First Rain” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 61 1/2 x 41 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches framed

    “Riding my Thunder” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 61 1/2 x 41 1/2 x 2 inches framed

    “Where Dreams Flow” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 42 1/8 x 82 x 2 inches framed

    “Bowing to the Cosmos” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 61 3/8 x 41 5/8 x 2 inches framed

    “Archipelago” (2024), handmade pigments on linen; diptych, 61 1/2 x 83 x 2 1/4 inches overall, framed

    “Escaping the Heat” (2024), handmade pigments on hemp paper, 13 3/4 x 18 3/8 x 1 1/2 inches framed

    “A Natural Thought” (2025), handmade pigments on linen, 81 1/2 x 41 1/2 x 2 inches framed

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  • 150 Shares110 Views

    in Art

    Ernesto Neto Crochets an Enormous Snake to Slither Inside Le Bon Marché

    All images © Stephane Aboudaram | we are content(s), shared with permission

    Ernesto Neto Crochets an Enormous Snake to Slither Inside Le Bon Marché

    January 31, 2025

    Art

    Grace Ebert

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    “If Adam and Eve had not eaten the Divine Apple, they would still be in paradise, wouldn’t they? And us? Where would we be?” asks Ernesto Neto in relation to his latest project.

    At Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche in Paris, the Brazilian artist (previously) presents his signature crocheted installations. A 28-foot snake coils up through the atrium for “Le La Serpent,” a monumental project evoking the creation myth of Adam, Eve, and the snake.

    Rather than view the story from the perspective of sin, Neto chooses to see the animal as a life-giving force that transcends the Abrahamic story. Utilizing both male and female articles, the title positions the serpent as exceeding gender and instead as a joyful, spiritual force that can connect mind and body. The artist notes that many cultures, from Mesoamerica to Cambodian mythology to ancient Greek, viewed the serpent as god. Given that the Lunar New Year recently ushered in the Year of the Snake, the project also has a timely tie to Eastern traditions.

    Although Neto frequently incorporates bold colors into his installations, the yarn in this project uses white to celebrate Aristide and Marguerite Boucicaut, the founders of Le Bon Marché who encouraged artists to use the color in their works in the 19th century.

    A collaborative, meditative space awaits visitors on the second floor. Neto composed a song that plays throughout the room, while a large tee stands at the center. Dried leaves, turmeric, and cumin fill the trunk, adding an earthy, spiced scent to the air. The chalkboard-style walls are designed for visitors to draw and leave notes for future viewers.

    “I want to remind people that they have a body—that they can feel it,” the artist said. “Scents activate memory and help us reconnect with our own essence.”

    If you’re in Paris, see “Le La Serpent” through February 22.

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  • 125 Shares121 Views

    in Art

    Nick Cave’s Nearly 26-Foot Bronze Stands for Resistance Amid Oppression

    “Amalgam (Origin)”
    (2024), bronze,
    309 5/8 x 201 x 227 inches. All photos by Vincent Tullo, courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, shared with permission

    Nick Cave’s Nearly 26-Foot Bronze Stands for Resistance Amid Oppression

    January 30, 2025

    Art

    Grace Ebert

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    Whether weaving plastic pony beads into a monumental sculpture, adorning figures with mother-of-pearl buttons, or mosaicing ceramic tile across a New York subway station, Nick Cave has continually returned to one question: how does this material help bring people into the work?

    “I have to think about the journey and how I get your willingness to explore and go with me,” he told Colossal in 2022.

    “Amalgam (Plot)” (2024), bronze, tole flowers, and cast iron door stops, 63 x 120 x 125 inches

    This month at Jack Shainman Gallery’s new Tribeca location, Cave presents his latest material explorations. Amalgams and Graphts comprises two distinct bodies of work that are a sort of progression from the artist’s signature Soundsuits. Created following the Los Angeles Police Department’s beating of Rodney King in 1991, the ebullient costumes conceal the wearer’s identity and invite viewers to engage from a place of non-judgment.

    For Amalgams, Cave created bronze casts of his own body at different scales evocative of Soundsuits. At the center of the exhibition is an unmissable, almost 26-foot sculpture that towers over the space. Thick foliage cloaks the figure and emphasizes the possibility for growth as branches sprout from the upper torso, creating what the artist refers to as a “migration hub” where perched birds take refuge. Nearby, a similar work depicts a smaller, yet equally opulent figure seated with feet lifted off the ground.

    “Amalgam (Plot)” is the most compact of the three. Erupting with vintage tole flowers, the floor sculpture portrays two figures, one lying on his back and the other face down with his arms over his head to take cover. The protective pose mimics a scene of racially motivated violence captured on video.

    In part a move toward accessibility, the bronze works are part of Cave’s interest in public art and sharing his practice—including his commitment to cultivating resistance in the face of oppression—more broadly.

    “Grapht” (2024), vintage metal serving trays and needlepoint on wood panel, 95 1/2 x 143 1/2 x 2 inches

    While the artist frequently incorporates his own body into his work, Graphts is the first time he’s made himself so recognizable. Self-portraits appear amid decadent collages of vintage serving trays decorated with floral motifs. A long-time collector of found objects, Cave melds the platters with needlepoint, a domestic craft historically practiced by privileged, wealthy women.

    As is typical in the artist’s work, the trays take on several meanings, invoking servitude and the aesthetics of social systems along with the multi-valent notion of “serving.” Associated with subordination and duty, “to serve” in ballroom culture is instead “a directive to act with confidence and attitude.”

    Amalgams and Graphts continues in New York through March 15. Find more from Cave on Instagram.

    Left: Nick Cave and Bob Faust, “Wallwork,” (2024), wall vinyl, 157 x 367 1/4 inches. Right: “A·mal·gam” (2021), bronze, 122 x 94 x 85 inches

    “Grapht” (2024), vintage metal serving trays and vintage tole on wood panel, 95 1/2 x 95 1/2 x 10 inches

    “Amalgam (Plot)” (2024), bronze, tole flowers, and cast iron door stops, 63 x 120 x 125 inches

    “Grapht” (2024), vintage metal serving trays, vintage tole, and needlepoint on wood panel, 95 1/2 x 193 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches

    “Amalgam (Plot)” (2024), bronze, tole flowers, and cast iron door stops, 63 x 120 x 125 inches

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  • 125 Shares149 Views

    in Art

    Reflections and Human Connections Resonate in Marina Kappos’ Optical Paintings

    “Sun Study (Midnight)” (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 16 x 16 inches. All images courtesy of the artist, shared with permission

    Reflections and Human Connections Resonate in Marina Kappos’ Optical Paintings

    January 30, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    In physics, quantum entanglement describes how particles being generated, interacting, or in proximity to one another cannot have independent quantum states. Albert Einstein referred to this phenomenon as “spooky action at a distance.” In short, once particles have interacted, they remain connected, even if they are millions of light years apart.

    For artist Marina Kappos, entanglement inspires an interest in frequency, resonance, and connection through painting. “In a peculiar way, I can relate to distant particles affecting one another because I have an identical twin sister,” she tells Colossal. “I have grown up with a mirrored reflection of myself, but one that is also independent and leading a different life than me. This unique perspective has created a lifelong bond of interconnectedness between my sister and me.”

    “188” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 58 x 58 inches

    Kappos describes her paintings, like her life, as a double or a mirror that reflects in myriad ways. She invokes a kind of “buzzing frequency and optical motion” that creates the impression that solid, distinct objects—like our bodies—are fluid or malleable.

    “We are inextricably linked to one another and our surroundings,” the artist says. “Where does the body end and the universe begin? Vibration is a clue that it is closely related. These paintings, combined with my own life experience, have highlighted my evolving awareness of the nature of reality.”

    Kappos applies acrylic paint in semi-transparent layers of color, which overlap to create a resonating or vibrating visual quality. She is interested in portraying human connections, especially women, often emphasizing profiles or hands because they hint at the body but may not be the first detail one notices when seeing reverberating, optical color effects. Many works have light and dark counterparts, like “Sister 1” and “Sister 2.”

    “Like echoes, the repeated motifs almost have a Doppler effect, where there is an increase or decrease in frequency of light depending on where you stand,” Kappos says. “The ethereal, transparent layers of paint eventually become profiles of faces, sometimes melding into landscape, at times appearing out of focus, simply buzzing or humming along.”

    “199 (Sister 1)” (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 24 x 24 inches

    Many of these works were recently on view in her solo shows Ultraviolet Catastrophe at The Pit in Los Angeles and Spooky Action at Shrine in New York City. She currently has a piece in the group exhibition Soft Focus at The Hole’s Los Angeles location.

    The artist is currently engaged in a residency in Paris at Résidence artistique Retina, a program established by a medical center in the heart of the city to improve the experience for hospital patients, visitors, and staff. Find more on Kappos’s website and Instagram.

    “199 (Sister 2)” (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 24 x 24 inches

    “Sun Study (Aurora)” (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 16 x 16 inches

    “Vibrating Woman” (2020), acrylic on canvas, 72 x 120 inches

    “179” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 58 x 58 inches

    “Ultraviolet Study (Tangle)” (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 16 x 16 inches

    “Spooky Action Study (Skull)” (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 16 x 16 inches

    “Ultraviolet Study (Night Rider” (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 16 x 16 inches

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  • 188 Shares190 Views

    in Art

    In London, an Enormous Exhibition of 500+ Works Roots Out the Creative Seeds of Flowers

    Rebecca Louise Law, “Calyx” (2023). Image courtesy of the artist

    In London, an Enormous Exhibition of 500+ Works Roots Out the Creative Seeds of Flowers

    January 29, 2025

    ArtNaturePhotography

    Grace Ebert

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    In nature, flowers serve as an essential component of the reproduction process. But for humans, scented blooms are ripe with myriad meanings and symbolism that transcend their biological functions.

    During Victorian times, offering a bouquet to someone with your right hand indicated a non-verbal “yes,” while a yellow carnation would reject an admirer. Similarly in art history, wilting flowers rendered as a momento mori remind us of death’s inevitability, and for van Gogh, sunflowers were the perfect stand-in for gratitude.

    Aimée Hoving, “Compost” (2019). Image © Aimee Hoving, flowers by Brigitte Gentis van Dam Merrett

    A massive exhibition opening next month at Saatchi Gallery cultivates a vast repertoire of works that explores how blooms have become an omnipresent entity in human life and creativity. Flowers: Flora in Contemporary Art and Culture brings together more than 500 photographs, installations, sculptures, archival pieces, and other objects to create a rich landscape spanning millennia.

    Anchoring the exhibition is an expansive and immersive work of 100,000-plus dried flowers by Rebecca Louise Law. Smaller pieces include Xuebing Du’s ethereal photos of flowers in natural light, VOYDER’s streaky steam-laden compositions, and lush, vibrant gardens by Faye Bridgewater.

    Opening in time to usher in spring in London, Flowers runs from February 12 to May 5.

    VOYDER, “In Love with the Idea of You” (2024). Image courtesy of the artist

    Kasia Wozniak, “Anemoia #7.” Image courtesy of the artist

    Sandra Kantanen, “Still Life (Flowers I).” Image courtesy the artist and Purdy Hicks Gallery

    Xuebing Du, “Mother of Pearl” (2018). Image courtesy of the artist

    Carmen Mitrotta, “Geometric Leaves.” Image courtesy the artist

    Faye Bridgewater, “En Masse” (2025). Image courtesy of the artist

    Ann von Freyburg, “Floral Arrangement 1 (After Jan van Huysum, Still Life).” Image courtesy of the artist

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