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Charming Flights of Fancy Fill Vanessa Gillings’ Imaginative Illustrations
by Aurelia Butler 14 October 2025, 13:38
“Envoy” (2025), watercolor and gouache, 10 1/4 x 13 3/4 inches. All images courtesy of Vanessa Gillings and Gallery Nucleus, shared with permission
Charming Flights of Fancy Fill Vanessa Gillings’ Imaginative Illustrations
October 14, 2025
ArtIllustration
Kate Mothes
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For fans of cozy cottages, sipping tea with a good book, exploring misty woodlands, and relishing timeless folk- and fairytales, the illustrations of Vanessa Gillings tap into a sense of comfort and wonder. Her protagonists, often donning witchy or wizard-like hats, appear to be on marvelous and mysterious journeys, sometimes accompanied by ravens, foxes, or butterflies as they explore forests, pen stories, or attempt to cast spells.
The works shown here formed part of the artist’s recent solo exhibition, Into the Woods, with Gallery Nucleus. See more on Gillings’ website and Instagram.
“Making Friends” (2025), watercolor and gouache, 9 x 11 3/4 inches
“The Forest Guardian” (2025), watercolor and gouache, 19 1/2 x 7 3/4 inches
“Waiting for Inspiration” (2025), watercolor and gouache, 10 1/4 x 8 1/4 inches
“Constant Companion” (2025), watercolor and gouache, 9 3/4 x 14 1/2 inches
“Ferdinand” (2025), watercolor and gouache, 7 1/4 x 9 inches
“Homeward” (2025), watercolor and gouache, 9 1/2 x 14 3/4 inches
“Memories” (2025), watercolor and gouache, 18 x 6 3/4 inches
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Armed with Scraps, Lydia Ricci Builds a World of Messy Miniatures
by Aurelia Butler 12 October 2025, 16:10
“They Made It Look So Easy” (2024), collected scrap materials, 22 x 26 x 15 centimeters. All images courtesy of Lydia Ricci, shared with permission
Armed with Scraps, Lydia Ricci Builds a World of Messy Miniatures
October 12, 2025
Art
Grace Ebert
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For Lydia Ricci, a broken pencil, outdated forms, long-ago paid bills, and tattered bits of fabric are prime materials for her elaborate, small-scale worlds. The artist credits her parents’ obsession with collecting as the beginning of what’s grown into a scrap-centric process.
“My mother was an immigrant from the Ukraine who could improvise anything when we didn’t have exactly what we needed, which was most of the time. And my Italian father hasn’t ever thrown anything away because one day it might be useful, or some day he might get around to fixing it,” she writes.
Detail of “It’s What’s Inside” (2025), collected scrap materials, 10 x 38 x 13 centimeters
Today, Ricci pieces together bits and baubles collected for the past 30 years that many other artists might relegate to the trash. Cardboard, candy wrappers, vintage tumblers, and so much more form uncanny miniatures that she refers to as “observations of what people anticipate, complain about, or muse over. Fleeting, unscripted exchanges—mundane yet deeply human—are a continual source of inspiration.”
Meticulous and playful, the resulting sculptures retain a messy, raw quality that is itself a collection of the original materials. Rather than mask irregularities and signs of wear, Ricci leaves traces of chaos and disorder that capture an authentic quality of modern life.
Find much more from the artist on Instagram.
“It’s What’s Inside” (2025), collected scrap materials, 10 x 38 x 13 centimeters
“That’s Everything” (2024), collected scrap materials, 30 x 35 x 16 centimeters
“They Were Just Playing” (2024), vintage red Pizza Hut tumblers and collected scrap materials, 90 x 40 x 40 centimeters
Detail of “They Were Just Playing” (2024), vintage red Pizza Hut tumblers and collected scrap materials, 90 x 40 x 40 centimeters
Detail of “They Made It Look So Easy” (2024), collected scrap materials, 22 x 26 x 15 centimeters
“We Should Have Taken Better Care of It” (2023), collected scrap materials, 8 x 8 x 10 centimeters
“How Did You Get So Good?” (2024), Ukrainian embroidery and collected scrap materials, 8 x 8 x 21 centimeters
“Take a Turn” (2025), collected scrap materials, 80 x 46 x 5 centimeters
Detail of “Take a Turn” (2025), collected scrap materials, 80 x 46 x 5 centimeters
“I Think We Got Disconnected” (2025), collected scrap materials, 22 x 32 x 20 centimeters
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In ‘The Party is Over,’ Murmure Confronts the Absurd Spectacle of the End Times
by Aurelia Butler 10 October 2025, 21:05
“Dark Spots” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 50 x 70 centimeters. All images courtesy of Galerie LJ, shared with permission
In ‘The Party is Over,’ Murmure Confronts the Absurd Spectacle of the End Times
October 10, 2025
Art
Grace Ebert
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In a world this absurd and disastrous, do we gravitate toward cynicism or levity? For the artist duo known as Murmure (previously), both are the only option.
The Caen, France-based pair presents a new body of paintings and charcoal drawings in their plainly titled exhibition, La fête est finie, or The party is over. Through a unique sense of wit and irony, they transform astronauts into runway models, the moon into a nuclear power plant, and a birthday cake into a raging forest fire.
“Moon Walk” (2025), carbon pencil on paper, 50 x 40 centimeters
Where there could be commonplace sights or moments of joy and frivolity, Murmure instead presents an unsettling composition. Every ill-advised choice—whether baking in front of a UV screen or watching cows graze on an ice floe—becomes a spectacular confrontation with our collective obsessions with consumerism, ecological wreckage, and self-serving gluttony.
La fête est finie is on view through November 22 at Galerie LJ in Paris. Find more from the artists on their website and Instagram.
“UV #2” (2025), carbon pencil on paper, 35 x 35 centimeters
“Nuclear Moon” (2025), carbon pencil on paper, 50 x 70 centimeters
“A Mushroom Story” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 200 x 150 centimeters
“Happy Birthday” (2025), carbon pencil on paper, 55 x 40 centimeters
“UV #1” (2025), carbon pencil on paper, 180 x 130 centimeters
“Cooler Age” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 50 x 70 centimeters
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Ant Hamlyn’s Vibrant, Smushed Still Lifes Preserve the Impermanent
by Aurelia Butler 9 October 2025, 14:34
“Chandelier.” All images courtesy of the artist and Moosey
Ant Hamlyn’s Vibrant, Smushed Still Lifes Preserve the Impermanent
October 9, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
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Known for his squishy flowers and foliage made of polyurethane-coated fabrics, often encased-slash-smushed behind panels of clear acrylic, Ant Hamlyn has a sense of humor when it comes to art history.
Nodding to genres in Western art like vanitas still-life paintings, he creates textile reliefs that tap into our contemporary condition. From fast food to houseplants to a vibrant bar cart, his compositions playfully explore themes of indulgence, impermanence, beauty, and the quotidian.
“Greasy Spoon”
Until recently, Hamlyn has focused predominantly on cartoonish botanicals, and he now delves further into the still-life genre. Works like “Greasy Spoon,” “Shelf Life,” and “Drive-Thru” incorporate motifs of food and trendy home decor evocative of quirky snapshots one might see on Instagram, with people just out of frame.
The works seen here were recently presented by Moosey, and you can find more of Hamlyn’s work on his website and Instagram.
“Potwash (I Ought to Give You a Lesson in How to Clean Tables, Boy!”
“Drive-Thru”
“Berry and Rye”
“Shelf Life”
“Soft Vanitas”
“Megadeal”
“Houseplant”
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Yen Yen Chou Embraces Change in a Whimsical Realm Brimming with Water Droplets
by Aurelia Butler 8 October 2025, 17:00
“Leaves of Becoming” (2025), watercolor and gouache on paper, 16 x12 inches. All images courtesy of Kishka Gallery, shared with permission
Yen Yen Chou Embraces Change in a Whimsical Realm Brimming with Water Droplets
October 8, 2025
Art
Grace Ebert
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With a penchant for kaleidoscopic colors and whimsy, Yen Yen Chou renders a dainty, dreamlike environment in which pastel hues and subtle gradients rule. The artist, who lives between Taipei and Brooklyn, is drawn to dualities, particularly the relationships that emerge from “the ephemeral and the physical, the micro and the macro,” she says. At Kishka Gallery & Library, Yen Yen’s presentation of two modes of working—watercolors on paper and epoxy clay reliefs—conjures the magic of polarities.
An Ever Changing View, as its name suggests, takes transformation as its root. Water droplets recur throughout the works, descending from a long, thin line into a swirling pool in “Rippling,” for example, and appearing as anthropomorphic, dozing characters in “Leaves of Becoming.” While suspended on panel or paper, these forms connote movement, as they’ll eventually evaporate or combine with a larger body.
“Rippling” (2025), acrylic and epoxy clay on wooden panel, 37 ½ x 25 inches
For now, though, Yen Yen depicts a whimsical world on the verge of possibility. “This new body of work continues my exploration of transformation and interconnectedness in everyday life. I’ve been thinking about dualities…and how these relationships shape the way we experience life, through our thoughts, perceptions, and emotions,” she writes.
An Ever Changing View is open through November 22 in White River Junction, Vermont. Find more from Yen Yen on her website and Instagram.
“Lady Rainbow” (2023), acrylic on epoxy and foam, 15 x 5 ½ inches
“To Gaze Upon a Passing Sky” (2025), watercolor and gouache on paper, 12 x 16 inches
“Swinging in the rain” (2024), acrylic and epoxy clay on wooden panel, 27 x 22 inches
“Daydreamer” (2025), watercolor and gouache on paper, 12 x 16 inches
“Iridian Path” (2023), acrylic and epoxy clay on wooden panel, 26 x 21 inches
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Paolo Puck Imagines a World Called Fliffmellington and Its Uncanny Artifacts
by Aurelia Butler 8 October 2025, 14:39
All images courtesy of Paolo Puck, shared with permission
Paolo Puck Imagines a World Called Fliffmellington and Its Uncanny Artifacts
October 8, 2025
ArtDesign
Kate Mothes
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In Paolo Puck’s imaginary realm of Fliffmellington, surreal characters come to life through elaborate costumes. Often weathered and tumbled-looking, a series of handbags, purses, and helmets glimpse a wonderfully weird world.
“I’m in the long process of faithfully recreating various artefacts from the world of Fliffmellington,” Puck tells Colossal. “Long-term, I will be making a book and short film, as well as an anthropological exhibition of the artefacts.”
The artist aims to highlight the world of Fliffmellington through its material culture, which often features motifs of expressive or abstracted animals and absurdly large vegetables. The overall costumes reference personalities like the “Gherkin God” or an enigmatic, fantastical character named Celeste, who is associated with an organization called Jezilwik Grindlewax.
Puck’s approach to making detailed, wearable pieces is through the lens of archaeologist and conservator, as if the objects have been carefully excavated or recovered from a forgotten place, shedding light on an unknown culture.
Enter Puck’s uncanny world via the artist’s website and Instagram, and find tutorials and making-of insights via Substack. You might also enjoy Nikolas Bentel’s hyper-bespoke accessories.
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‘We AmeRícans’ Celebrates Puerto Rican Community, Pride, and Cultural Hybridity
by Aurelia Butler 7 October 2025, 15:05
Ruben Natal-San Miguel, “Home Ruins, Bathroom, Old San Jan, Puerto Rico” (2017), color serigraph/photo silkscreen on canvas, 24 x 36 inches. All images courtesy of Claire Oliver Gallery, shared with permission
‘We AmeRícans’ Celebrates Puerto Rican Community, Pride, and Cultural Hybridity
October 7, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
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At the end of September, the NFL’s announcement that Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny would be headlining the Super Bowl LX halftime show generated an uproar. He’s one of the most-streamed musical artists in the world, and while many fans rejoiced, the news made waves with conservatives, who take issue with the fact that he predominantly performs in Spanish and has been critical of the current administration. Bad Bunny has since clapped back in an appearance on Saturday Night Live, illuminating the culture war within the polarized U.S. political climate.
It seems fitting, with Puerto Rican Heritage Month just around the corner, that a group exhibition honoring the island commonwealth and its diasporic community opens soon at Claire Oliver Gallery in New York City. We AmeRícans, curated by Ruben Natal-San Miguel, brings together the work of 10 artists whose practices reflect “the history, resilience, and cultural contributions of the Puerto Rican community in New York City and beyond,” the gallery says.
Danielle de Jesus, acrylic on U.S. currency
Through photography, painting, sculpture, printmaking, textiles, and mixed-media compositions, the exhibition highlights Puerto Rican community and identity. The title is drawn from a poem by Tato Laviera titled “AmeRícan,” penned in 1985, a rhythmic and joyous celebration cultural hybridity.
We AmeRícans highlights an intergenerational group of artists, from the acclaimed and established practices of the likes of Carlos Rolón, Carlos Betancourt, and Danielle de Jesus to the fresh perspectives of young and emerging artists like Felix Plaza, Erica Morales, and Elsa María Meléndez.
Natal-San Miguel’s vibrant photographs, for example, draw from his series Puerto Rico: Paradise Ruined, Its Aftermath, in which he documents houses and businesses heavily damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Following the storm, thousands of people were forced to abandon their homes. “Between 114,000 and 213,000 Puerto Ricans are estimated to have relocated annually to the U.S. mainland since the hurricane,” the artist says in a statement.
A range of mediums lend themselves to cross-cultural experience. De Jesus meticulously renders a house facade with a Puerto Rican flag onto two U.S. one-dollar bills. Meléndez turns to textiles, on which she embroiders portraits and creates sculptural elements from an array of patterned fabrics. And Betancourt uses a range of found objects to create assemblages, sculptures, and large-scale print installations.
Carlos Betancourt, “Times of Illuminations” (2017-18), mixed media including collected tree toppers, electrical wiring, remote “magic” wand, paint, color pencils, etc, mounted on plywood, 101 x 101 inches
“This exhibition is a celebration and an act of preservation, documenting the creativity, strength, and ongoing impact of Puerto Rican artists across generations,” Natal-San Miguel says. “Through their work, we see not just personal narratives, but the collective story of migration, labor, resilience, and cultural pride.”
We AmeRícans opens in Harlem on November 5 and continues through January 3. See more on Claire Oliver Gallery’s website. You might also enjoy artist Adrián Viajero Román’s portraits that reflect on Puerto Rican diasporic experience.
Elsa María Meléndez, “La Isla de las Nostalgias / The Island of Nostalgias” (2020-24), embroidery on canvas with discarded stuffed stockings and wire, site-specific installation, 156 x 170 inches
Ruben Natal-San Miguel, “Home Ruins, La Perla, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico” (2017), color serigraph/photo silkscreen on canvas, 24 x 36 inches
Beatriz Williams, “Madurando,” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 inches
Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz, (2021), gown created in collaboration with costume designer Kristina Tollefson. Image of Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz during a dress rehearsal for the performance “Exodus Pilgrimage” (2019), in Orlando. Photo by Dominic DiPaolo
Felix Plaza, “Flora – Rojo y verde” (1999-2020), gum bichromate and silkscreen, individually hand-cut Rives BFK and other papers, 30 x 22.5 inches
Carlos Betancourt, “The Future Eternal (Process as Ritual)” (2018), pigmented inkjet on fine art paper, 36 x 36 inches
Dave Ortiz, “Barnito Providencia” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches
Erica Morales, “You’re Gonna Lose The House” (2024), spray paint, fabric collage and pencil on paper, 30 x 22 inches
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A Vibrantly Embellished Electric Art Truck in East London Is a ‘Home Away from Home’
by Aurelia Butler 6 October 2025, 20:00
All images courtesy of Colours of Redbridge, shared with permission
A Vibrantly Embellished Electric Art Truck in East London Is a ‘Home Away from Home’
October 6, 2025
ArtSocial Issues
Kate Mothes
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In the northeastern London borough of Redbridge, a community arts program has transformed a simple electric truck into a vibrant, mobile artwork. Clad in richly embellished metal panels, the touring project is titled “Home Away from Home” and is inspired by the vivid, hand-embellished trucks found in South Asia, especially around Pakistan and India.
“Home Away from Home” is the final installment of a broader series of social art presentations called Other Worlds, organized by Colours of Redbridge. The local charity is part of a broader Arts Council England program called Creative People and Places, which focuses on bringing arts and culture to communities where involvement in mainstream culture and creative expression is low relative to others.
The ornate truck was “designed by local groups to reflect what home means to them, exploring local heritage and identity in Redbridge, East London,” the organization says. “Bespoke panels reflect different themes such as music, sports, local landmarks, pets, and food—all of which are important to local community members and where they live.”
Abid Bhai, an accomplished truck artist, created the panels in Pakistan, then shipped them to the U.K., where local blacksmith Felicity Jones affixed the colorful elements to the sides, top, and even the wheels. London-based artists Momtaz Begum-Hossain, Sheyamali Sudesh, and Bailes+Light were also instrumental in the collaborative work. “I’ve especially loved running the community metal workshops, where participants poured their own ideas into custom panel designs,” Jones says.”Seeing people grow in confidence and express themselves creatively through metalwork has been a real highlight.”
Both Colours and Redbridge and Creative People and Places aim to not only break down barriers to the arts but to listen to residents’ real needs and wants. The overarching goal is to build and sustain healthier and happier communities. Through public engagement, the Colours of Redbridge also adheres to a mission “to reduce the impacts of the key issues residents face, such as the cost of living, health and wellbeing, or gaining skills and employment.”
The inaugural appearance of “Home Away from Home’s” included dance performances, music, craft workshops with artist Zareena Bano, and more. Follow updates about where the truck is headed next on Colours of Redbridge’s website.
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Art

More stories

Charming Flights of Fancy Fill Vanessa Gillings’ Imaginative Illustrations

Armed with Scraps, Lydia Ricci Builds a World of Messy Miniatures

In ‘The Party is Over,’ Murmure Confronts the Absurd Spectacle of the End Times

Ant Hamlyn’s Vibrant, Smushed Still Lifes Preserve the Impermanent

Yen Yen Chou Embraces Change in a Whimsical Realm Brimming with Water Droplets

Paolo Puck Imagines a World Called Fliffmellington and Its Uncanny Artifacts

‘We AmeRícans’ Celebrates Puerto Rican Community, Pride, and Cultural Hybridity

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