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Whimsical Ceramic Sculptures by En Iwamura Evoke Ancient Traditions and Childlike Curiosity
by Aurelia Butler 6 February 2025, 16:07
“Neo Jomon: Green Mask” (2024), glazed ceramic, 35 3/8 x 30 1/4 x 28 3/4 inches. Photos by Grace Dodds. All images courtesy of the artist and Ross + Kramer, Gallery, New York, shared with permission
Whimsical Ceramic Sculptures by En Iwamura Evoke Ancient Traditions and Childlike Curiosity
February 6, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
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In Japanese philosophy, the concept of Ma emphasizes the relationships between time and space and how moments, intervals, and distance provide the basis for how we experience the world around us. Derived from the word Ma, or “間,” which translates to “pause” or “gap,” the idea of negative space is viewed as a fundamental element of art and architecture.
For En Iwamura, who lives and works near Kyoto, working from the perspective of Ma forms a significant tenet of his sculpture practice (previously). He examines scale, the sense of one’s surroundings, and comfort in proximity to others. “People constantly read and measure different Ma between themselves, and finding the proper or comfortable Ma between people or places can provide a specific relationship at a given moment,” the artist says in a statement.
“Neo Jomon: Black/White Mask” (2024), glazed ceramic, 38 1/4 x 34 5/8 x 29 1/2 inches
In Mask, Iwamura’s solo exhibition at Ross+Kramer Gallery, he delves into the cultural, conceptual, and symbolic significance of the titular objects. Drawing on childhood memories of visiting the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, where he saw masks from around the world, the artist evokes the sense of mystery he felt upon viewing the works and curiosity about their origins.
Masks have been used for centuries in cultures all around the globe, predominantly associated with religious ceremonies, funerary customs, festivals, dramatic performances, and other rituals of social importance. We don masks to protect us from inclement weather or to provide a layer of safety in certain sports or recreational activities. In 2020, the mask took on a new significance in the global effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Iwamura’s playful, gentle, sometimes wistful ceramic sculptures reference the historical nature of masks while reflecting their role in our contemporary world. “A driving force behind this collection of work is a reconnection to child-like senses of curiosity, wonderment, and creativity,” says an exhibition statement.
In this exhibition, Iwamura presents numerous sculptures from his ongoing Neo Jomon series, drawing on details characterizing earthenware of the ancient Jōmon culture, which existed in what is modern-day Japan from around 14,000 to 300 B.C.E. The name literally means “cord-marking” after a style of pottery scholars attribute to the period.
“Neo Jomon: Mask and Eyes” (2024), glazed ceramic, 31 7/8 x 31 7/8 x 28 inches
Soft forms complement vibrant hues and a variety of textures in Iwamura’s sculptures, which range in size from a little over a foot tall to more than five feet. “To achieve these intricate surfaces, the artist allows his hand-built forms to air dry slightly before drawing various tools across the surface of the clay,” the gallery says. The textures recall rake-like patterns of Buddhist Zen gardens and cord-marking, a technique of pressing a twisted cord into wet clay.
“While serving as a meditation on parenthood, this series is also an encouragement to reunite with one’s inner child,” the gallery says. Mask continues through March 26 in New York City. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.
“Neo Jomon: Red Mask” (2024), glazed ceramic, 46 x 46 1/2 x 31 1/8 inches
“Neo Jomon: Stacking Neighbor” (2024), glazed ceramic, 20 1/8 x 7 7/8 x 7 7/8 inches
“Neo Jomon: Pink Mask (Beret)” (2024), glazed ceramic, 36 x 40 x 7 1/4 inches
“Neo Jomon: Stacking Neighbor” (2024), glazed ceramic, 16 7/8 x 11 3/4 x 11 3/4 inches
“Neo Jomon: Black Mask (Crack)” (2024), glazed ceramic and gold, 31 x 31 x 9 inches
“Neo Jomon: Stacking Neighbor” (2024), glazed ceramic, 15 x 9 7/8 x 6 3/4 inches
“Neo Jomon: Blue Mask” (2024), glazed ceramic and gold, 23 x 36 x 14 5/8 inches
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Order and Chaos Entwine in Abstract Embroideries by Kristine Stattin
by Aurelia Butler 5 February 2025, 19:49
All images courtesy of Kristine Stattin, shared with permission
Order and Chaos Entwine in Abstract Embroideries by Kristine Stattin
February 5, 2025
ArtCraft
Grace Ebert
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Where someone might see opposition, Kristine Stattin finds fitting companions. Working in her studio in the Occitanie region of southern France, the artist alternates between hand and machine embroidery as she layers long, sweeping lines and tiny, tufted French knots. The contrasts create tension and intrigue and ensure that Stattin doesn’t get too comfortable with any one mode.
“My work is all about the process, being in and surrendering to the moment, embracing the unknown, not being attached to outcomes and expectations, and bringing the threads to life,” she says.
Bursting with color and texture, Stattin’s abstract embroideries evoke movement and energy through several layers of thin, sewing thread stitched atop one another. There’s tension between orderly rows and chaotic smatterings. “Each new piece is an internal journey, a sort of enigma that asks to be solved, and I use the needle and threads to capture a feeling, movement, and life itself,” she shares.
Occasionally, appliqué, screen-printing, and acrylic-painted details appear in her pieces, and decisions to incorporate new materials are part of an instinctive process guided by the work itself. Color is similar, with combinations of pastel hues and bold, saturated palettes derived from nature, the artist’s surroundings, or even the way sewing thread falls on her table.
“I am interested in an intuitive, yet mindful process, to see where the threads will take me, to see and respond to what happens, and to work with eventual mistakes,” she says. “I embrace those mistakes as they often lead to new ideas that I bring into future work.”
Follow Stattin on Instagram for updates and glimpses into her process.
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Timo Fahler’s Stained-Glass Sculptures Question Symbols and Curtailed Freedoms
by Aurelia Butler 5 February 2025, 17:41
“give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door” (2023), chain-link fence, steel, stained glass, lead, and aluminum, 48 x 38 x 6 inches. All images courtesy of the artist and Sebastian Gladstone Gallery, shared with permission
Timo Fahler’s Stained-Glass Sculptures Question Symbols and Curtailed Freedoms
February 5, 2025
ArtSocial Issues
Kate Mothes
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The creation of stained glass can be traced back to ancient Egypt and Rome, but we most often associate it with its popularity in Western Christianity, as in the biblical narratives adorning chapels and cathedrals. For Timo Fahler, this tradition forms the foundation of a multimedia practice influenced by Mesoamerican codice imagery, national symbols, and motifs found in older European churches.
Stained glass is a “storytelling medium in which I get to draw from everything I experience, everything I study, read, believe in, and even distrust,” Fahler tells Colossal. “We are floating in a unique era of questioning reality, the last gasp of the living generation before automation integrates itself via AI, ChatGPT, and digital interface.” He views his practice as depicting this era and even, in a way, immortalizing it.
“topos haliaíetos for the bald eagle; topos chrysaetos for the gold eagle/Mexico” (2023), steel, cast iron, stained glass, lead, tin, and obsidian, 27 x 41 x 2 inches
Fahler first worked with lampworking glass while studying ceramics at the Kansas City Art Institute, which sparked an ongoing interest in the medium. Recently, he began incorporating it into what he calls “rebar drawings,” which form the foundation of much of his work. “I was curious about letting the unpredictability of light become a part of the ‘materials’ I work with,” the artist says.
Many of Fahler’s sculptures are framed or supported by heavy-duty metals like rusted steel, iron fences, and gates. Stained glass hovers a few inches from the wall, casting colorful shadows. For his most recent works, Fahler places barriers atop the glass to consider not only the viewer’s relationship to the image but also the implications of people being barred from freedoms and knowledge. “I draw from a lot of different sources—historical, mythological, and fantastical—all of which encompass my ‘heritage,’” the artist says.
In a piece titled after the poem “New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, which is carved in bronze on the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal, Fahler uses a gate to frame a detail of Lady Liberty’s arm constructed of tiny glass squares soldered to the facets of a chain-link fence. Historically a potent symbol of welcome, amnesty, and inclusiveness, the statue in this context references how today, new immigrants’ access is more troubled and often blocked.
Serpents, dragons, eagles, and landscapes merge with realistic portraits and references to historical moments and national emblems, like Mexico’s crest featuring a golden eagle on a cactus with a snake in its talons. The image centers on the nation’s flag, representing the resilience, bravery, and spirit of the Mexican people. Echoing his representation of the Statue of Liberty, the icon is barricaded, merging with iron bars.
“I against i” (2024), found fence, steel, stained glass, grisaille, glass, and lead, 53.5 x 53 x 7 inches. Photo by Nick Massey
Fahler is currently working on a solo presentation with Sebastian Gladstone this autumn. He and his family just moved to Amsterdam, where he shares he’s beginning from a “zero-point/clean canvas” in a new studio, and he plans to explore ideas around the complexities of sovereignty, expatriation, and a quickly evolving global society.
“The world is changing so quickly that we cannot collectively understand, let alone keep up with it!” he says. “I’m excited to be working on all of that and look forward to the body of work that depicts it.”
Find more on Fahler’s website and Instagram.
“two-headed serpent” (2023), mirror steel, cast iron, stained glass, copper, and lead, 30 x 45 x 4 inches
“fever dream” (2024), found gate, steal, stained glass, grisaille, and lead, 32 x 84 x 6 inches. Photo by Nick Massey
“twin serpents” (2024), steel, stained glass, lead, and rebar, 70 x 64 x 64 inches. Photo by Nick Massey
“Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-099)” (2023), fence, steel, stained glass, and lead, 64 x 59.5 x 3.5 inches
“copper zen mountain” (2023), rebar steel, stained glass, lead, and copper, 30 x 40 x 6 inches
“code switching” (2024), found chain-link fence, steel, stained glass, and lead, 64 x 48 x 8 inches
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Wycliffe Stutchbury Configures Miniature Wood Shingles into Mesmerizing Arrangements
by Aurelia Butler 5 February 2025, 15:32
“The Craig,” 17th-century barn blockwork repair clad in English oak sourced, harvested, seasoned, and machined from fallen branches in adjacent woods, 13 x 4.3 meters, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire
Wycliffe Stutchbury Configures Miniature Wood Shingles into Mesmerizing Arrangements
February 5, 2025
ArtCraft
Kate Mothes
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“Always in my mind is the desire to describe the landscape of the human body and the country,” says artist Wycliffe Stutchbury, whose elegant compositions are intimately tied to nature and a sense of place. He creates handmade wood shingles made from a range of sources like bog oak, holly, and ash, arranging the pieces into elemental compositions.
“I work with wood because it is full of surprises, and it is a miraculous material,” Stutchbury tells Colossal. “Its character, texture, fragility, robustness, and the way in which it records the passing of time… I really just see myself as an editor of nature.”
“Hundred Foot Drain 15,” excavated bog oak, 180 x 80 centimeters, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire
The artist is fascinated by the human relationship with landscape, or what he describes as “the struggle between our desire to impose form on the natural world and its unwillingness to conform.” No matter how we try to manipulate, use, or suppress the natural environment, it always shapes our efforts.
Stutchbury was formally trained as a furniture maker, and when he graduated from university, he focused on making what he calls “miniature realities,” or very precise models of everyday things, which he exhibited in large, white spaces. After university, he moved into a studio with some fellow graduates. The artist realized he needed to put the nose to the grindstone and began to gravitate back to woodworking.
“One day, I was walking home and the neighbour’s house was being re-roofed,” the artist says. “The builders had left the old roofing battens in the front garden, and I asked if I could take them away. The rain and sun and time had produced these wonderful colours on the timber.”
With his mind still in “miniature mode,” Stutchbury imagined a small tiled roof, and a textural wall panel clad with little shingles emerged. The rest is history, as they say. Over time, he experimented with different types of foraged wood, making larger panels, multi-piece installations, tapestry-like wall hangings and, most recently, architectural interventions.
Detail of “The Craig”
His project “The Craig,” a title derived from the Gaelic word for rock, reinterprets the exterior cladding of a 17th-century stone barn in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. Following the contours of the original stonework and the covered aisle through the center, Stutchbury applied hundreds of shingles in a delicately undulating pattern.
The artist harvested material for “The Craig” exclusively from fallen branches in the adjacent woods. “The title for each work is provided by the location that the timber is found,” he says. “I seek out fallen and forgotten wood, and how it has responded to its surroundings and environment provides me with the platform to work from.”
Stutchbury follows where the work takes him. “Although I strive to apply my own structure to these works through concentration and technical skill, I fail,” he says, adding:
I make mistakes, my concentration wanders, I change my mind, (and) I can’t maintain a straight line or a perfect sphere. I find I am being pulled toward an intuitive way of working, like stacking firewood. So, I allow the timber I have before me to lead the way, and through a process of editing, I try and reveal the qualities and narrative held within it.
The artist has been busy with commissions, including a trip in May to Maine—a region rich with Shingle Style architecture—where he will clad one elevation of a house on the coast. Explore more on the artist’s website.
“Holme Fen 3,” handsawn excavated bog oak tiles hung on cotton twill, 330 x 228 centimeters
“The Rodd,” discarded barn cladding, 127 x 79 centimeters, Prestigne, Powys
“The Hill 10,” felled common holly, 180 x 90 centimeters, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire
Detail of “The Craig”
“Hundred Foot Drain 9,” excavated bog oak, 100 x 150 centimeters, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire
“Oakhill Park,” felled ash tree, 93 x 88 centimeters, Oakhill House, Hildenborough, Kent
“Fenland Drape,” excavated bog oak and autumn leaves on 230gsm artists linen, 270 x 270 centimeters, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire / Lucas Gardens London SE5
“Hundred Foot Drain 9” in progress
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From Remedios Varo to Laurie Simmons, a New Exhibition Forwards a Feminist View of the Uncanny
by Aurelia Butler 4 February 2025, 19:00
Remedios Varo, “Tejido espacio-tiempo (Weaving of Space and Time)” (1954), oil on Masonite, 32 1/2 x 28 inches. Photo by Lee Stalsworth. Artwork © 2023 Remedios Varo/Artists Rights Society, New York/VEGAP, Madrid. All images courtesy of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, shared with permission
From Remedios Varo to Laurie Simmons, a New Exhibition Forwards a Feminist View of the Uncanny
February 4, 2025
ArtHistoryPhotographySocial Issues
Kate Mothes
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In a 1906 essay, psychiatrist Ernst Jentsch coined the term “uncanny,” or unheimlich, meaning “unhomely” or “not home-like” in German. He defined the psychological phenomenon as the experience of something new or unknown that might initially be interpreted negatively.
Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud popularized the word with the publication of his book The Uncanny in 1919, which elaborated on the idea as not just the sensation of the unknown but also something capable of bringing out other hidden or repressed elements. He even went so far as to describe the uncanny as frightening.
Mary Ellen Mark, “Tashara and Tanesha Reese, Twins Days Festival, Twinsburg, Ohio” (1998; printed later), gelatin silver print, 20 x 24 inches. Photo by Lee Stalsworth. Image © Mary Ellen Mark/The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation
During the 20th century, the Surrealists often turned to the concept to build a sense of mystery or tension in their works. Meret Oppenheim, for instance, famously created a teacup lined with fur, simply titled “Object” (1936), widely regarded as an iconic example of the movement.
Oppenheim is one of more than two dozen artists whose work will appear in the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ forthcoming exhibition, Uncanny, featuring recent acquisitions and rarely shown pieces in NMWA’s collection, plus special loans.
More than 60 works by renowned figures of modern art history like Louise Bourgeois, Remedios Varo, and Leonora Carrington will be shown alongside the likes of contemporary artists like Shahzia Sikander, Laurie Simmons, and Gillian Wearing. The large-scale presentation is the first to approach the concept through a feminist lens, organizing works around themes of safety and surreal imaginings.
The show also plumbs the phenomenon of the “uncanny valley,” a term coined by robotics engineer Masahiro Mori in 1970 to describe the apprehension or discomfort one feels when confronted with something that is almost human but not quite, like video game characters that appear realistic yet still somehow seem “off.”
Laurie Simmons, “The Music of Regret IV” (1994), Cibachrome print, 19 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches. © 2019 Laurie Simmons
In Laurie Simmons’ “The Music of Regret IV” (1994), a female ventriloquist dummy sits in the center of a circle of six male dummy dolls, whose gazes are trained on her as she looked out into the distance. Tapping into a medium that has been used in the horror genre to instill a sense of creepiness or dread, Simmons’ central character is dramatically spotlit, her smile belying the reality that she is unsettlingly hemmed in.
Along the theme of safety, or specifically unsafe spaces, Fabiola Jean-Louis’s elaborately staged photographs tell two stories at once. The artist portrays “seemingly innocuous portraits of close acquaintances wearing elaborate period costumes typical of upper-class European women, while disturbing images of racial and sexual violence are hidden within the background or details of a dress, reminding the viewer of the lineage of violence,” says an exhibition statement.
Many works in the show address physical trauma or the body’s relationship to the unknown. Frida Orupabo’s photographic collages, for example, portray Black figures that evoke colonial histories, critiquing historical violence and injustices through a process of fragmenting, distorting, and multiplying body parts.
Orupabo’s compositions echo the surrealist collaborative practice of cadavre exquis, or exquisite corpse, in which participants add to elements others have drawn without being able to see their work, producing intuitive and peculiar drawings.
Frida Orupabo, “Two Heads (detail)” (2022), framed collage with paper pins, 58 1/4 x 41 1/2 inches. © Frida Orupabo, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nordenhake Berlin/Stockholm/Mexico City
“The enigmatic, darkly humorous and psychologically tense artworks in Uncanny give form to women artists’ powerful expressions of existential unease,” said NMWA Associate Curator Orin Zahra, who organized the exhibition. She continues:
Rather than comfort and soothe, these ghostly and fantastical figures haunt the unconscious. Instead of picturesque images, artists offer disquieting spaces that unsettle the viewer. In focusing on the ambiguity between reality and fiction, artists explore increasingly blurred lines between the artificial and eerily human.
Uncanny opens February 28 and continues through August 10 in Washington, D.C., highlighting painting, sculpture, photography, works on paper, and video made between 1954 and 2022. Learn more and plan your visit on the museum’s website.
Fabiola Jean-Louis, “They’ll Say We Enjoyed It” from the series ‘Rewriting History’ (2017), archival pigment print, 33 x 26 inches. © Fabiola Jean-Louis, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Myrtis
Gillian Wearing, “Sleeping Mask (for Parkett, no. 70)” (2004), wax reinforced with polymer resin, paint, 8 1/4 x 5 5/8 inches. Photo by Lee Stalsworth. Artwork © Gillian Wearing/Artists Rights Society, New York/DACS, London
Julie Roberts, “Sigmund Freud Study” (1998), oil on acrylic ground on cotton duck, 84 x 72 inches. Photo by Lee Stalsworth. Artwork © Julie Roberts/DACS, London
Gillian Wearing, “Me as Mona Lisa” (2020), chromogenic print, 24 1/4 x 19 1/8 inches. © Gillian Wearing, courtesy of the artist, Maureen Paley, London, and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles
Leonora Carrington, “The Ship of Cranes” (2010), bronze, 26 x 14 x 42 1/2 inches. Photo by Lee Stalsworth. Artwork © Leonora Carrington/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Remedios Varo, “Fenómeno de ingravidez (Phenomenon of Weightlessness)” (1963), oil on canvas, 29 1/2 x 19 5/8 inches. © 2023 Remedios Varo/Artists Rights Society, New York/VEGAP, Madrid
Polly Morgan, “Receiver” (2009), taxidermy quail chicks and Bakelite telephone handset, 9 x 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches. Photo by Lee Stalsworth. Artwork © Polly Morgan
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Naomi Peterson Channels a Sweet Tooth and Sense of Togetherness in Her Vibrant ‘Cup-Cakes’
by Aurelia Butler 4 February 2025, 10:00
“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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Simon Laveuve’s 1/35-Scale Dwellings Hint at a Post-Apocalyptic Way of Life
by Aurelia Butler 3 February 2025, 19:00
“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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Suspicious Animals Take Stock of Their Surroundings in Strangford’s Vibrant Prints
by Aurelia Butler 3 February 2025, 15:49
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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Art

More stories

Whimsical Ceramic Sculptures by En Iwamura Evoke Ancient Traditions and Childlike Curiosity

Order and Chaos Entwine in Abstract Embroideries by Kristine Stattin

Wycliffe Stutchbury Configures Miniature Wood Shingles into Mesmerizing Arrangements

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

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

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

ITALIAN LANGUAGE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE