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

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

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

      May 2, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

      Detail of “Iguana & Myrrh”

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

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

      Detail of “Iguana & Myrrh”

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

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    • 138 Shares146 Views

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      Architectural Textiles by Sarah Zapata Explore Material Culture and Intersecting Identities

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      “Part of the tension (from earthen pits) II” (2024), handwoven cloth, natural and synthetic fiber, and hand coiled rope, 50 x 14 x 14 inches. All images © Sarah Zapata, courtesy of the artist, Kasmin, and Sargent’s Daughters, shared with permission

      Architectural Textiles by Sarah Zapata Explore Material Culture and Intersecting Identities

      May 1, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      In vibrant patchworks of woven patterns and fuzzy fiber ends, Sarah Zapata’s sculptures (previously) emerge as wall-hung tapestries, standalone pieces, and forest-like installations. Through the convergence of architectural structures, soft textiles, and myriad patterns and textures, her site-specific works examine the nature of layered identities shaped by her Peruvian heritage, queerness, her Evangelical upbringing in South Texas, and her current home in New York.

      Zapata balances time-honored craft practices with contemporary applications, highlighting the significance of Indigenous Peruvian weaving, for example, as a means of communication. Symbols and patterns composed into cloth traditionally provided a means of sharing knowledge and cosmological beliefs.

      Installation view of ‘Beneath the Breath of the Sun’ (2024) at ASU Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona. Commissioned by CALA Alliance

      In abstract sculptures that often merge with their surroundings, Zapata incorporates unexpected and vibrant color combinations with woven fabrics and tufted textures. Resisting easy categorization, her pieces are neither functional nor purely decorative, although they play with facets of both.

      Zapata consciously holds back from creating work that is too “beautiful,” inviting a remarkable, tactile exploration of relationships between craft, lineage, community, and memory.

      Some of the works shown here are included in Support Structures at Sargent’s Daughters, which continues through through May 3. Find more on Zapata’s website and Instagram.

      “How often they move between the planets” (2022), handwoven cloth, natural and synthetic fiber, 144 x 60 inches

      Detail of “How often they move between the planets”

      “Part of the tension (from earthen pits) I” (2024), handwoven cloth, natural and synthetic fiber, and hand coiled rope, 49 x 14 x 14 inches

      Installation view of ‘To strange ground and high places,’ Galleria Poggiali, Milan. Photo by Michele Alberto Sereni

      “Towards and ominous time III” (2022), handwoven cloth, natural and synthetic fiber, 144 x 60 inches

      Installation view of ‘To strange ground and high places,’ Galleria Poggiali, Milan. Photo by Michele Alberto Sereni

      Detail of “Part of the tension (from earthen pits) II”

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    • 113 Shares87 Views

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      Frank Kunert’s Uncanny Photos Chronicle a Surreal Miniature World

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      All images © Frank Kunert, shared with permission

      Frank Kunert’s Uncanny Photos Chronicle a Surreal Miniature World

      May 1, 2025

      ArtPhotography

      Kate Mothes

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      It’s hard to imagine a welcome mat being rolled out at the entrance to a Secret Service compound, let alone a table for two perched atop a diving platform in the middle of winter. But for Frank Kunert, these unsettling scenarios happen practically every day, albeit on a very small scale.

      Kunert’s photographs (previously) capture a range of structures and interiors that for myriad reasons, feel just a little bit “off.” Whether it’s a racetrack’s snack stand interrupting one of the running lanes, a solo dining table stuck out in the snow, or an idyllic yet impossibly narrow apartment complex, the artist’s hand-built miniature sets explore where familiarity and the uncanny meet.

      Tapping into the absurdities of everyday life, Kunert plays with architecture, quotidian objects, customs, and our associations with home or public spaces. His elaborate models appear realistic enough at first glance, but upon closer inspection, we notice things that challenge our sense of scale and material, like chalk lines on a racetrack or powdered sugar-like snow.

      Kunert meticulously designs the lighting, furniture, wall coverings, and outdoor settings to give the impression of a reality turned sideways—sometimes literally. His compositions possess a dark, ironic undertone, prompting us to pause and suspect, for example, whether what’s on the other side of the nondescript door labeled “FUN” is actually as advertised. People are never present, but we can imagine customers having just left a restaurant or a homeowner sitting just inside a closed door.

      Kunert is currently working on a series titled Dreams Come True, some images from which are shown here, which will be compiled in a book or exhibitions down the line. And later this month, Hatje Cantz releases a new monograph, The Best of Frank Kunert, now available for pre-order. Explore more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

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    • 150 Shares130 Views

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      In ‘I’m Listening,’ Barry McGee Celebrates Positivity in Amid Distress and Overwhelm

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      Installation view of ‘I’m Listening’ at Perrotin, Paris, 2025. Photos by Claire Dorn. All images © Barry McGee, courtesy of the artist and Perrotin, shared with permission

      In ‘I’m Listening,’ Barry McGee Celebrates Positivity in Amid Distress and Overwhelm

      April 30, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      “Barry McGee lives in San Francisco—he was born there and he lives there,” critic and curator Richard Leydier opens in an essay accompanying the artist’s current solo exhibition, I’m Listening, at Perrotin. “This fact is important because his art would be profoundly different had he chosen to move to another American city.”

      McGee draws inspiration from the West Coast subculture he grew up within, surrounded by skaters, surfers, and street artists. He has long been interested in marginalized communities, societal outcasts, and those seen as subversive.

      The artist is a key figure of the Mission School, which emerged in the early 1990s through the work of a number of artists who were connected to the now-defunct San Francisco Art Institute. Other influential artists include Margaret Kilgallen (1967-2001), Ruby Neri, Claire Rojas, and more, all of whom explore the intersections between urban realism, graffiti, American folk art, and “lowbrow” aesthetics undergirded by social activism.

      McGee adopted monikers like “Twist” and “Lydia Fong” in his own graffiti writing and also explored painting and printmaking, which he still taps into in his expansive, multidisciplinary practice. He explores “dynamic panel assemblages, complex patterns reminiscent of op art, and immersive installations that explore the human condition,” the gallery says.

      I’m Listening erupts with color, pattern, and texture through a bounty of sculptures, paintings, prints, and assemblages that reimagine everyday objects. Surfboards are cloaked in optical geometric patterns in acrylic paint, and McGee’s signature grimacing, cartoonish faces appear on collages or in place of labels on glass bottles.

      “I focus on everything that is shitty on our little planet right now,” McGee says. Expressions of disgust or surprise are paired with playfulness, though. He adds, “I also celebrate all these incredible things that humans invent to stay positive and healthy.” I’m Listening continues through May 24 in Paris.

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    • 125 Shares130 Views

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      Metaphysical Portals Emerge Within Forests in Eli McMullen’s Otherworldly Paintings

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      “Inner Escape” (2025), acrylic on panel, 16 × 20 inches. All images courtesy of the artist and Thinkspace Projects, shared with permission

      Metaphysical Portals Emerge Within Forests in Eli McMullen’s Otherworldly Paintings

      April 30, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      Roaming the metaphysical spaces between dreams and reality, Eli McMullen draws on the familiarity of suburban and wooded landscapes to bid us into dreamlike worlds. Plumbing the interplay of perception and imagination, his acrylic paintings invite us into moments of wonder and transcendence.

      The Richmond, Virginia-based artist’s forthcoming solo exhibition, Sleep Walk at Thinkspace Projects, explores relationships between nostalgia, spirituality, nature, and psychological phenomena. He celebrates “fleeting moments that feel suspended in time, glimmers that quietly urge to be searched,” the gallery says.

      “Desire Path Finder” (2025), acrylic on panel, 16 × 20 inches

      Sleep Walk welcomes viewers into nighttime forest scenes that glow with geometric light forms, altar-like architecture, and prismatic reflections. Titles like “Desire Path Finder,” “Liminal Bridge,” and “Kismet Gateway” highlight the essence of links, portals, metamorphoses, and in-between spaces.

      The show runs May 3 to 24 in Los Angeles. See more on McMullen’s website and Instagram.

      “Dream Weaver” (2025), acrylic on panel, 20 × 24 inches

      “Embers Rest” (2025), acrylic on panel, 18 × 24 inches

      “Draped Shrine” (2025), acrylic on panel, 11 × 14 inches

      “Liminal Bridge” (2025), acrylic on panel, 16 × 20 inches

      “Fractal Grove” (2025), acrylic on panel, 11 × 14 inches

      “Kismet Gateway” (2025), acrylic on panel, 16 × 20 inches

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    • 163 Shares130 Views

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      To ‘Walk the House,’ Do Ho Suh Traverses Memory and Perceptions of Home

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      “Rubbing/Loving Project: Seoul Home” (2013-2022), installation view of ‘The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House.’
      All images © Do Ho Suh, courtesy of the artist, Lehmann Maupin
      New York, Seoul, and London, and Victoria
      Miro. Photo by Jai Monaghan/Tate, shared with permission

      To ‘Walk the House,’ Do Ho Suh Traverses Memory and Perceptions of Home

      April 30, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      “Is home a place, a feeling, or an idea?” That’s the lofty yet immanently relatable question at the heart of Do Ho Suh’s major survey open now at Tate Modern. The London-based Korean artist (previously) explores notions of belonging, connection, comfort, security, and familiarity in large-scale installations that replicate his own homes in Seoul, London, and New York, among a range of vibrant multimedia works.

      Suh is known for his use of gossamer fabric to create immersive, monumental installations. In The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House, the artist “examines the intricate relationship between architecture, space, the body, and the memories and moments that make us who we are,” the museum says.

      “Nest/s” (2024), installation view of ‘The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House’

      Visitors are invited to walk through “Nest/s,” for example, an expansive assemblage of colorful, sheer textile structures that link together to form a passageway or conduit. As the boundaries between interior and exterior are blurred, we’re invited to experience architecture from the perspective of movement and perception, highlighting how all of our interactions with other homes or places are inherently linked.

      Issues around shelter, safety, and community are inextricably tied to how we perceive home, especially when for many around the world, those basic needs are in constant peril or upended without warning. “Suh asks timely questions about the enigma of home, identity, and how we move through and inhabit the world around us,” a statement says.

      The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House continues in London through October 19. Plan your visit on the museum’s website, and follow updates on Suh’s Instagram.

      Detail of “Nest/s.” Photo by Jeon Taeg Su

      “Perfect Home: London, Horsham, New York, Berlin, Providence, Seoul” (2024), installation view of ‘The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House’

      Still from “Robin Hood Gardens, Woolmore Street, London E14 0HG” (2018), commissioned by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

      “Nest/s” (2024), polyester and stainless steel, 410.1 x 375.4 x 2148.7 centimeters. Photo by Jeon Taeg Su

      Detail of “Rubbing/Loving Project: Seoul Home” (2013-2022), installation view at Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, Australia. Photo by Sebastian Mrugalski

      “Home Within Home (1/9 Scale)” (2025), installation view of ‘The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House’

      “Nest/s” (2024), installation view of ‘The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House’

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    • 138 Shares135 Views

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      Amiee Byrne’s Realistic Ceramic Sculptures Underscore the Charm of Discarded Goods

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      All images © the artist, shared with permission

      Amiee Byrne’s Realistic Ceramic Sculptures Underscore the Charm of Discarded Goods

      April 29, 2025

      Art

      Jackie Andres

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      Australian artist Amiee Byrne is drawn to everyday objects that are “so normal, they’ve become invisible,” she says. Meticulously sculpting clay into life-sized representations of their counterparts, Byrne highlights the tender charm and understated significance of forgotten and discarded goods.

      Creating an accurate portrayal involves the conscientious embrace of imperfections and defects. Take, for instance, Byrne’s bear sculpture. Splooted on its belly as if frozen in time after being dropped onto the ground, the well-loved teddy bear’s fluffy yet matted fur remains slightly discolored in some areas, as well as its snout. Details of authenticity ultimately cue a poignant emotional response. “This object is getting a second chance and I like to celebrate the flaws,” she says.

      Technically speaking, the Los Anegles-based artist has developed a distinct knack for producing hyperrealistic textures. While it can be particularly challenging to accomplish lifelike surfaces with ceramic pieces, Byrne employs several underglazes to achieve the perfect sheen or flat finish atop each object.

      Often times scrolling the internet for hours, searching for tools to execute such precise textures, Byrne also explains that she is fond of experimenting with different items around the house. “My favorite tool is a dustpan broom,” she says. “I’m always bashing clay with it to create different effects.”

      Find other projects from the artist on her website, and see more work on Instagram.

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    • 175 Shares156 Views

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      From Miniature to Massive, Boundless Landscapes Spill Out of Frame in Barry Hazard’s Paintings

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      “Whirlwind” (2023), 7 x 9 x 1.5 inches. Images © the artist, shared with permission

      From Miniature to Massive, Boundless Landscapes Spill Out of Frame in Barry Hazard’s Paintings

      April 28, 2025

      Art

      Jackie Andres

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      Confined within tiny, ornate frames until inevitably spilling over the edge, Barry Hazard’s expansive landscapes are “spaces for reflecting, contemplation, and surrendering to something larger and more timeless than us,” he says.

      Inspired by vast notions such as the relationship between humans and nature and ecological conflict, Hazard (previously) translates broad themes into miniature works. The Brooklyn-based artist employs tiny frames, wood panel, and acrylic to depict a multitude of scenes from mudslides and flower farms to glaciers and snowy roads. With so much contained in such small compositions, Hazard describes his process as “a simple way to rapidly engage in an artistic process, with an ultra-manageable scale.”

      “Flower Farm” (2024), 6 x 5 x 7 inches

      Last year for New York’s Upstate Art Weekend, the artist expanded upon his miniature work, delving into a project on the opposite end of the scale of proportions. “Walk-In Painting” culminates Hazard’s carpentry and muralist experience, uniquely activating his otherwise tiny paintings. Viewers are able to step into a rolling scenery teeming with vibrant blooms, tufts of bushes, and sweeping mountains in the distance, creating an experience that is “both fictional and non-fictional,” the artist explains.

      Hazard has also ventured into the realm of batch production through the technique of resin casting. While the artist typically uses more traditional materials for his small works, he has been able to create a sizable amount of gifts for friends and family by creating numerous blank casted bases before painting each by hand.

      Find more work on the artist’s website, and take a look into his process on Instagram.

      “Mudslide” (2024), 9 x 7 x 2 inches

      “Walk-In Painting” (2024), 8 x 10 x 7 feet

      “Purple Plain” (2023), 1 x 1.5 inches

      “Sunset Glacier” (2023), 9 x 8 x 2 inches

      “Flood Zone” (2024), 8 x 7 x 3 inches

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