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    Lauded Dutch Golden Age Painter Rachel Ruysch Gets Her First Major Survey in the U.S.

    “Flowers in a Glass Vase” (1704), oil on canvas, 33 × 26 3/8 inches. Image courtesy of Detroit Institute of Arts. All images shared with permission

    Lauded Dutch Golden Age Painter Rachel Ruysch Gets Her First Major Survey in the U.S.

    March 11, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    Many of us are familiar with titans of the Dutch Golden Age like Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt, Jan Steen, and more. Yet fewer of us have probably heard of Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750), renowned during her lifetime for her original style but under-acknowledged through the centuries in the canon of Western art history.

    Co-organized by the Toledo Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, the first major U.S. exhibition of the artist’s work, Rachel Ruysch: Nature into Art, introduces audiences to the breadth of her remarkable paintings.

    “Posy of Flowers, with a Beetle, on a Stone Ledge” (1741), oil on canvas, 7 7/8 × 9 5/8 inches. Image courtesy of Kunstmuseum Basel

    During her seven-decade career, Ruysch was the first woman admitted to the Confrerie Pictura, The Hague painters’ society, and she was appointed court painter in Düsseldorf to Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine. She rose to become one of the highest-paid artists of her day. In a foreword for the exhibition catalog, the directors explain that “Ruysch achieved fame across Europe in her lifetime, but her oeuvre was little studied by art historians in subsequent centuries. She has never been the subject of a major exhibition—until now.”

    Art historians consider Ruysch to be among the most talented still life artists of the era, and by the time she died at 86, she had produced hundreds of paintings. Nature into Art includes more than 90 international loans, including 48 of her most significant works.

    The artist was born in The Hague, The Netherlands, to parents with backgrounds in science and design. Her father was a professor of botany and anatomy, and her mother was the daughter of an architect. The artist began painting when she was around 15, copying flower and insect specimens from her father’s collection.

    As her artistic faculty grew, Ruysch taught her father and her sister Anna how to paint. She merged modern scientific observation with an incredible aptitude for capturing light, composition, and form, and she typically dated her paintings when she signed them, giving art historians a clear record of stylistic shifts and subject matter over time.

    “Flowers and Fruit in a Forest” (1714), oil on canvas, 38 × 48 1/2 inches. Image courtesy of Städtische Kunstsammlungen & Museen Augsburg

    Ruysch’s success during her lifetime is attributed to both her unmistakable talent and the 17th-century Dutch fondness for flowers and gardening. Still life paintings of floral arrangements and tables heaping with food highlighted the beauty of nature and the gifts of plenty. The vanitas genre also sprung from the style, interpreting memento mori, Latin for “remember you must die,” into subtle, well-versed visual cues.

    Motifs like skulls, insects, rotting fruit, or wilting flowers were symbolic reminders of the futility of pleasure, power, or wealth after death. For example, in Ruysch’s “Posy of Flowers, with a Beetle, on a Stone Ledge,” beetles and flies crawl over a spray of peonies and wildflowers that will soon wilt, and water droplets signify purity and the fleetingness of life.

    Nature into Art runs from April 12 to July 17 in Toledo, traveling on to Boston afterward, where it opens on August 23.

    “Flowers” (1715), oil on canvas, 29 2/3 × 23 3/4 inches. Photo by Photo: Nicole Wilhelms, courtesy of Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen—Alte Pinakothek Munich

    Illustration from ‘Observations of a Surinam Toad,’ graphite on paper, 8 x 11 in. Image © The Royal Society, London

    Anna Ruysch (Dutch, active from 1685, died after 1741), “A Still Life of Flowers on a Marble Table Ledge” (1685), oil on canvas, 13 × 11 3/4 inches. Photo by Erin Croxton, courtesy of a private collection and Birmingham Museum of Art

    “Flower Still Life” (about 1716-20), oil on canvas, 29 3/4 × 23 7/8 inches. Image courtesy of Toledo Museum of Art

    Rachel Ruysch and Michiel van Musscher (Dutch, 1645–1705), “Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750)” (1692), oil on canvas, 30 × 25 inches. Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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    Vasilisa Romanenko’s Lush Portraits Wrap Common Birds in Decadent Patterns

    “American Crow” (2025),
    acrylic on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. All images courtesy of Vasilisa Romanenko and Arch Enemy Arts, shared with permission

    Vasilisa Romanenko’s Lush Portraits Wrap Common Birds in Decadent Patterns

    March 11, 2025

    ArtNature

    Grace Ebert

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    Beauty and nature’s resilience are at the core of Vasilisa Romanenko’s work. The Connecticut-based artist paints faithful depictions of common yet dignified birds amid clusters of fruits and flowers, exploring the power of opulence in times of upheaval.

    A stately crow poses amid rust-colored roses, a great blue heron poses amid clusters of tangerines and lilies, and a small warbler perches amid pink poppies. Referencing the defiantly decorative works of English textile designer William Morris (1834–1896), Romanenko embraces the entrancing nature of decadent patterns.

    “Great Blue Heron” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 22 x 28 inches

    “I want my work to feel like an escape from everyday life, like taking a moment to be still and appreciate nature,” she says about her solo exhibition, BIRDS & BLOOMS, at Arch Enemy Arts. Enveloped by flora at full bloom, the winged subjects exude a sense of calm and strength as they perch and prepare for their next flight.

    BIRDS & BLOOMS is on view through March 30 in Philadelphia. Find more from Romanenko on her website and Instagram.

    “Northern Mockingbird” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 11 x 14 inches

    “Black-capped Chickadee” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 5 x 7 inches

    “Orange-crowned Warbler” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 5 x 7 inches

    “Dark-eyed Juncos” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 9 x 12 inches

    “Palm Warbler” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 8 x 10 inches

    “Brewer’s Blackbird” (2025), acrylic on canvas, 9 x 12 inches

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    Intricate Postage Stamp Tattoos by Ash Aurich Are an Ode to Art History

    All images courtesy of Ash Aurich, shared with permission

    Intricate Postage Stamp Tattoos by Ash Aurich Are an Ode to Art History

    March 10, 2025

    ArtIllustration

    Kate Mothes

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    As the saying goes, if one knows very little about something, their knowledge could fit on the back of a postage stamp. But for tattoo artist Ash Aurich, the minuscule format provides a readymade canvas and frame ripe for experimentation, intrigue, and beauty.

    Using a fine line technique with delicate shading, Aurich outlines the unmistakable scalloped edges of the ubiquitous, tiny adhesives, filling rectangular compositions with Renaissance-inspired romantic and religious figures.

    A deep appreciation for iconic artworks inspired Aurich to create tiny odes to art history. “I wanted to be able to capture the essence of these masterpieces in a unique and engaging way,” she tells Colossal. “Having the opportunity to tattoo these designs on others who appreciate art is a rewarding experience.”

    Aurich’s preferred subject matter is people, especially the dramatic and often symbolic figures in art historical masterworks by the likes of Johannes Vermeer or Caravaggio. “The attention to detail, use of light and shadow, and mastery of human anatomy create stunning, lifelike representations that translate beautifully into tattoos,” the artist says. She shares that it’s important for the emotions and narratives of each portrait to resonate with the wearer, especially at their small scale.

    Currently in residency at Atelier Eva, Aurich has opened her books for March and April in New York City. The tattoos seen here are all flash designs, but she creates custom compositions, too. See more on Instagram.

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    Rui Sasaki Encases Spectral Flowers in Intimate Glass Assemblages

    “Residue” (2018). Photo by Ryohei Yanagihara. All images courtesy of Rui Sasaki, shared with permission

    Rui Sasaki Encases Spectral Flowers in Intimate Glass Assemblages

    March 10, 2025

    ArtNature

    Kate Mothes

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    “What is essential is invisible to the eye,” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote in his 1943 novella The Little Prince, a sentiment that drives Rui Sasaki’s work. From what the artist (previously) describes as a “mysterious and ambiguous material,” botanicals appear to float in frozen cubes of water.

    Sasaki employs glass to document and preserve the nature of the present. Works like “Subtle Intimacy” respond to places and experiences where she feels present. “It is vital for me to connect who I am and where I am, especially when I am in unfamiliar spaces,” the artist tells Colossal. She likens intimacy to nostalgia, exploring the depth of feeling associated with memories, comfort, and security.

    “Subtle Intimacy 2012-2023” (2023), glass, plants, LED, and aluminum, 253.5 x 310 x 332 centimeters. Collection of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. Photo by Nik van der Giesen

    Sasaki traces her fascination with the medium to childhood, specifically to its visual similarities to the surfaces of ponds or lakes. “I was always wondering how I could make something out of water,” she says. “When I saw molten glass at a glassblowing studio during a summer family trip in Okinawa, I fell in love with it.”

    When Sasaki moved to the U.S. from Japan in 2007, she began incorporating plants into her work as a way to “recover my senses from my loss of intimacy and home in my mother country,” she says. When she returned to Japan five years later, she continued to hone her focus on botanicals.

    Enchanted by how plants can express experiences of her surroundings, Sasaki portrays individual botanicals in sculptures ranging in size from a few feet wide to room-size installations. She says:

    Collecting plants is the most important aspect of the work. I use all my five senses in gathering plants. That helps me to recall my past memories, especially in my childhood, and to connect my feelings of intimacy towards my country, Japan.

    Sasaki places collected specimens between two sheets of glass and fires the piece in a kiln. The plant turns to white ash, leaving the impression of petals, leaves, and veins. Air bubbles that naturally emerge in the heat are also preserved in what the artist likes to a time capsule. The original form of the plant no longer exists but its impression endures.

    Detail of “Subtle Intimacy 2012-2023″ (2023). Photo by Nik van der Giesen

    Dualities like presence and absence, fragility and strength, and transparency and opacity merge with Sasaki’s interest in “befriending” glass while reveling in the knowledge that she will never fully comprehend everything about it.

    If you’re in Denmark, you can see Sasaki’s sculptures at Glas from March 22 to September 28 in Ebeltoft. Her work will also be on view later this year at the Aichi Triennale 2025. Explore more on the artist’s website, and follow Instagram for updates.

    “Residue” (2018). Photo by Ryohei Yanagihara

    “Unforgettable Gardens” (2022). Photo courtesy of Art Court Gallery / Takeru Koroda

    “Subtle Intimacy 2012-2023” (2023), glass, plants, LED, and aluminum, 253.5 x 310 x 332 centimeters. Collection of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. Photo by Nik van der Giesen

    Detail of “Subtle Intimacy / Utsuroi” (2024). Photo courtesy of National Crafts Museum (National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) / Tomoya Nomura

    “Subtle Intimacy / Utsuroi” (2024). Photo courtesy of National Crafts Museum (National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) / Tomoya Nomura

    Detail of “Dormant Recollections” (2024). Photo courtesy of Northern Alps Art Festival

    Detail of “Unforgettable Reminiscences” (2022-2023), installation view at Bellustar One. Photo by Keizo Kioku, ©︎ Tokyu Kabuchiko Tower

    Detail of “Unforgettable Reminiscences” (2022-2023), installation view at Bellustar One. Photo by Keizo Kioku, ©︎ Tokyu Kabuchiko Tower

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    Through LEGO Compositions, Katherine Duclos Grounds Chaos in Color

    “The fairies will find us if we leave a trail.” All images © Katherine Duclos, shared with permission

    Through LEGO Compositions, Katherine Duclos Grounds Chaos in Color

    March 7, 2025

    Art

    Jackie Andres

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    Katherine Duclos begins each artwork with a color palette and no plan. Placing modular LEGO bricks one by one, the Vancouver-based artist intuitively builds each dense composition, commencing a repetitive process in which she introduces paint before rearranging again.

    Duclos’ most recent solo show, aptly titled The light and color we carry, reinforces the overarching significance of color within the artist’s practice. She created her recent collection during a great shift as she moved to a new home with her family. The neurodivergent artist held onto color as a grounding force, creating connections between the specific hues and lights she would miss in her previous home.

    Detail of “Temper your touch please” (2024)

    A statement from the Vancouver Art Gallery reads:

    Times of transition and upheaval are particularly difficult for autistic families, and Katherine’s need to order her world became more intense as her home became more chaotic and the future seemed unclear. To better prepare herself for the changes, she focused on regulatory work that enabled her to feel a sense of control and order amidst the chaos. 

    Having disabilities with spatial processing and rotating images causes Duclos to run into some obstacles with the diagrams and instructions that accompany the traditional LEGO kit. “I never enjoyed Lego until my son handed me four flat pieces stuck together when he was 5 and said, ‘I thought you’d like these colors next to each other.’ That was my light bulb moment,” she says. Made to hang at any orientation, each vibrant amalgamation encourages movement and fluctuation despite the stiff, blocky nature of the material.

    Duclos is creating work in preparation for a forthcoming solo exhibition in January next year. Keep tabs on her work via Instagram and the artist’s website.

    “Fireflies and lilacs” (2024)

    “Let your sad light be a beacon (Raincouver)” (2024)

    Detail of “I will ahead of you and scaffold the light so you can see the path forward” (2024)

    “Sometimes the asymmetry is so subtle it’s subversive” (2024)

    “You can make your own plans, the day will make itself” (2024)

    “Temper your touch please” (2024)

    “I will ahead of you and scaffold the light so you can see the path forward” (2024)

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    David Surman’s Gestural Paintings Question How We Understand Animal Emotion

    “Bathers At K’gari” (2024), oil on canvas, 100 x 120 centimeters. All images courtesy of David Surman and Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, shared with permission

    David Surman’s Gestural Paintings Question How We Understand Animal Emotion

    March 7, 2025

    Art

    Grace Ebert

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    Now based in London, David Surman was raised in a small coastal village in southwest England. The bucolic scenery and access to animals left an indelible impact on the artist, who plumbs his memory and draws on a vast array of art historical references in his paintings.

    Surman’s most recent body of work is on view in his solo exhibition at Rebecca Hassock Art Gallery. In comparison to previous collections, After the Flood is less abstract but similarly gestural, as sweeping brushstrokes delineate a bull’s sinewed musculature or the curled mane of a bashful horse.

    “Clarion Call” (2024), oil on canvas, 120 x 100 centimeters

    Interested in the ways we project our experiences and ideologies onto the natural world, Surman renders recognizable subjects in a manner that reflects our tendency to ascribe human emotion and feeling to other species. “I like painting animals because they short-circuit people’s interpretive routines and get them looking at paint without the self-consciousness they might bring to abstract painting,” he said in a 2023 interview, adding:

    The creatures that I paint are caught up in our human problem, which is the separation from the world caused by consciousness. The way in which my animals look at the viewer deliberately sets up a feeling of intensity, perhaps troubled engagement, a kind of accusation or affection. But in every case, the creature possesses a trace or residue of conscious agency.

    In “Old Stew Head,” for example, viewers encounter a deeply troubled fox grasping a limp fish in its jaws. The dog in “Bathers At K’gari” is similarly anxious as it carries a young pup under a bright blue sky.

    After the Flood continues in London through March 29. Find more from the artist on his website and Instagram.

    “Old Stew Head” (2025), oil on canvas, 60 x 50 centimeters

    “Icarus And Daedalus” (2024), oil on canvas, 120 x 100 centimeters

    “Kelpie Of Loch Ailort” (2024), oil on canvas, 60 x 50 centimeters

    “The Explorers” (2025), oil on canvas, 100 x 120 centimeters

    “Leo The Lion (Art For Art’s Sake)” (2025), oil on canvas, 120 x 100 centimeters

    “Ostracon” (2025), oil on canvas, 160 x 140 centimeters

    “A Frog In An Endless Pond” (2024), oil on canvas, 60 x 50 centimeters

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    ‘The Praise House’ Shares the Story of a Contemplative Installation on an Alabama Plantation

    All images courtesy of 1504, shared with permisison

    ‘The Praise House’ Shares the Story of a Contemplative Installation on an Alabama Plantation

    March 6, 2025

    ArtFilmHistorySocial Issues

    Grace Ebert

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    On the site of the former Scott’s Grove Baptist Church, artist Tony M. Bingham has constructed a monumental work of contemplation and reflection. Two wood-paneled walls stand parallel in the serene clearing with stained glass windows, a Sylacauga marble floor, and a steel cutout depicting members who once worshiped on its grounds.

    A tribute to local history, Bingham’s work is titled “The Praise House,” which takes its name from the vernacular structures people who were enslaved often built on plantations throughout the Southern U.S. as a space for prayer. “My way of addressing the power and the legacy is to just begin to look at some of the possible sources of opposition that the enslaved community could have participated in,” the artist says.

    A new short documentary follows Bingham as he visits The Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation and installs the work. Located just outside of Birmingham in Harpersville, Alabama, the former plantation house is now a space for healing and reconciliation run by descendants of both the enslaved and enslavers.

    Today, the center hosts a variety of art and culture programming to reflect on its history, and “The Praise House” is one such commission. After learning more about the enslaved communities, Bingham wanted to create a work that honored their legacy. “Using organic, repurposed, and cast-off materials, I make art that tells the story of my cast-off people,” he says, adding:

    The house was being historically renovated, and planks of lumber were being replaced. I imagined that these old boards were the very surfaces enslaved people walked on or touched, and I sought to bring those materials back together in a way that could inspire reflection on the history of the enslaved people who once lived there.

    Directed by Tyler Jones of 1504, the film is a poignant, enlightening glimpse into the lengthy process behind “The Praise House.” Bingham, who is a professor at Miles College in Birmingham, frequently invokes the historical realities of the location and returns to fundamental questions about the purpose of his work and art more broadly. “Who will speak for my people if not the artist?” he asks. “Who will help those outside of the art dialog to understand the creative potential they possess?”

    Watch “The Praise House” above, and find more from the artist on Instagram.

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    Folk Traditions, Quotidian Items, and Spiritual Symbolism Merge in Haegue Yang’s Sensory Sculptures

    “Sonic Intermediates – Triad Walker Trinity” (2020), powder-coated steel and handles, casters, nickel and brass-plated bells, metal rings, plastic twine, turbine vents, artificial plants, pine cones, and foam. Photo by Nick Ash. Image courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York. All images courtesy of the artist, shared with permission

    Folk Traditions, Quotidian Items, and Spiritual Symbolism Merge in Haegue Yang’s Sensory Sculptures

    March 6, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    “Abstraction is not a…simplified way of thinking: it’s a leap—a leap into a dimension that cannot otherwise be understood,” says Haegue Yang, whose multimedia installations and sculptures explore a wide array of material associations, immersing the senses. Series such as Light Sculptures and Sonic Sculptures defy genres, often combining ready-made, mass-produced items with industrially created substances.

    At the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Yang’s solo exhibition Lost Lands and Sunken Fields engages viewers in a “dialectic of contrasts: light and dark, aerial and grounded, buoyant and heavy, spare and dense, interior and exterior,” a statement says. The show follows the artist’s first major survey in the U.K. at London’s Hayward Gallery, which embarked on a collage-forward celebration of work created during the past 20 years.

    “Frosted Scales Mermaid Queen – Mesmerizing Mesh #218” (2023), Hanji, washi, and origami paper on alu-dibond, framed, 24 3/8 x 24 3/8 inches. Image courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York

    Working between Seoul and Berlin, Yang hybridizes folk customs and craftsmanship, everyday items, and vernacular techniques in pieces that combine sculpture, installation, collage, text, video, wallpaper, and sound. “Sonic Intermediates – Triad Walker Trinity,” for example, coats steel frames in tiny bells, metal rings, plastic twine, and more, which evoke vaguely animalistic forms that move around on casters.

    Time and geography collapse in an abstracted visual language that merges the modern and the pre-modern, art history and literature, and themes of displacement, migration, forced exile, and global diasporas. Her works “link various geopolitical contexts and histories in an attempt to understand and comment on our own time,” says a statement from kurimanzutto, which represents the artist.

    The gallery also presents a concurrent exhibition titled Arcane Abstractions, including two-dimensional collage works complemented by an archival display of pieces by Mexican artisans. Yang continues to investigate cultural heritage and ritualistic symbolism through materials as she forwards “a proposal to live our lives today with a holistic view of mobility and technology, respect for spirituality, as well as contemplation on the resilient adaptability of both nature and humans,” says a statement. 

    Arcane Abstractions continues through April 5 in Mexico City, and Lost Lands and Sunken Fields runs through April 27 in Dallas.

    “Airborne Paper Creatures – Flutterers” (2025), birch plywood, wood stain, stainless steel components, Hanji, washi, origami paper, marbled paper, honeycomb paper balls, beads, metal bells, plastic crown flowers, parandy, Punjabi earrings and ornaments, stainless steel chains, split rings, steel wire ropes, and swivels, 47 3/4 x 22 x 25 1/2 inches, 21 3/4 x 12 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches, and 36 1/2 x 23 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches (three parts). Photo by Studio Haegue Yang. Image courtesy of the Nasher Sculpture Center

    Detail of “Airborne Paper Creatures – Flutterers.” Image courtesy of the Nasher Sculpture Center

    Installation view of ‘Haegue Yang: Leap Year’ (2024). Photo by Mark Blower. Image courtesy of the artist and the Hayward Gallery, London

    Installation view of ‘Haegue Yang: Leap Year’ (2024). Photo by Mark Blower. Image courtesy of the artist and the Hayward Gallery, London

    “Aztec Underwater Wanderer – Mesmerizing Mesh #214” (2023), Hanji and washi on alu-dibond, framed, 24 3/8 x 24 3/8 inches. Image courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York

    “Radial Tousled Epiphyte” (2025), birch plywood, wood stain, acrylic board, powder-coated stainless steel wall mount, stainless steel components, Hanji, and marbled paper, 54 3/4 x 54 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches. Photo by Studio Haegue Yang. Image courtesy of the Nasher Sculpture Center

    Detail of “Radial Tousled Epiphyte.” Image courtesy of the Nasher Sculpture Center

    “Sonic Clotheshorse–Dressage #3” (2019), powder-coated aluminum frame, mesh and handles, casters, brass-and nickel- plated bells, split rings, 60 1/4 x 22 x 30 3/4 inches, and “Sonic Clotheshorse–Dressage #4” (2019), powder-coated aluminum frame, mesh and handles, casters, brass-and nickel-plated bells, and split rings, 50 1/4 x 19 1/4 x 33 3/4 inches. Installation view of ‘Haegue Yang: Emergence’ at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada, 2020. Photo by Craig Boyko, AGO

    “Aqua-Respirating Soul Sheet – Mesmerizing Mesh #263” (2024), Hanji, washi, and origami paper on alu-dibond, framed, 24 3/8 x 24 3/8 inches. Image courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York

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