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Biological Cells and Chinese Ceramic Traditions Coalesce in Shiyuan Xu’s Porcelain Sculptures
by Aurelia Butler 3 March 2025, 18:00
“Hybrid #7” (2024), porcelain, Paperclay, and glaze, 19 x 9.5 x 15 inches. All images courtesy of Shiyuan Xu, shared with permission
Biological Cells and Chinese Ceramic Traditions Coalesce in Shiyuan Xu’s Porcelain Sculptures
March 3, 2025
ArtCraftNature
Kate Mothes
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From seeds to the world’s smallest organisms, the inspiration for Shiyuan Xu’s porcelain sculptures (previously) originates in biology. Fascinated by the patterns, shapes, and structures of a wide variety of creatures, the artist creates intricate interpretations of cells, the essential building blocks of all life forms.
Working meticulously with porcelain Paperclay—a mix of clay and cellulose fibers—and glaze, Xu sculpts webbed, amorphous forms that appear amoeba-like, as if expanding and contracting. She is deeply influenced by the work of Scottish mathematical biologist D’Arcy Thompson (1860–1948), whose seminal book On Growth and Form traces the scale and shapes of living things.
“Hybrid #9” (2024), porcelain, Paperclay, and glaze, 19 x 8.5 x 21.5 inches
A “diagram of forces” is how Thompson described the form of a specimen. For Xu, this dynamic evaluation shapes how she translates micro life forms into her work. “It is about movement, time, and space,” she says. “It records the way they move and grow; the way they react to the surrounding environment by interacting, altering, evolving and adapting to generate infinite new forms.”
Xu views the history of porcelain as deeply intertwined with her own memories and identity, and she often employs a classic Chinese ceramic color palette in her pieces. The irregular structures and ombre colors reference the artist’s personal experiences. She says:
Being an outsider in America for the past decade, my experience offers me a new perspective to reflect my own cultural heritage… The repetitive and labor-intensive process serves as a therapeutic response to the challenges of my experience in navigating dual cultures. My pieces are in many ways like living organisms, a metaphor for the evolving nature of life itself, and my own journey and roots.
If you’re in London, you can see Xu’s work in a small exhibition dedicated to Chinese contemporary studio craft at the V&A, and her work will be included in a handful of forthcoming juried exhibitions in Portugal, Italy, and Missouri. Find more on her website.
“Blue Vein #15” (2024), colored porcelain, Paperclay, and glaze, 23 x 10 x 15 inches
Detail of “Blue Vein #15”
“Vena Celadon #5” (2025), porcelain, Paperclay, and glaze, 24 x 9 x 14.5 inches
Detail of “Vena Celadon #5”
“Hybrid #6” (2023), colored porcelain Paperclay, and glaze, 23 x 11 x 10.5 inches. Photo by Guy Nichol
“Hybrid #5” (2023), porcelain, Paperclay, and glaze, 20 x 11 x 17 inches. Photo by Guy Nichol
“Hybrid #8” (2024), porcelain, Paperclay, and glaze, 19.5 x 8.5 x 16.5 inches
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Minimal Blades Flutter in the Breeze in a Shoreline Installation on China’s Chaishan Island
by Aurelia Butler 28 February 2025, 19:11
Photo by Tian Fangfang. All images courtesy of GN Architects, shared with permission
Minimal Blades Flutter in the Breeze in a Shoreline Installation on China’s Chaishan Island
February 28, 2025
ArtDesign
Grace Ebert
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On an abandoned pier on Chaishan Island’s shore, an elegant installation rocks in the wind. Completed in 2023 by GN Architects, “The Seaside Pavillion” rests on a coastal trail frequented by tourists and locals alike.
The dynamic construction features dozens of elastic-wrapped blades that, when caught by a breeze, flit and flutter, echoing both the movement of the tide and creating a semi-shaded space for respite. “During the day, the leaves are closed,” the designers say in a statement. “In the morning and evening, when the tide starts to rise, the wings open and dance under the drive of the buoy, forming a romantic and magical scene.”
Once a fishing community, Chaishan today is mainly a tourist destination. Only 100 elderly residents still live on the island as many have left for larger cities. “The Seaside Pavillion” was commissioned by the Zhoushan government’s “Hello, Island” initiative to attract more people to move to the sparsely populated area.
While appearing delicate, the blades are designed to be resilient and to withstand typhoons. Fishing ropes provide their structure, while a rubber and steel armature creates a strong, hardy base. When a tropical cyclone threatens the island, caretakers can tie the blades down to prevent damage.
You can find more from GN Architects, whose projects span installations, landscapes, interiors, and more, on its website. (via designboom)
Photo by Liang Wenjun
Photo by Liang Wenjun
Photo by Liang Wenjun
Photo by Liang Wenjun
Photo by Liang Wenjun
Photo by Liang Wenjun
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Ruby Sky Stiler Reassesses Women’s Role in Art History in Geometric Portraits
by Aurelia Butler 27 February 2025, 15:44
“Artist with Green Palette” (2024), canvas, acrylic, pencil, and jade adhesive on panel, 44 x 34 inches. All images © Ruby Sky Stiler, courtesy of the artist and alexander Gray Associates, New York, shared with permission
Ruby Sky Stiler Reassesses Women’s Role in Art History in Geometric Portraits
February 27, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
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Up close, the irregularly gridded, geometric backgrounds of Ruby Sky Stiler’s paintings evoke patchwork or the patterns of agricultural landscapes seen aerially. Intricate patterns intersect in each rectangle, hinting at floral or decorative motifs that, when viewed from further away, appear almost topographical. Merging with this groundwork are boldly delineated women who often directly return the viewer’s gaze.
Reassessing the history of Western art, Stiler positions women in what she has previously described as “the empowered role as The Artist.” Rather than muses or objectified subjects, she imbues her figures with qualities of control, liberty, and leisure.
“Woman with Children in Blue” (2024), canvas, acrylic, pencil, and jade adhesive on panel, 44 x 50 inches
Recently on view at Frieze LA with Alexander Gray Associates, Stiler’s paintings continue to reenvision 20th-century abstraction, especially the predominantly male Cubist movement that burgeoned around 1907 and 1908. She turns the tables on the historically gendered dichotomy in fine art, transferring the role of women as subjects of paintings to that of creator.
In works like “Women with Children in Blue,” Stiler portrays nude figures in repose or with children, emphasizing another potent definition of women as creators and caregivers. Through mosaic-like compositions, she challenges art historical tropes and reasserts more inclusive, contemporary definitions of gender roles in art.
Stiler employs a meticulous graphite transfer process to apply patterned outlines to her pieces, nodding to textile design—a craft tradition also historically trivialized in the art world as “women’s work.” Pastel acrylic hues fill out bodies and backgrounds, while bold outlines evocative of minimalist Bauhaus design clarify bodies and objects.
Stiler is currently preparing a solo exhibition with Alexander Gray Associates scheduled for November. Explore more on her website and Instagram.
“Two Women in Sienna and Umber, with Red Outline” (2024), canvas, acrylic, pencil, and jade adhesive on panel, 44 x 50 inches
“Blue Woman” (2024), canvas, acrylic, pencil, and jade adhesive on wood panel, 18 x 15 1/2 inches
“Seated Blue Figure (with turquoise and red outline)” (2024), canvas, acrylic, graphite, and jade adhesive on panel, 44 x 34 inches
The artist transfers graphite patterns onto canvas
Stiler displays preparatory sketches in her studio
Swatches are labeled for use in a painting
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In ‘Chimera,’ Erin Milez Lovingly Chronicles the Everyday Chaos of Parenthood
by Aurelia Butler 27 February 2025, 10:00
“The Years Are Short” (2024), oil, acrylic, and flashe on canvas, 24 x 30 inches. All images courtesy of the artist and Monya Rowe Gallery, New York, shared with permission
In ‘Chimera,’ Erin Milez Lovingly Chronicles the Everyday Chaos of Parenthood
February 27, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
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Mundane tasks like washing the dishes, eating dinner, or getting some shuteye take on wild and chaotic proportions in Erin Milez’s uncanny paintings. She portrays characters and a home that reflects her own experiences of starting a young family.
Repetitive motifs and overactive hands—their connection to a body often unclear—cultivate a sense of routine, perform chores, and provide affection. “They go about their daily routines like the seasons, repeating on an accelerated 24-hour cycle,” Milez says.
“Hot & Cold” (2024), oil on panel, 24 x 18 inches
The artist draws on the physically and emotionally transformative experience of parenthood in her solo exhibition Chimera at Monya Rowe Gallery. The title reflects the name of a fire-breathing monster in Greek mythology that was part-lion, part-goat, and part-dragon. The term “chimera” is also sometimes used to describe a grotesque beast or a figment of the imagination. Milez says:
I see my feeling of metamorphosis reflected in various places: in Lucy Jones’ explanation of matrescence and becoming chimeras, “never being singular again,” even on a genetic level; in Tetsuya Ishida’s work, though his embodies a more hopeless and dehumanized transformation in laboring tasks; in Nightbitch where Amy Adams is transformed into a dog because of the primal and physical demands of creation and mothering.
Tetsuya Ishida, for example, is known for portraying humans merged with machines and banal objects in surreal, alienating scenes. Milez also references the physicality and strength depicted WPA-era works, like the laborers’ bodies in murals by Diego Rivera or Stanley Spencer. The latter was known for large-scale depictions of everyday workers like Port Glasgow shipbuilders on the River Clyde, who people rhythmic, heaving scenes of the round-the-clock toil.
In Milez’s paintings, quotidian scenes are reframed into elaborate juggling acts. In many cases, the scenes themselves literally frame the activity, like the green tiled sink in “Hot & Cold” that mirrors a material form with clasped hands. In “Receptacle,” numerous hands, handles, and objects swirl around an unwieldy trash bag, and stuffed wooden compartments overflow with nostalgia in “The Years Are Short.”
“Life & Death II” (2024), oil, acrylic, and flashe on canvas, 40 x 30 inches
Milez illuminates the emotional rollercoaster of parenthood, invoking its discomforts, uncertainties, disorganization, and above all, devotion. In “Goodnight, Lion,” a sleepless mother squishes into a crib to help her chld sleep, evoking wildlife in a zoo.
“Occupying a space somewhere between chaos and nurture, Milez observes the complicated and continually changing dynamics between family members and self,” says a statement for Chimera. “Milez is not afraid to portray the seemingly monstrous, but it is never gratuitous and always mitigated by beauty and reality.”
Chimera continues through March 29 in New York City. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.
“Goodnight, Lion” (2024), oil, acrylic, and flashe on canvas, 24 x 30 inches
“Receptacle” (2024), oil, acrylic, and flashe on canvas, 30 x 24 inches
“Life & Death I” (2024), oil, acrylic, and flashe on canvas, 40 x 30 inches
“Not Lazy Susan” (2024), oil, acrylic, and flashe on canvas, 30 x 24 inches
“Heavy Mama” (2024), oil, acrylic, and flashe on canvas, 48 x 36 inches
“Variables” (2025), oil, acrylic, and flashe on canvas, 16 x 12 inches
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In a Retrofitted School Bus at the U.S.-Mexico Border, Guadalupe Maravilla Heals Through Vibrations
by Aurelia Butler 26 February 2025, 20:00
All images from the Art21 “New York Close Up” film, “Guadalupe Maravilla’s ‘Mariposa Relámpago,’” © Art21, shared with permission
In a Retrofitted School Bus at the U.S.-Mexico Border, Guadalupe Maravilla Heals Through Vibrations
February 26, 2025
ArtFilm
Grace Ebert
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Guadalupe Maravilla’s multi-disciplinary practice is rooted in a simple premise: sound is medicine.
The artist is known for works that merge sculpture, performance, instruments, and healing, one such project being the elaborately retrofitted school bus titled “Mariposa Relámpago.” Part of Maravilla’s Disease Throwers series, the large-scale coach is devoid of bench seats and ubiquitous yellow paint and instead features an open cab lined with chrome panels. More than 700 found objects adorn its body, from cutlery and a worn pair of sandals to large gongs. More
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CDK Company Makes Moves Through a Contemporary Art Museum to Billie Eilish’s ‘Bittersuite’
by Aurelia Butler 26 February 2025, 17:25
All images courtesy of CDK Company
CDK Company Makes Moves Through a Contemporary Art Museum to Billie Eilish’s ‘Bittersuite’
February 26, 2025
ArtMusic
Kate Mothes
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Championing the next generation of dancers in The Netherlands, CDK Company (previously) has made a name for itself through large-scale interpretations of pop music involving numerous dancers in playful, themed outfits. For the group’s latest video, director and choreographer Sergio Reis and team took on Billie Eilish’s “Bittersuite” from her 2024 album Hit Me Hard and Soft.
Set among paintings and installations in Museum Voorlinden, three dozen performers don pastel garments evocative of 1960s fashion, all wearing identical dark, bowl cut wigs.
Whether moving through a gallery of paintings by Michaël Borremans, stationed inside a 4-meter-high Corten steel sculpture by Richard Serra, or synchronizing around the edge of Leandro Erlich’s “Swimming Pool,” CDK leads us on a vibrant, emotive journey through Eilish’s music and the museum’s art collection.
Find more on CDK’s website and dance along to more videos on Reis’s YouTube channel.
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Loosely Woven Burlap Mimics Digital Pixels in Jennifer J. Lee’s Photorealistic Paintings
by Aurelia Butler 26 February 2025, 12:59
Detail of “Lee Jeans.” All images courtesy of the artist and Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York, shared with permission
Loosely Woven Burlap Mimics Digital Pixels in Jennifer J. Lee’s Photorealistic Paintings
February 26, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
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On the loosely woven surface of jute burlap, Brooklyn-based artist Jennifer J. Lee paints photorealistic scenes that explore the saturation of images in contemporary experience. The fabric’s gridded structure conjures associations with pixellated screens, playing with the relationship between digital and analog representations of everyday objects.
Recent paintings, nearly a dozen of which were on view in the artist’s solo exhibition at Klaus Von Nichtssagend Gallery, highlight a personal glimpse of nostalgia, a fascination with the act of looking, and seemingly banal imagery transfigured into symbolic references and objects.
“Acid Jeans” (2024), oil on jute, 16 × 12 inches
Lee’s paintings starkly contrast the instant gratification of scrolling through endless images, challenging the speed at which we consume information. She describes her process as a form of “waking meditation and sustained observation,” translating digital pixels into hand-painted brushstrokes and stretching fabric to simulate screens.
The artist’s technical ability to translate finite details onto a relatively rugged surface speaks to the time and attention required to produce a single painting. Small in scale, her pieces reveal surprising interactions between the objects’ surfaces and the woven jute.
Denim, for example, sports its own signature weave, which in works like “Acid Jeans” seems to somehow exist in both harmony and opposition with the burlap. Portraying a smooth object in “Security Mirror” presents the challenge of making glass appear polished while nodding to the graininess we associate with CCTV footage. And a bunch of footprints in sand suggest another kind of graininess altogether, the shadows and subtle colors of which seem to vibrate or flicker thanks to the low-thread-count jute weave.
Lee’s recent paintings harken back to Y2K, an era on the cusp of immense technological and social change as personal computers, mobile phones, and the internet became more widely available, spawning the social media platforms we still use today—albeit profoundly changed since they first emerged.
Find more on Instagram.
“Security Mirror” (2024), oil on jute, 13 × 13 inches
“Pizza” (2024), oil on jute, 12 × 20 inches
“Beach” (2024), oil on jute, 12 × 21 inches
“Tennis” (2024), oil on jute, 22 × 15 inches
Detail of “Pizza”
“Lee Jeans” (2024), oil on jute, 15 × 13 inches
Detail of “Tennis”
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Through Landscapes Marred by Climate Disaster, Seonna Hong Mines ‘Past Lives’
by Aurelia Butler 25 February 2025, 14:51
Atacama I, 2024, acrylic and oil pastel on raw canvas, 60 x 75 inches. All images courtesy of the artist and Hashimoto Contemporary, shared with permission
Through Landscapes Marred by Climate Disaster, Seonna Hong Mines ‘Past Lives’
February 25, 2025
Art
Grace Ebert
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In Past Lives, Seonna Hong excavates the way experiences seem to stack upon each other, sometimes slipping through or re-emerging when we don’t expect them. Through her signature abstract vistas, Hong creates what can be called “memory landscapes,” vast scenes that layer themes of environmental destruction, personal reflections, and the artist’s own Korean heritage.
On view at Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art, Past Lives comprises 32 works, many of which have been altered from their original form. For example, the Los Angeles-based artist revised “The Loved Ones” by softening the edges of bulky, striped blocks in the background and anonymizing a pair of young girls while giving their figures more clarity. “Selective Abstraction” is similar and features a bolder streak of bright pink across the canvas, a recurring mark in Hong’s latest works.
“The Loved Ones,” acrylic, oil pastel on raw canvas, framed, 10 x 10 inches
The exhibition title comes from Celine Song’s 2023 film structured around inyeon, an ancient concept of fated love that emerges in one life after another. Hong adds:
I have included pieces that show my past lives as well as older works that, in the spirit of re-use, repurpose, and upcycling, have been painted into and brought from the past into the present, being mindful to not just gesso over the canvas (a literal and metaphorical whitewash) but include some of its history, the layers.
With barren trees, colorful mounds, and diminutive figures ambling among the terrain, the paintings emphasize the ways the past emerges in the present. Despite their bright hues, Hong’s landscapes are deteriorating and experiencing the very real blight of climate disaster. Two new pieces depict figures in the parched Atacama desert, clambering atop enormous heaps of discarded clothing. Bringing the immense waste of fast fashion and consumerism to the fore, the compositions capture the ways our decisions are never relegated to the past and how our choices affect even the most sparsely populated regions on the planet.
As with previous bodies of work, Hong’s Korean ancestry appears, as well. A large, upright bear shifts its weight to one side in “More Bridges Less Walls.” The animal plays an important role in a Korean creation myth, which says that the powerful, devoted mammal was turned into a woman who went on to start the nation.
Past Lives is on view through June 22 in Moraga, California. Find more from Hong on Instagram.
“Atacama II” (2024), acrylic and oil pastel on raw canvas, 60 x 72 inches
“Selective Abstraction,” acrylic, paper, and vinyl on canvas, 12 x 12 inches
“Verisimilitude” (2018, 2025), acrylic, paper, and vinyl on canvas, 36 x 40 inches
“More Bridges Less Walls” (2025), acrylic, oil pastel on raw canvas, framed, 12 x 12 inches
“Deluge” (2025), acrylic, oil pastel on raw canvas, framed, 10 x 8 inches
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Art

More stories

Biological Cells and Chinese Ceramic Traditions Coalesce in Shiyuan Xu’s Porcelain Sculptures

Minimal Blades Flutter in the Breeze in a Shoreline Installation on China’s Chaishan Island

Ruby Sky Stiler Reassesses Women’s Role in Art History in Geometric Portraits

In ‘Chimera,’ Erin Milez Lovingly Chronicles the Everyday Chaos of Parenthood

In a Retrofitted School Bus at the U.S.-Mexico Border, Guadalupe Maravilla Heals Through Vibrations

CDK Company Makes Moves Through a Contemporary Art Museum to Billie Eilish’s ‘Bittersuite’

Loosely Woven Burlap Mimics Digital Pixels in Jennifer J. Lee’s Photorealistic Paintings

Through Landscapes Marred by Climate Disaster, Seonna Hong Mines ‘Past Lives’

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