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    Intricate Beaded Motifs Add Colorful Dimension to Jan Huling’s Animal Sculptures

    
    Art
    #animals
    #beads
    #sculptureFebruary 4, 2022Grace Ebert“Hero” (2019), 27 x 22 x 8 inches. All images © Jan Huling, shared with permissionA former product designer turned bead artist, Jan Huling begins each sculpture with a blank form in the shape of a miniature horse, giant praying mantis, and eager monkey perched on a box. She then glues small glass pieces in meandering lines, concentric circles, and other elaborately constructed motifs. “I don’t sketch out designs beforehand,” she tells Colossal. “Rather I let my designs grow organically and let the work itself inspire me.”Each embellishment is a study of color, texture, and form, with some patterns structuring facial features like the radiant eyes of the nine-foot “Das Bug” and others adding hypnotic ornaments like the intersecting patches that span the length of the tail in “KoKo.” Although Huling doesn’t translate any specific motifs, she shares that she’s drawn to traditions of Mexican and Indian artists, in addition to the works of Nick Cave (previously) and Tim Burton.Huling, who’s based in Jersey City Heights, will have sculptures on view at Art Market San Francisco this April through Duane Reed Gallery, and her billowing dress titled “The Gown” is headed to the Museum of Beadwork this summer. Explore a collection of her intricate creations on her site and Instagram. (via Women’s Art)“Hero” (2019), 27 x 22 x 8 inchesDetail of “Das Bug” (2015), 61 x 69 x 110 inches“Das Bug” (2015), 61 x 69 x 110 inchesDetail of “Das Bug” (2015), 61 x 69 x 110 inches“KoKo” (2011), 48 x 15 x 24 inchesDetail of “KoKo” (2011), 48 x 15 x 24 inches
    #animals
    #beads
    #sculptureDo stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now! Share this story  More

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    Evoking Mythology and Urban Culture, Beaded Masks Brim with Geometric Motifs and Embellishments

    
    Art

    #beads
    #masks
    #mixed media
    #mythology
    #shells

    September 20, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Fefe Talavera, shared with permission
    From small shells and Amazonian beads, Brazilian-Mexican artist Fefe Talavera strings together elaborate masks that fuse ancient mythologies and contemporary urban culture. The mixed-media works are part of an ongoing series—Talavera shares more on her site and Instagram, along with vibrant silhouettes painted in acrylic and her large-scale murals—that embellish expressive faces with stripes, symmetries, and various geometric patterns. Sometimes spanning upwards of ten feet or featuring a long tuft of straw, the masks are an amalgam of color, motif, and material that blur cultural boundaries and the tenuous distinction between humanity and nature.
    The São Paulo-based artist tells Colossal that the series “developed when my government opened the doors to cattle ranchers, when forest fires began, putting an end to Indigenous tribes, exotic animals, and trees,” and initial iterations used açaí seeds, shells, and mirrors to explore birth and death through a mystical lens. “When we looked at our reflection in the work, we would be seeing ourselves with respect and love, and it is this look that we should have with the Amazonia,” she says.
    Currently, Talavera is working on a larger-scale piece using 20,000 beads, and she has a solo show planned for May 2022 at Paris’s Bandy Bandy Gallery.

    #beads
    #masks
    #mixed media
    #mythology
    #shells

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    A Monumental Bas-Relief Sculpture by Nick Cave Connects Senegalese and U.S. Cultures in a Web of Beadwork

    
    Art

    #bas-relief
    #beads
    #installation
    #sculpture
    #sequins
    #site-specific
    #video

    March 22, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Nick Cave, by Michael JN Bowles, shared with permission
    Innumerable pony beads, pipe cleaners, sequins, and objects gathered from two continents overlay a web of rainbow mesh that’s suspended in the U.S. Embassy atrium in Dakar. Installed in 2012, the expansive work by Chicago-based artist Nick Cave (previously) is composed of amorphous swells and circular patches of multicolor netting that stretch 20 x 25 feet. Physically connecting pieces of both U.S. and Senegalese culture, the webbed, bas-relief sculpture symbolically stands as “a unifier that brings people together,” Cave says in an interview.
    Virginia Shore and Robert Soppelsa curated the project for Art in Embassies, a program led by the U.S. Department of State that fosters cross-cultural exchange through visual arts and spans more than 200 venues in 189 countries. “When you think about Art in Embassies and cultural diplomacy, what is interesting for me, as an artist, is, how can I facilitate that within the work that is developed? Yes, I will create the piece for the embassy, but I was also interested in ways to integrate the artists that live and work here,” he says.
    Cave developed the structural portion of the work in his Chicago studio, and after meeting Sengalese artists, scholars, and students, he utilized pieces from three locals—Seni M’Baye, Loman Pawlitschek, and Daouda N’Diaye—once on site. The resulting installation, which weighs nearly 500 pounds, took Cave and ten assistants more than three months to complete.
    Watch the interview below for more on the process behind the monumental project, and follow Cave’s work on Instagram.

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    #bas-relief
    #beads
    #installation
    #sculpture
    #sequins
    #site-specific
    #video

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    Arresting Sculptural Reliefs by Artist Anne Samat Layer Everyday Objects with Meticulously Woven Threads

    
    Art

    #beads
    #family
    #fiber art
    #identity
    #sculpture
    #thread

    November 18, 2020
    Grace Ebert

    “Follow Your Heart Wholeheartedly” (2020), rattan sticks, yarn, rakes, washers, plastic swords, toy soldiers, beads, metal and plastic ornaments, 131.5 x 141.75 x 11.75 inches. Installation view of Asia Society Triennial: “We Do Not Dream Alone” at Asia Society Museum, New York. Photograph by Bruce M. White. All images courtesy of Asia Society, shared with permission
    In her fiber-based reliefs, Malaysian artist Anne Samat disrupts classic woven patterns with unusual objects: toy soldiers, rakes, and plastic swords are intertwined in the multi-color threads that fan outward and billow down onto the floor. Comprised of a trio of wall hangings and a free-standing sculpture, “Follow Your Heart Wholeheartedly” meticulously juxtaposes beadwork and traditional South Asian weaving techniques with common items, a project that questions the boundaries of craft and art.
    Each section is incredibly complex and infused with references to Samat’s family, identity, and experiences with loss. The largest work, for example, features five sections, with the innermost piece paying homage to her late brother who recently died after a long illness. Flanking the central portion are two stately pillars with pink and blue details that represent her mother and father. The outermost layers that sprawl from floor to ceiling evoke the artist herself and her sister, who are the only two living members of her family. Even the title is derived from advice Samat received from her father before he died.
    “Follow Your Heart Wholeheartedly” is on view through February 7, 2021, as part of the Asia Society Triennial.

    “Follow Your Heart Wholeheartedly” (2020), rattan sticks, yarn, rakes, washers, plastic swords, toy soldiers, beads, metal and plastic ornaments, 98 x 48 x 7 inches
    “Follow Your Heart Wholeheartedly” (2020), rattan sticks, yarn, rakes, washers, plastic swords, toy soldiers, beads, metal and plastic ornaments, 131.5 x 141.75 x 11.75 inches.
    “Follow Your Heart Wholeheartedly” (2020), rattan sticks, yarn, rakes, washers, plastic swords, toy soldiers, beads, metal and plastic ornaments, 98 x 48 x 7 inches
    “Follow Your Heart Wholeheartedly” (2020), rattan sticks, yarn, rakes, washers, plastic swords, toy soldiers, beads, metal and plastic ornaments, 98 x 48 x 7 inches (left) and 131.5 x 141.75 x 11.75 inches (center)
    “Follow Your Heart Wholeheartedly” (2020), rattan sticks, yarn, rakes, washers, plastic swords, toy soldiers, beads, metal and plastic ornaments, 131.5 x 141.75 x 11.75 inches
    “Follow Your Heart Wholeheartedly” (2020), rattan sticks, yarn, rakes, washers, plastic swords, toy soldiers, beads, metal and plastic ornaments, 131.5 x 141.75 x 11.75 inches (center) and 105 x 48 x 7 inches (right)

    #beads
    #family
    #fiber art
    #identity
    #sculpture
    #thread

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