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      A Flurry of Feathers and Leaves Surround Spirited Birds in Fio Silva’s Vivid Murals

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      Art

      #birds
      #flowers
      #mural
      #public art
      #street art

      March 5, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      Castelar, Buenos Aires. All images @ Fio Silva, shared with permission
      Fio Silva tucks clusters of oversized birds and botanicals into otherwise stark urban spaces, creating striking murals awash in puffs of feathers, petals, and leaves. The Buenos Aires-based artist focuses largely on movement, a thread that runs through both the vivid renderings of winged subjects as they appear to take flight or perch for just a moment. “It was that lack of stillness through work and searching for walls to paint that I found meaning in my time,” Silva tells Colossal.
      When working in color, the artist starts with blues, yellows, and reds before expanding the palette based on the “moods and to intensify, in some way, what I want to convey, if it is something rather clear, bright, or something… more subdued or desolate,” Silva says. “When I paint, I try to convey a certain force, that by seeing it or sharing it I can move someone, in whatever way.”
      Silva plans to complete a few murals in Argentina during the next few months and will travel to Europe during the summer, with an exhibition of smaller paintings slated for October in Paris. Keep up with the artist’s monumental public works on Instagram.

      Olivos, Buenos Aires
      General Roca, Rio Negro
      Olivos, Buenos Aires
      Left: Berlin, Germany. Right: Belsh, Albania
      General Roca, Rio Negro
      Patos, Albania
      Patos, Albania

      #birds
      #flowers
      #mural
      #public art
      #street art

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      Intricate Paper Animals Spring from Textured Sculptures by Artist Calvin Nicholls

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      Art
      Craft

      #animals
      #birds
      #paper
      #sculpture

      March 1, 2021
      Anna Marks

      All images © Calvin Nicholls, shared with permission
      In Calvin Nicholls’s sculptural forms, feathered and furry creatures are meticulously crafted from small pieces of white paper. When viewed up-close, their texture resembles the fullness of a wintery landscape, but in full form, the Canadian artist’s animals are so vivid that they appear as though they could leap, fly, and spring out of the canvas. Nicholls (previously) seamlessly examines and sculpts every detail of an animal’s body, from the difference in plume texture in doves to the strained muscles of a giraffe to the intoxicating stare of a tiger stalking its prey.  
      Every work is crafted from archival cotton paper that prevents yellowing and fading. Nicholls uses minuscule amounts of glue to secure the individual pieces, employing knives and texturing tools to precisely sculpt each delicate part. For the artist, crafting fur and feathers are equally challenging, and how long a piece will take is difficult to predict. He shares:
      The largest sculptures I’ve done require several hundreds of hours while the more modest pieces keep me busy for two or more weeks. Familiarity with the subject is a big factor as well. My love of birds often propels me through pieces much faster than when sculpting subjects with (an) emphasis on musculature and structure.
      Nicholls’s fascination with paper as a medium stems from graphic design classes in college, in addition to later collaborations with a colleague. These experiences further forged his interest in experimenting with various materials and papers that he had become familiar with through the graphics trade.
      Follow additions to Nicholls’s monochromatic menagerie on Behance and Instagram, and see the originals and prints he has available in his shop.

      #animals
      #birds
      #paper
      #sculpture

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      The First USPS Stamp Designed by an Alaska Native Artist Features a Trickster Raven as It Steals the Sun

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      Art
      Design
      Illustration

      #birds
      #mail
      #stamps

      February 19, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Raven Story.” Image courtesy of USPS
      When it’s released later this summer, a new stamp from the U.S. Postal Service will illuminate a piece of Indigenous culture that’s long been associated with an escape from darkness. Titled “Raven Story,” the history-making postage features an iconic animal rendered by Rico Lanáat’ Worl, who is the first Tlingit and Athabascan artist to be featured by U.S.P.S. Awash with twinkling stars, the stamp portrays a black bird grasping the sun in its beak as it breaks from its human family. The motif is based on the story of “Raven And The Box Of Daylight,” traditional Tlingit lore about the trickster animal bringing the stars, moon, and sun to the universe after a series of heists.
      In a statement, Worl shares that the raven is a prominent figure in Tlinglit culture, and the stamp depicts the pinnacle of this often-recounted tale. He writes:
      Raven is trying to grab as many stars as he can, some stuck in his feathers and in his hands or in his beak. Some falling around him. It’s a frazzled moment of adrenaline. Partially still in human form, as depicted as his hand still being human, as he carries the stars away. I think it depicts a moment we all have experienced, the cusp of failure and accomplishment.
      Worl lives in Juneau, where he works with Sealaska Heritage Institute and co-runs Trickster Company, a design shop focused on Northwest Coast art, with his sister, Crystal. To coincide with the USPS launch, he plans to create pins, prints, and other goods featuring the design, which you can follow on Instagram. (via Hyperallergic)

      #birds
      #mail
      #stamps

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      Metaphorical Scenes Examine Mystery in Dreamy Paintings by Artist Duy Huynh

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      Art

      #acrylic
      #birds
      #flowers
      #painting
      #surreal

      November 9, 2020
      Grace Ebert

      “ReciprociTea,” acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 x 2.5 inches. All images © Duy Huynh, shared with permission
      Vietnamese aritst Duy Huynh (previously) examines balance through nuanced scenes replete with ethereal, surreal elements: individual flowers ascend from a teapot, a chain winds around an artichoke heart, and figures float mid-air. Rendered in muted hues, the acrylic paintings are metaphorical and narrative-based, visualizing stories by connecting unsual symbols or positioning disparate objects together. The North Carolina-based artist gives the works witty names— “Thyme to Turnip the Beet” and “ReciprociTea,” for example—adding to their playful and whimsical natures.
      In a statement, Huynh writes that the core of his practice involves drawing connections “between two or more mysteries,” which he explains further:
      My characters often float (literally) somewhere between science and spirituality, memory and mythology, structure and spontaneity, ephemeral and eternal, humorous and profound, connectivity and non-attachment. The intent isn’t necessarily to provide enlightenment but to celebrate the quest itself.
      Huynh co-owns Lark & Key, where his elegant paintings are part of a group show that’s on view through November 28. Limited-edition prints and greeting cards of his works are available through the gallery, as well.

      “No More Clouded Hearts,” acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 x 2.5 inches
      Left: “Thyme to Turnip the Beet,” acrylic on wood, 12 x 12 x 1.75 inches. Right: “Wisdom Keepers,” acrylic on wood, paper on piano reads “press any key to continue,” 30 x 40 x 2.5 inches
      “Heart of Gold,” acrylic on wood, 12 x 12 x 2 inches
      Left: “A Matter of Pace, Space and Equanimitea,” acrylic on wood, 16 x 16 x 2.5 inches.  Right: “A Life More Aliferous,” acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 x 2.5 inches
      “New Dawn Rising,” acrylic on canvas, 34 x 34 x 2 inches

      #acrylic
      #birds
      #flowers
      #painting
      #surreal

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      A Socially Anxious Character Disguises Itself As Owls, Pigeons, and Other Birds in Textured Sculptures by Clavin Ma

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      Art

      #birds
      #ceramics
      #owls
      #sculpture

      November 4, 2020
      Grace Ebert

      “Comfort Zone,” ceramic with glaze, 12.5 x 7 x 7 inches. All images © Calvin Ma, courtesy of Foster/White Gallery, shared with permission
      In his ongoing series titled Blend In: Making Home, artist Calvin Ma (previously) conveys an incessant need to belong through a quirky character camouflaging itself as different birds. From owls to pigeons to Mandarin ducks, the precisely hued costumes envelop the figure in a mass of feathers and scaled footwear. The artist textures the ceramic sculptures by hand, etching countless lines into every plume.
      Each species represents an emotion or experience tied to social anxiety, which Ma bolsters with corresponding environments, like a birch cage or flower-lined nest. “Being shy, timid, and a bit socially awkward is something that will always be a part of me. The goal is to come to terms with it and grow from it,” the artist says of his own experience.
      If you’re in Seattle, head to Foster/White Gallery where Ma’s anthropomorphic pieces are on view through November 21. To see the works-in-progress, check out the artist’s Instagram.

      “In The Wind,” ceramic with glaze, 13 x 11 x 8 inches
      “Break Free,” ceramic with glaze, 13 x 9 x 9 inches
      Left: “Making Home,” ceramic with glaze, 17 x 12 x 9 inches. Right: “Out of the Woods,” ceramic with glaze, 11 x 6 x 6 inches
      “First Step,” ceramic with glaze, 14 x 7 x 6 inches
      “Hover,” ceramic with glaze, 14 x 10 x 8 inches
      Left: “Nesting,” ceramic with glaze, 10 x 7 x 6 inches. Right: “Time And Again,” ceramic with glaze, 12 x 11 x 8 inches
      “Fleeting,” ceramic with glaze, 16 x 29 x 8 inches

      #birds
      #ceramics
      #owls
      #sculpture

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      Vintage-Style Illustrations Merge Animals, Insects, and Botanics to Form Bizarre Hybrid Creatures

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      Art
      Illustration

      #animals
      #birds
      #humor
      #plants
      #watercolor

      September 15, 2020
      Grace Ebert

      All images courtesy of Mark Brooks, shared with permission
      Full of extraordinary creatures, the illustrated series The Creative Specimens seamlessly combines species into unusual hybrids. Similar in color, each organism is bizarre in form. The feathered head of a bird is placed on a tortoise’s body, octopus tentacles sprout from the bottom of a cactus, and speckled coral comprises a deer’s antlers.
      Adobe’s 99U Conference spurred the collaborative project as a way to offer a visual language encompassing various creative careers and passions. Inspired by the biological classifications of Charles Darwin and his contemporaries, New York-based art director and graphic designer Mark Brooks digitally rendered the organisms by referencing vintage illustrations. He then passed the project to Joanmiquel Bennasar, an illustrator living and working in the Balearic Islands, who recreated the creatures in watercolor.
      Explore more of Brooks’s and Bennasar’s illustrated projects on Behance.

      #animals
      #birds
      #humor
      #plants
      #watercolor

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      Step Inside Petrit Halilaj’s Monumental Nest of Oversized Flowers Within Reina Sofia’s Palacio de Cristal

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      Art

      #birds
      #flowers
      #installation
      #love

      August 28, 2020
      Christopher Jobson

      “To a raven and hurricanes that from unknown places bring back smells of humans in love,” 2020. Exhibition view at Palacio de Cristal. All photos courtesy Petrit Halilaj and © Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid. Photo by ImagenSubliminal (Miguel de Guzmán and Rocío Romero). Shared with permisison.
      Bowerbirds are renowned for one of the most unusual courtship behaviors in the animal kingdom, where males build elaborately decorated nests—called bowers—in an attempt to court a mate. Kosovar visual artist Petrit Halilaj drew inspiration from this unique ritual for his first solo exhibition at Reina Sofia’s Palacio de Cristal (previously) in Madrid. Titled “To a raven and the hurricanes which bring back smells of humans in love from unknown places,” the installation serves as a metaphorical nest that connects the inside and outside spaces of the palace and features several avian elements like trays of birdseed and a giant pair of bird’s feet that descend from above.
      The collection of artworks is actually a collaborative effort between Halijaj and his life partner artist Álvaro Urbano, who helped construct the oversized forsythia, palm seeds, cherry blossom, poppy, carnation, and lily that fill the space. “I wanted to conceive Palacio de Cristal as a place for the celebration of love,” Halijaj shares. From the museum’s release:

      There is something strange and disproportionate about the size of this nest, the gigantic scale of its flowers, and the comfort and centrality it offers the birds. The artist thus suspends the logo-centric perspective that makes us believe we are the center and measure of all things, encouraging us to recognize ourselves as just one more element among many. The nest is thus revealed as the setting for a ritual that lies in wait for encounters, alliances and unions among its different visitors, altering and changing with the space.

      “To a raven…” is open now through February 28, 2021 at the Palacio de Cristal, and you can see more views on Yellowtrace.

      #birds
      #flowers
      #installation
      #love

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      Thick Clusters of Wooden Birdhouses by London Fieldworks Sprawl Across Tree Trunks

      by

      
      Art

      #architecture
      #birdhouses
      #birds
      #installation
      #public art
      #trees
      #wood

      August 20, 2020
      Anna Marks

      “Spontaneous City in the Tree of Heaven.” All images © London Fieldworks
      In London Fieldworks’ delicate creations, architecture meets nature. Its installations feature pine-colored clusters of minuscule wooden forms that appear to grow upon vast tree trunks. Founded by artists Bruce Gilchrist and Jo Joelson, London Fieldworks is a collaborative and multidisciplinary arts practice with projects at the intersection of architecture, sculpture, installation, and film. 
      Each of the homes has rounded windows and doors, while those on large evergreen trees resemble natural objects, such as wasp and hornet nests or even fungi and mushrooms. From reflecting Clerkenwell’s urban renewal to offering new habitats for animals, the sprawling birdhouses fuse architectural ideas with nature and art, resulting in sculptures that integrate effortlessly in both natural and urban spaces. Through its installations, the practice explores its concern with the climate crisis through the lens of history, the environment, and culture.
      One work, “Spontaneous City in the Tree of Heaven,” references opposite sides of London: Duncan Terrace Gardens in the east and Cremorne Gardens in the west. The installation is constructed from hundreds of bespoke bird boxes reflecting the forms of the local architecture—a combination of Modernist 60’s social housing and Georgian townhouses. 
      Explore more of London Fieldworks’ projects on its site. You also might enjoy this similarly dense complex for avian neighbors.

      “Spontaneous City: Clerkenwell”
      Right: “Spontaneous City in the Tree of Heaven”
      “Spontaneous City in the Tree of Heaven”
      “Spontaneous City in the Tree of Heaven”
      “Spontaneous City in the Tree of Lebanon”

      #architecture
      #birdhouses
      #birds
      #installation
      #public art
      #trees
      #wood

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