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    Salvador Dominguez Confronts Identity and Labor Through Woven Pipe Cleaner Vessels

    Images © Salvador Dominguez, shared with permission

    Salvador Dominguez Confronts Identity and Labor Through Woven Pipe Cleaner Vessels

    March 18, 2025

    ArtCraft

    Jackie Andres

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    “I was among the first in my family to go to college,” artist Salvador Dominguez says. “Years after graduating, I began to realize the biggest challenge was going to be sharing the work I make with those closest to me.”

    When art is so deeply intertwined with identity, a profound irony can form when trying to share it with loved ones who haven’t had access to the same resources or lessons in Western art theory and history. Even when the work itself is rooted in shared culture and family connection, how do artists bridge this gap?

    The Chicago-based artist confronts this question in a series of hand-woven vessels titled Mano de Obra. Paying homage to a nostalgic vibrancy from his upbringing in southern California and Mexico, the brilliant colors within Dominguez’s work serve as cultural markers. Memories of vividly painted houses and colorful statues inside corner stores and carnicerias, or butcher shops, guide the artist’s use of color and pattern, each component tethered to his sense of identity.

    Pipe cleaners—which are fairly accessible and easily recognized by both children and adults—proved to be a clear choice as Dominguez contemplated different materials to work with. Weaving each slender, fuzz-covered wire into functional vessels greatly alters the value of the material in a fascinating way and evokes a familiar environment in which the artist was raised, where trade and craft were used interchangeably as currency.

    Recently, Dominguez has begun to teach his mother, Silvia, the weaving techniques he developed with pipe cleaners. He shares:

    Her labor within domestic life often went unseen, but her imagination came alive through craft and embroidery. By involving her in this creative process, I not only honor her contributions but also try to maintain our connection, transforming her labor into a visible and valued part of the work. I remain curious about how this collaborative effort has the potential to bridge the gap between generations, particularly since we live in separate parts of the country.

    To stay inspired, the artist also collects a slew of domestic items. From his mother’s hand-embroidered tortilleros to household textiles like pillowcases and table runners from Indigenous artisans from Mexico, Dominguez’s collection of precious goods influences form, pattern, and palette in his own work. Though he has encountered these articles since early life, turning to them for research has established a new, unique relationship with the familiar objects.

    Dominguez is anticipating a group exhibition in Antwerp, Belgium this May with de boer gallery. Find more work and updates on the artist’s website and Instagram.

    Photo by Ian Vecchiotti. Courtesy of the artist and ANDREW RAFACZ, shared with permission

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    Delight in Heather Rios’s Delectable Cakes Made from Polymer Clay and Embroidery

    All images courtesy of Heather Rios, shared with permission

    Delight in Heather Rios’s Delectable Cakes Made from Polymer Clay and Embroidery

    March 17, 2025

    ArtCraftFood

    Kate Mothes

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    While Heather Rios’s slices of layer cake look ready to stick a fork into, you may want to think twice. Formed of polymer clay and finished with embroidery, the artist pairs the sweets with a vintage plate—and sometimes a fork—in playful trompe l’oeils.

    Enveloped in realistic frosting and decorated with berries, blossoms, and sprinkles, each work evokes pieces you’d be ready to dig into at a birthday or wedding. Rios meticulously embroiders each sponge element, fashioning patterned layers in thread on a hoop before transferring the finished panel to the sculpture.

    In addition to freestanding forms, Rios embellishes small paintings with shallow reliefs of cakes on canvas, emphasizing vibrant color and the fluffy texture of the exposed interiors.

    Many of Rios’s cakes would be exceedingly difficult to achieve in reality, like detailed floral designs or motifs from blue-and-white porcelain. Lucky for us, we can have our cake and keep it, too. Find more on the artist’s Instagram, and purchase a slice from her Etsy shop.

    A sponge embroidery in progress

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    Through Knotted Installations, Windy Chien Reinterprets the Hitching Post

    All images © Windy Chien, shared with permission

    Through Knotted Installations, Windy Chien Reinterprets the Hitching Post

    March 14, 2025

    ArtCraft

    Jackie Andres

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    Since the 1800s, hitching posts have shaped a history anchored in utility and community. Scattered throughout towns and outside common areas, the sturdy objects offered a secure point to tie down horses, especially during social events or gatherings. San Francisco-based artist Windy Chien reinterprets this functional object in her ongoing Hitching Post series.

    Interdependent forms are particularly fascinating to Chien. “If the object around which the hitch is tied were to be removed, the hitch collapses and loses its integrity,” she says. Just as the presence of the knot relies on another element to remain intact, social spaces and gatherings rely on collective presence.

    Having received commissions for the projects since 2019, Chien creates unique pieces for a wide range of communal areas, such as airports, offices, houses, and ranches. Cutting wooden supports to various lengths and fastening rope by wrapping and knotting, the flowing and geometric compositions stretch across walls and exterior facades.

    Combining motifs from her Circuit Board series with other techniques, Chien recently completed a large installation in a Los Angeles office stairwell comprised of four works, each spanning 20 feet wide in a gradient of six hues. In April, the artist is looking forward to Ruth Asawa’s retrospective at San Francisco MOMA, where she will be showing several works alongside the exhibition. Find more on her website and Instagram.

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    Melissa Calderón Preserves Neighborhood Memories in Bold Textured Thread

    “Out Here (we is)” (2025), cotton and metallic thread hand embroidered on linen, 16 x 20 inches. All images courtesy of Melissa Calderón, shared with permission

    Melissa Calderón Preserves Neighborhood Memories in Bold Textured Thread

    March 13, 2025

    ArtCraft

    Grace Ebert

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    On expanses of beige linen, Melissa Calderón immortalizes pockets of a neighborhood or domestic space. Combining imagery from her childhood in the Bronx with her family’s native Puerto Rico, the artist translates familiar landscapes and sights into vivid embroideries, preserving her memories in thread.

    The intimate compositions capture how neighborhoods and communities change, particularly as long-time residents are displaced. Her current body of work, titled Gentrified Landscapes, explores “a place that once was but is now between the two spurts of gentrified-led divestment and revitalization and how this particularly affects the Bronx and Puerto Rico.”

    “Villa Nueva (I’d Still be Puerto Rican even if born on the Moon)” (2024), cotton, nylon, and chenille hand embroidered on linen, 24 x 24 inches

    Calderón embraces the potential of thread to add texture and emphasize the more conceptual elements of her work. “Villa Nueva (I’d Still be Puerto Rican even if born on the Moon),” for example, drapes soft, green chenille across the composition like a lush cluster of vines. “Prone IV | My Underemployed Life series” features a green sofa unraveling into tangled fibers that spill off the canvas.

    In her studio, Calderón focuses on the meditative, entrancing process of stitching. Works begin with a drawing that’s transferred to a pattern and freehand rendered onto the linen. She enjoys the slow, methodical movements, which remind her “of times I sewed with my grandmother, making Cabbage Patch Kids clothes to sell on the playground before school started for the day.  Embroidery takes me to a calm place where only the process matters.”

    Currently, Calderón is working on a few commissions and preparing for a solo exhibition in Puerto Rico. She also recently began a large-scale work titled “Bodega Miles” that will stretch 40 inches wide and take more than a year to complete. You can follow her progress on Instagram.

    “Prone IV | My Underemployed Life series” (2023), cotton and satin thread hand embroidered on linen, 16 x 20 inches

    A work in progress

    “Coming Soon” (2023), cotton and metallic thread hand embroidered on linen, 16 x 20 inches

    “El Tiempo Muerto (The Dead Times)” (2023), cotton, and metallic thread hand embroidered on linen, 24 x 24 inches

    Detail of “Coming Soon” (2023), cotton and metallic thread hand embroidered on linen, 16 x 20 inches

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    Regal Portraits Evoke Myth and Power in Simone Elizabeth Saunders’ Hand-Tufted Textiles

    “Girl with Butterflies” (2024), silk and wool yarn on muslin warp, 50 x 40 inches. All images courtesy of the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery, shared with permission

    Regal Portraits Evoke Myth and Power in Simone Elizabeth Saunders’ Hand-Tufted Textiles

    March 12, 2025

    ArtCraft

    Kate Mothes

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    Emblazoned with vibrant patterns and words like “TRUTH” and “LOVE,” Simone Elizabeth Saunders explores Black identity in relation to kinship, power, and survival. Her hand-tufted textiles (previously) merge cultural narratives and history with mythology, nostalgia, and personal experiences.

    Saunders predominantly focuses on women, who she portrays in bold portraits and within fantastical, empowering scenarios. In recent works like “Girl with Butterflies” and “She Manifests Her Destiny,” figures embrace and commune with totem-like snakes, insects, and plants.

    “She Reveals” (2022), hand-tufted velvet, acrylic, and wool yarn on rug warp, 65 x 60.5 x 1 inches

    Rooted in the myriad histories of the global Black diaspora and rich textile traditions throughout countless cultures, Saunders employs a craft technique historically relegated to a role “beneath” fine art in order to turn the tables on how we comprehend influence, identity, and artistic expression.

    Saunders is represented by Claire Oliver Gallery, and you can explore more work on the artist’s Instagram.

    “(Be)Longing IV” (2023), hand-tufted acrylic, cotton, wool, and metallic yarn on cotton rug warp, 20 x 1 x 30 inches

    “Girl with Hummingbirds” (2024), silk and wool yarn on muslin warp, 50 x 40 inches

    “Internal Reflections” (2022), hand-tufted velvet, acrylic, and wool yarn on rug warp, 66 x 62.5 x 1 inches

    “(Be)Longing VIII” (2024), hand-tufted acrylic, cotton, wool, and metallic yarn on cotton rug warp, 20 x 1 x 30 inches

    “Release in Darkness” (2022), hand-tufted velvet and acrylic yarn on muslin warp, 66 x 55 inches

    “She Manifests Her Destiny” (2024), silk and wool yarn on textile backing, 50 x 40 inches

    “Break Away at Dawn” (2023), hand-tufted velvet, acrylic, and wool yarn on muslin warp, 66 x 56 x 1 inches

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

    “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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    Adrienna Matzeg’s Punch Needle Embroideries Conjure Nostalgic Summer Road Trips

    “The Afterglow” and “Catch of the Day.” All images courtesy of Adrienna Matzeg and Tacit Collective, shared with permission

    Adrienna Matzeg’s Punch Needle Embroideries Conjure Nostalgic Summer Road Trips

    February 19, 2025

    ArtCraft

    Kate Mothes

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    No matter where the map directs you, a road trip usually conjures some key elements that make it unique from any other kind of journey. Think quirky roadside attractions, diners, spontaneous snack stops, scenic views, national parks—the list goes on!

    For Adrienna Matzeg, summertime trips inspire a new series of punch needle embroidery works (previously) in a collection titled The Scenic Route, now available through Tacit Collective.

    “Lick-A-Treat”

    The Toronto-based artist merges her interests in photography, textiles, and design to create vibrant, narrative embroidery compositions. “Through reducing the subject matter in her work to simplified colours, shapes, and fragments, she explores how we recall memories, with a specific interest in travel destinations and souvenirs,” says a gallery statement.

    In works like “Catch of the Day,” Matzeg evokes the timeless experience of a pint of brew and a gingham-lined basket of freshly battered fish. “Lighthouse Route” captures a scenic byway sign, and in “The Afterglow,” a grocery store sign advertises summer vacation staples like ice cream cones and pizza by the slice.

    Pieces in The Scenic Route hint at simple joys, brief pauses, and the fading light of day, evoking “in-between” experiences that may seem ordinary enough at the moment but linger in the memory long after summer ends.

    Explore more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

    “Catch of the Day”

    Detail of “Lick-A-Treat”

    “Open”

    Detail of “The Afterglow”

    “Lighthouse Route”

    “At the Lookoff”

    Detail of “At the Lookoff”

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    Lena Guberman’s Emotive Sculptures Call Upon Childhood Social Anxiety

    All images courtesy of Lena Guberman, shared with permission

    Lena Guberman’s Emotive Sculptures Call Upon Childhood Social Anxiety

    February 12, 2025

    ArtCraft

    Kate Mothes

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    For any of us who are shy or anxious about interacting with others in the outside world, we might think of the face we “put on” that enable us to feel less fearful. For Lena Guberman (previously), a recent series of ceramic sculptures titled INS_IDE_OUT delves into her childhood experiences with social anxiety and the uncertainties of the unknown.

    “The mask provides a protective shell and presents a ‘perfect’ appearance to the outside world but fails to stop the fears and emotions from bursting out,” Guberman tells Colossal.

    Each piece is modeled on the same melancholy face of a young, brown-haired girl, with painted and sculpted elements that range from spikes to arrows to a dead bird. Emotionally evocative and sometimes slightly unsettling, her sculptures explore the spectrum of feelings associated with anxiety.

    Guberman is currently planning a project that expands upon her use of ceramics by adding other materials. See more work on her website, Instagram, and Behance.

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