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    Melding Craft and Sustainability, Richard Haining Sculpts Sleek Vessels from Reclaimed Wood

    All images courtesy of Richard Haining, shared with permission

    Melding Craft and Sustainability, Richard Haining Sculpts Sleek Vessels from Reclaimed Wood

    April 11, 2025

    ArtCraftDesign

    Grace Ebert

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    Renewal is at the center of Richard Haining’s practice. The Brooklyn-based artist and designer (previously) sculpts supple vessels and functional goods from reclaimed wood sourced from local workshops or buildings destined for demolition. Intrigued by signs of wear and former uses, Haining has a deep reverence for the material and its history.

    In his ongoing STACKED series, small offcuts nest together in intuitively laid grids. An angle grinder and hand tools help to smooth any jagged edges and create the soft, sleek forms Haining is known for.

    The artist shares that his inspiration comes from a wide array of sources, “from Classical Antiquity to East Asian design (to) 17th-century European Craftsmanship.” His holy trinity, though, is beauty, craftsmanship, and mindfulness for the environment. He adds:

    By juxtaposing repurposed ‘low-value’ materials with ‘high-art’ forms, I invite viewers to reconsider what is truly valuable. Ultimately, I hope to spark a conversation about sustainability, showing that art, craftsmanship, and environmental responsibility can coexist—and that beauty can emerge from the most unexpected places.

    Haining is participating in two group exhibitions in New York, one at Lyle Gallery through April 20 and Paraphernalia Exhibition: Desire opening on May 7. Follow the latest on Instagram.

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    A Years-Long Collaboration Sees a Traditional Tlingit Tribal House Return to Glacier Bay

    All images courtesy of the National Park Service

    A Years-Long Collaboration Sees a Traditional Tlingit Tribal House Return to Glacier Bay

    March 31, 2025

    ArtCraftDesignFilmHistory

    Kate Mothes

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    People have lived in the area around modern-day Glacier Bay National Park, along Alaska’s rugged southern coastline, for at least around 3,000 years. Nearby, in Groundhog Bay, evidence of human habitation extends back a mindboggling 9,000-or-more years.

    In the mid-18th century, advancing glaciers forced ancestral Huna Tlingit people to abandon their homes. While they could visit certain areas occasionally to hunt and fish, the evolving conditions and ice prevented them from living there. And when the area was designated a national monument in 1925, it seemed possible the displacement would be permanent.

    “I never, ever thought that I would ever see the day, in my lifetime, that Tlingits could return to the Homeland,” says local resident Jeff Skaflestad in the opening of the National Park Service’s short film, “Sanctuary for the Future.” But in 2016, thanks to many years’ work and a collaboration between the National Park Service and the Hoonah Indian Association—the tribal government of the Huna Tlingit clans—Xunaa Shuká Hít marked a momentous homecoming.

    Both a space for tribal ceremonies and a nexus of living history, the house is a sacred place for the Indigenous community that also provides visitors the opportunity to learn about Huna Tlingit culture, history, and oral traditions.

    Xunaa Shuká Hít, which roughly translates to “Huna Ancestors’ House,” was brought to life by three Tlingit craftsmen: Gordon Greenwald, Owen James, and Herb Sheakley, Sr., who spent countless hours carving their ancestors’ stories into meticulously selected trees and wooden panels.

    In a large carving shed in nearby Hoonah, Alaska, the artisans, along with occasional help from friends and neighbors, worked on totem poles, boats, oars, and architectural details. “Having Elders come in and talk with us, just to share with us, that was a highlight of my days,” James says. Sheakley adds that as they began carving, it was an obvious decision to make their own tools, too, as a way of connecting to time-honored traditions. More

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    Tia Keobounpheng’s Vibrating Textile Geometries Merge Modernism and Sámi Lineage

    “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE no9” (2023), 48 x 72 inches. All images courtesy of Tia Keobounpheng, shared with permission

    Tia Keobounpheng’s Vibrating Textile Geometries Merge Modernism and Sámi Lineage

    March 27, 2025

    ArtCraft

    Kate Mothes

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    Tia Keobounpheng learned to weave in Oulu, Finland, when she was 18 years old. Seated beside two older Finnish women in a community weaving center, she worked for hours, hardly speaking a word. Two decades later, following university studies in weaving, architecture, and design, the Minnesota-based artist’s memory of her first lesson connects her to her ancestral land and its time-honored craft traditions.

    On wood panels, Keobounpheng weaves colorful threads to create precise geometries in vibrating color. She says, “My exploration into geometry coincided with learning that in my known familial histories, there was a suppressed Sámi lineage through my great-grandmother’s line, thereby completely changing the narrative of our Finnish heritage.”

    Detail of “THREADS no6”

    The Sámi people of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia’s Kola Peninsula are an Indigenous group with their own unique languages and a traditional, semi-nomadic livelihood that includes practices like reindeer and sheep herding, coastal fishing, and fur trapping.

    Historically, as the Scandinavians remained mostly south and Sámi communities lived in the north, contact was uncommon. But by the 19th century, Scandinavian governments began to assert sovereignty over the north, targeting the Sámi, who were increasingly viewed as “primitive” or “backward.” Their language was outlawed and many cultural customs suppressed as they were forced to assimilate into Scandinavian society.

    During the pandemic, Keobounpheng was helping her son during a distance-learning 4th-grade geometry class, and a particular phrase caught her attention. “Geo means earth, so geometry is just measuring the earth,” the teacher said.

    “These words… changed my worldview and reminded me that underneath rigid linear laws, an entire foundation of forgotten circular consciousness exists,” the artist says. “Aside from the powerful conceptual connections I was able to draw from geometry as a visual language to understand and express a circular, expansive worldview, the physical motions of spinning the compass awakened something deep within me.”

    “THREADS no6” (202), 24 x 18 inches

    Keobounpheng’s compositions are both exact and interwoven, as shapes blend into other shapes, neither fully independent nor simply an all-over pattern. She describes the physicality of moving a needle and thread back and forth through paper or wood as a means of metaphorically stitching this worldview into her muscle memory.

    The artist’s father is a self-trained architect, and from him, she adopted a modernist lens. “Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko, and Josef and Anni Albers were early favorites of mine in my teen and young adult years,” she tells Colossal. “These days, Agnes Martin, Hilma af Klint, and Sámi artist Outi Pieski are my anchors of inspiration.”

    Each piece requires initial planning to map the geometry, drill holes, select the color palette, and begin threading a black-and-white framework. But often, “all of my best intentions or visions for what the work will be start to loosen and sometimes fly away,” she says. “There is always a point, with every piece, where I must surrender my plan and give way to the threads.”

    The artist’s work will be on view in Weinstein Hammons Gallery’s booth at EXPO Chicago at the end of April. She is also currently participating in Nordic Echoes — Tradition in Contemporary Art at Scandinavia House, which runs from April 5 to August 2 in New York City and also includes work by Sonja Peterson. Find more on Keobounpheng’s website and Instagram.

    “THREADS no19” (2024), 16 x 16 inches

    “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE no15” (2024), 24 x 18 inches

    “THREADS no25” (2025)

    Detail of “THREADS no25”

    “THREADS no18” (2024), 16 x 16 inches

    “THREADS no7” (2022), 24 x 18 inches

    “CIRCLE ROUND no5” (2023), 12 x 12 inches

    “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE no13” (2024), 96 x 48 inches

    Reverse of “THREADS no25”

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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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