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      Whimsical Illustrations and Motifs Dyed with a Traditional Wax-Resist Method Cover Caroline Södergren’s Eggshells

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      Art
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      Illustration

      #animals
      #eggs
      #insects
      #wax

      June 22, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Caroline Södergren, shared with permission
      Formally trained in glassblowing, Stockholm-based artist Caroline Södergren transfers her experience working with a delicate, fragile material to an ornately illustrated collection of eggshells. She adapts the traditional Ukrainian craft called pysanky, a wax-resist method that involves drawing a design on a clean, empty chicken, turkey, goose, or ostrich egg with hot beeswax. The shell is then dipped in multiple baths of dye and the seal washed away with oil to reveal the colorful, layered design—you can watch the entire process in the video below.
      The technique often is combined with folk art, although Södergren illustrates her own botanical motifs, beetles, and mythical creatures that stray from traditional designs. “You have to think before you start a pattern as the different color layers must come in the right order,” she says. “If you make a mistake with the wax, it is not possible to change, and a written line is where it is. A constant challenge that makes it so fun to work with!”
      Konsthantverkets Vänner, an organization dedicated to supporting Swedish arts and crafts, just awarded Södergren a scholarship for her batik designs. Browse available eggs in her shop, and find a larger collection on Instagram. (via Lustik)

      

      #animals
      #eggs
      #insects
      #wax

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      Rainbow Threads Are Knotted into Elaborate Macramé Wall Hangings by Agnes Hansella

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      Art
      Craft

      #fiber art
      #macramé

      June 11, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Agnes Hansella, shared with permission
      Back in February, Agnes Hansella completed a staggering trio of macramé installations. The monumental works are a facet of the Jakarta-based artist’s practice, which spans large-scale pieces and smaller wall hangings extending a few feet wide. “I would like to not cage myself to a certain style, so in every piece, I really let my instinct do most,” she tells Colossal. “I always think of art as something that keeps evolving. It’s like a relay race where I’m one part that connects the past and future.”
      No matter the size, each of Hansella’s works demonstrates an extensive repertoire as she blends dyed and natural threads into wildly varied combinations of twists, knots, and ties. The elaboratey woven pieces range from geometric shapes and abstracted rainbow glitches to a vast mountain landscape, which are direct products of the sights and sounds she’s encountered throughout her life. Through interactions with her father’s native Dayak tribe and a childhood spent in Borneo, she saw woven baskets and textiles that continue to impact her work today, as do the Indigenous songs she heard while studying cinema in Canada.
      Hansella sells many of her fiber-based works, along with functional goods and supplies, in her shop, and you can follow her latest projects, which include a recently completed piece in Bahrain that’s 48-meters-wide and 4-meters long, on Instagram.

      #fiber art
      #macramé

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      Innumerable Pieces of Dyed Clay Envelop Meditative Sculptures in Subtle Patterns and Gradients

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      Art
      Craft

      #abstract
      #ceramics
      #clay
      #gradients
      #porcelain
      #sculpture

      June 7, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Clements Shade” (2020), porcelain ,29.5 x 16 x 43 centimetres. Photo by Mark Robson. All images © Alice Walton, shared with permission
      Thin ribbons of porcelain ripple across the surfaces of Alice Walton’s abstract sculptures. Gently sloped domes and pillars are covered in countless individual strips, which vary in thickness and length and add irregular texture and depth to the finished pieces. “Every mark I make, whether this be a tool mark or a fingerprint, are preserved in the firing and are not covered or coated or inhibited by a glaze,” the artist writes. “I want the viewer to be able to look at my sculptures from afar and to have one perception of the surface (and) then want to explore closer. On a nearer inspection, the surface decoration reveals layers of multiple colours and time spent through process.”
      Focusing on the meditative qualities of repetition, Walton combines pastels and vibrant Earth tones to evoke the sights of her surrounding environment and travels. “The vividly painted sun-bleached street walls and the monsoon-drenched temples, to me, instantly resembled the dry powdery palette of coloured clays,” she shares about a visit to Rajasthan, India. Her choices in pigment still revolve around what she sees on a daily basis—these range from old maps to the seasonal landscapes nearby her studio in Somerset, U.K.—that result in undulating stripes or bold gradients composed with more than 40 colors in “Clements Shade.”
      At the 2019 British Ceramics Biennial, Walton was awarded a residency with Wedgwood, where she’s currently working on a new series of sculptural vessels made from the English company’s traditional Jasper clay. Those pieces will be shown at the 2021 biennial in September. She’ll also have work at London’s Chelsea Design Centre from June 22 to 29 and at MAKE Hauser & Wirth Somerset in November. Until then, explore more of her sculptures on her site and Instagram. (via Seth Rogan)

      “Clements Shade” (2020), porcelain, 29.5 x 16 x 43 centimeters. Photo by Mark Robson
      Detail of “Avonvale Mapping” (2020), colored porcelain. Photo by Alice Walton
      “Avon Ribbons” (2020), colored porcelain, 30.5 x 28 x 28 centimeters. Photo by Alice Walton
      Detail of “Janta Grove.” Photo by Sylvain Deleu
      “Vale Ribbons” (2020), colored porcelain, 18.5 x 10.5 x 22 centimeters. Photo by Alice Walton
      “Ley Line Pair” (2021), porcelain, 14 x 14 x 31 centimeters and 14 x 14 x 31 centimeters. Photo by Mark Robson
      Detail of “Avonvale Mapping” (2020), colored porcelain. Photo by Alice Walton
      “Avon Strata,” wall-mountable colored porcelain, 48.5 x 48.5 x 1.5 centimeters. Photo by Alice Walton

      #abstract
      #ceramics
      #clay
      #gradients
      #porcelain
      #sculpture

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      Technicolor Chunks and Drips Trickle Down Textured Ceramic Vessels Sculpted by Brian Rochefort

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      Art
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      #ceramics
      #sculpture

      May 28, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Paint Can 8” (2019), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 12 × 12 × 11 inches. All images © Brian Rochefort, by Marten Elder, courtesy of MASSIMODECARLO, shared with permission
      Bulging hunks of glaze and smooth, speckled drips flow from Brian Rochefort’s chunky ceramic sculptures. The Los Angeles-based artist continues his signature abstract style in a newer series of paint cans and oozing vessels, many of which resemble the crusty remnants of volcanic eruptions. Rochefort builds each piece from a combination of clay, glaze, and glass fragments through multiple rounds of firing in the kiln. The final assemblages are literally overflowing with speckles, gloopy lumps, and delicately cracked patches all layered in a kaleidoscope of color and texture.
      In a note to Colossal, the artist describes his process as multi-faceted with a diverse array of influences that range from visual to intellectual and historical. The most important, though, are from travel and experiences outside of his studio or gallery spaces. “My work is generated from numerous trips to remote areas in Latin America and Africa such as the Bolivian Amazon, Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia. I think of myself as an authentic abstract artist and place importance behind the criticality of experiencing these environments in person,” he says.
      Rochefort’s sculptures are on view at Blum & Poe in Los Angeles through June 26, and you can follow his drippy works on Instagram.

      “Paint Can 6” (2020), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 12 × 11 × 11 inches
      “Paint Can 7” (2020), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 12 × 13 × 11 inches
      Detail of “Fiery Dawn” (2020), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 22 × 20 × 22 inches
      “Rocksteady” (2020), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 × 23 × 21 inches
      Left: Right: “Paint Can 1” (2020), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 11 × 11 × 9 inches
      “Paint Can 3” (2020), ceramic, glaze, 12 × 11 × 11 inches
      Top left: “Rarity” (2020), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 21 × 21 × 22 inches. Top right: “Supervolcano” (2020), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 21 × 21 × 20 inches. Bottom left: “Fiery Dawn” (2020), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 22 × 20 × 22 inches. Bottom right: “Captain Planet” (2020), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 × 22 × 20 inches
      Detail of “Rocksteady” (2020), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 × 23 × 21 inches

      #ceramics
      #sculpture

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    • 125 Shares169 Views

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      Colorful Glazes Coat Exquisite Vessels Sculpted with Smooth Sloping Porcelain

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      Art
      Craft

      #ceramics
      #porcelain
      #vessels

      May 24, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Sophie Cook, shared with permission. Photo by Josephine Cottrell for Maud and Mabel
      Sophie Cook sculpts delicate porcelain into teardrops, bottles, and pods with swollen bases and long bowed necks. Often evoking the colors of the Suffolk landscape surrounding her studio, the elegant vessels have smooth exteriors coated in matte and glossy glazes that range from coral to graphite and sage. The pieces vary in height and width and are designed to be displayed in groups as “a three-dimensional still life,” she says in a statement.
      Cook’s practice is meticulous and regimented—watch the short video below to see her at the wheel—and frequently results in loss, which she describes:
      Every piece is a challenge to make as porcelain is such a fluid medium on the wheel. I throw four pieces a day, which are left to dry for two days and are then carved to refine the shape. Once sprayed they dry for a week. It is an incredibly delicate process. Rarely, if ever, do all four pieces survive the carving and firing processes.
      Browse available vessels in Cook’s shop, and follow her work on Instagram.

      Photo by Layton Thompson for Ceramic Review
      Photo by Josephine Cottrell for Maud and Mabel
      Photo by Josephine Cottrell for Maud and Mabel

      [embedded content]

      #ceramics
      #porcelain
      #vessels

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      New Articulate Cardboard Sculptures by Greg Olijnyk Populate Miniature Worlds of Fantasy and Science Fiction

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      Art
      Craft

      #cardboard
      #insects
      #light
      #robots
      #science fiction
      #sculpture

      May 20, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “DvG 2.0.” All images by Griffin Simm, © Greg Olijnyk, shared with permission
      An eerie pair of buildings, a jet-powered dragonfly, and a sci-fi-inspired retelling of David and Goliath complete with an oversized robot and samurai comprise the latest cardboard sculptures by Greg Olijnyk (previously). Fully articulate and outfitted with LED lights and glass where necessary, the extraordinarily detailed works are futuristic, slightly dystopic, and part of larger world-building narratives. The architectural constructions, for example, are “the start of a series of pieces exploring the fear, fascination, and curiosity aroused by the stranger in our midst. The weird presence out of place. The building of unknown purpose with no windows and with lights flickering at night,” he says. “What’s going on in there?”
      Olijnyk is based in Melbourne and shares works-in-progress and more photos of the machine-like sculptures shown here on his Instagram.

      “DvG 2.0”
      Detail of “DvG 2.0”
      “Dragonfly Bot”
      “The New Neighbours,” 80 x 75 x 30 centimeters
      “The New Neighbours,” 80 x 75 x 30 centimeters
      Detail of “The New Neighbours,” 80 x 75 x 30 centimeters
      Detail of “Dragonfly Bot”
      “Dragonfly Bot”

      #cardboard
      #insects
      #light
      #robots
      #science fiction
      #sculpture

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      Hundreds of Minuscule Paper Cranes Perch in Bonsai Trees in Naoki Onogawa’s Sculptures

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      Art
      Craft

      #miniature
      #origami
      #paper
      #sculpture
      #trees

      April 5, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Naoki Onogawa, shared with permission
      Using just his hands, Tokyo-based artist Naoki Onogawa folds scores of origami cranes with wingspans that never top a single centimeter. He then fastens the minuscule birds to asymmetric tree forms, creating bonsai-like sculptures engulfed by hundreds of the monochromatic paper creatures.
      Onogawa tells Colossal that he began crafting the tiny birds following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake that devastated parts of southern Hokkaido and Tohoku, which the artist visited the next year. As he walked around the city of Rikuzen Takata, he spotted 1,000 paper cranes at the site of a school demolished by the tsunami. “I found myself in terror of how powerless we humans are in the face of nature’s wonder; yet at the same time, I felt empowered by the power of life, vitality, that shined so brightly in the aftermath of its wrath,” Onogawa says. He explains further:
      It was like witnessing the result of a desolate ritual where people channeled their unsettled feelings into these cranes. And here they exist, spirited with prayers that they would go back and forward to and from a world beyond here. I struggle to find the words to describe it, but I think that maybe the cranes that I fold now come from that place of solemn prayer.
      Onogawa’s cranes are on view at the Setouchi City Museum of Art alongside Motoi Yamamoto’s sprawling salt installation through May 5. Browse available artworks on Picaresque, and explore a larger collection of his pieces on Instagram. (via designboom)

      #miniature
      #origami
      #paper
      #sculpture
      #trees

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      A New Book Highlights an Eclectic Collection of Paper Works by 24 Artists Defining the Medium

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      Art
      Craft

      #books
      #paper

      March 31, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      JUDiTH+ROLFE. All images courtesy of Gingko Press, shared with permission
      A celebration of contemporary paper art, a new book gathers a wide-ranging collection of collages, quilled portraits, and intricately cut landscapes from 24 artists and studios around the globe. Published by Gingko Press, Paperists: Infinite Possibilities in Paper Art spans 256 pages that explore the unexpected ways the medium is used today and features work from a slew of artists featured on Colossal, including Estudio Guardabosques (previously), Makerie Studio (previously), Yulia Brodskaya (previously), and Zim & Zou (previously), to name a few. Grab a copy of the forthcoming volume on Bookshop.

      Pippa Dyrlaga

      Left: Pippa Dyrlaga. Right: Ale Rambar
      Zim & Zou
      Left: Diana Beltran Herrera. Right: Sam Pierpoint
      Zim & Zou
      Hazel Glass

      #books
      #paper

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