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      Papier Mâché Bat Masks by Jym Davis Take Wing in Bold Portraits

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      White bat, Florida. All images courtesy of Jym Davis, shared with permission

      Papier Mâché Bat Masks by Jym Davis Take Wing in Bold Portraits

      October 2, 2024

      Art Craft Nature Photography

      Kate Mothes

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      Atlanta-based artist Jym Davis, who also goes by False Face, has a thing for bats. He began making masks of the winged mammals during a series of residencies at national parks in the American West. In Arizona, he learned about Townsend’s big-eared bat and critically threatened species like the pallid bat in Northern California, Oregon, and Idaho.

      “(The Townsend’s big-eared bat’s) scrunched up, wrinkly faces, and huge ears seemed so sculptural and beautifully grotesque to me,” Davis tells Colossal. “The more strange and exotic bats I discovered, the more I was inspired to push my sculpting and painting techniques.”

      Pallid bat, Idaho

      When entering the caves or lava tubes that the bats call home, Davis takes precautions to help protect the animals from contagious diseases and fungi that visitors can track in on their shoes. “In the past century, bats were villainized and intentionally eradicated,” he says. “I think I have a particular fondness for bats because they are so historically misunderstood.”

      Drawn to ancient European festival traditions and materials used for centuries, Davis began making masks as a way to connect his work to history and the land.

      “For instance, I really love sculpting with papier mâché because it goes back hundreds of years,” he says. “I sew bells and ribbons into my outfits because it is another old festival element—even referenced by Shakespeare.” He typically avoids modern materials, especially anything made of plastic.

      Townsend’s big-eared bat, Arizona

      While Davis’s designs are based on real creatures, he often embellishes the masks with bold patterns, colors, and geometries. The pieces are part of a broader, ongoing body of work that he describes as a “menagerie of mythological characters,” which include a series of otherworldly avian creatures called Flood Birds and a grouping inspired by moths and butterflies titled Morph Angels, among others.

      Davis dons the masks amid natural settings and captures each personality in striking photographs and performances. This month, he is headed to Joshua Tree, California, for some photo sessions in preparation for his forthcoming book focused on Morph Angels.

      The artist currently has an albatross mask on view in FORAGE: OCEANS at Dorado 806 Projects in Los Angeles through October 12. Some of his masks are also available for sale on his website, and you can follow updates on Instagram.

      You might also enjoy Ashley Suszczynski’s ongoing documentation of ancient masked traditions.

      Bat, Florida

      Red bat, California

      Bat, Florida

      Pallid bat, Idaho

      White bat, Florida

      Red bat, Idaho

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    • 150 Shares169 Views

      in Art

      Hiné Mizushima Felts Whimsical Sea Creatures Adorned with Beads and Crocheted Detail

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      Detail of “Ancient Diorama Ammonite.” All images © Hiné Mizushima, shared with permission

      Hiné Mizushima Felts Whimsical Sea Creatures Adorned with Beads and Crocheted Detail

      September 13, 2024

      Art Craft Nature

      Grace Ebert

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      Nested in one of Hiné Mizushima’s wooden dioramas is an ancient marine menagerie. Vibrant blue felt lines the walls of the plush environment, which houses a pair of ammonites along with tall seagrass and small bits of coral reef.

      From her Vancouver studio, Mizushima stitches whimsical renditions of underwater creatures. Her soft, fiber sculptures take a playful approach to natural life, sometimes perching an octopus atop a human heart or finding a moray eel slithering out of an artery. Often depicted in pastel colors and adorned with beads and crocheted details, the creatures are friendly and even glitzy interpretations of their real-life counterparts.

      The works shown here will be on view in Mizushima’s solo show Creatures and Curiosities on view from September 14 to October 22 at Boris Zakkaten in Tokyo. Find more on Instagram.

      “Ancient Diorama Ammonite”

      “Heart Moray Eel”

      Detail of “Heart Moray Eel”

      “Ancient Diorama Squids”

      Detail of “Ancient Diorama Squids”

      “Heart Ocotpus”

      “Heart Squid”

      Detail of “Heart Squid”

      “Bugs 1”

      “Bugs 2”

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    • 125 Shares169 Views

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      Volcanic Ash and Lush Tropics Inspire Brian Rochefort’s Unearthly Ceramics

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      “Beni River” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches. All images © Brian Rochefort, courtesy of the artist and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles, shared with permission

      Volcanic Ash and Lush Tropics Inspire Brian Rochefort’s Unearthly Ceramics

      September 10, 2024

      Art Craft

      Grace Ebert

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      When Brian Rochefort travels, he’s inclined to visit remote parts of the planet. The depths of the Amazon, the volcanic island cluster of the Galápagos, and the immensely diverse ecosystem of Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater have all drawn him in and once back in his Los Angeles studio, inspired the artist’s lushly textured sculptures.

      Rochefort (previously) is known for his gloopy, chunky vessels that appear to ooze and gurgle with vivid color. A new body of work debuting at Sean Kelly, Los Angeles this month continues the artist’s interest in how abstract forms can translate the myriad textures and compositions of the natural world.

      Detail of “Wet Season” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches

      Staring at the Moon presents Rochefort’s visions of barrier reefs, tropical forests, and volcanic matter into fantastic works. Cloaked in crackled, drippy, and rough chunks of color, each piece emerges through multiple applications of texture followed by as many firings, and sometimes, the glazes remain thicker than the ceramic base.

      “One of the things I try to do is remove the hand. There are no brushstrokes. There are no fingerprints,” he said in a short film about the series. “It’s as if the piece came from outer space… or the depths of the ocean.”

      Staring at the Moon runs from September 14 to November 2. Explore an archive of Rochefort’s work on Instagram.

      “Wet Season” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches

      “The Whale” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches

      “Goddess” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches

      “Summer” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches

      Detail of “Goddess” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches

      “Belizian Swim” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches

      “Spray Ash” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches

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    • 163 Shares99 Views

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      Debra Broz Merges Humor and Kitsch in a Nod to Our ‘Strange World’

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      Left: “Collie Pheasant” (2023). Right: “St. Bernard Pheasant” (2023). Both mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 10.5 x 8 x 3.5 inches. All images © Debra Broz, courtesy of Track 16 Gallery, shared with permission

      Debra Broz Merges Humor and Kitsch in a Nod to Our ‘Strange World’

      September 10, 2024

      Art Craft

      Kate Mothes

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      Vintage, mass-produced porcelain knick-knacks take on new life in Debra Broz’s intricate and uncanny hybrids (previously). Collies and St. Bernards with the bodies of pheasants meet rabbits with curiously long appendages and woodland creatures with human arms.

      In her solo exhibition Strange World at Track 16, Broz continues to explore the subversive and absurd through the leitmotif of midcentury kitsch. Whether merging two small sculptures or creating elaborate amalgamations, the artist finds the humor—and just a tinge of unease—in busyness, cuteness, and perplexity.

      “Weight of the World” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 34 x 18 x 18 inches

      Strange World, which incorporates dozens of sculptures and glazed platters, revolves around three maximalist assemblages made of hundreds of individual figurines Broz collected during the past decade. Clusters of adorable animals like big-eyed bunnies, ducks, and cows emerge from bases as if blossoming with energy.

      In a statement for the show, Track 16 describes the pieces as “darkly optimistic, synthesizing the confusion of limitless information.” Chaotic and idiosyncratically beautiful, Broz’s pieces tap into our contemporary social reality, balancing tension and overwhelm with moments of levity and clarity.

      Strange World continues through October 12 in Los Angeles. Find more on Broz’s website and Instagram.

      Detail of “Weight of the World”

      “Slightly Human: Cat & Skunk” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 4 x 5 x 3 inches

      “Slightly Human: Squirrels” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 5.25 x 7.5 x 4 inches

      “Galaxy Brain” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 25 x 22 x 18 inches

      Detail of “Galaxy Brain”

      “Slightly Human: Horse (The Champion)” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 8.5 x 7 x 4 inches

      “White Rabbit No. 33” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 6 x 4 x 2 inches

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    • 100 Shares149 Views

      in Art

      Sliced Slivers Emanate from Barbara Wildenboer’s Altered Books

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      “An African Survey.” All images © Barbara Wildenboer, shared with permission

      Sliced Slivers Emanate from Barbara Wildenboer’s Altered Books

      September 4, 2024

      Art Craft

      Jackie Andres

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      While heavy, hardcover reference books often embody prestige and historical value, the comprehensive volumes also carry an air of intellectual overload. Filled from cover to cover with extensive and complex concepts, the tomes beckon the Paradox of Knowledge, which states that the more we learn, the more we realize how little we actually know.

      This vexing liminal space between the known and unknown is a driving force for Barbara Wildenboer’s work. The Cape Town-based artist (previously) sources secondhand books that span a wide range of languages, worldviews, and subjects such as philosophy, art, history, music, biology, archaeology, and more. Fascinated by linguistics and systems of writing, Wildenboer aims to decode the ways that we assign meaning to symbols.

      “A World History of Art”

      Scalpel and scissors in hand, Wildenboer transforms countless book pages into narrow, capillary-like slivers that splay outward from the spine. Through these symmetrical sculptures, the artist references other naturally mirrored forms like the brain’s left and right hemispheres linked by the corpus callosum, the wingspan of the death’s-head hawkmoth, and the Rorshach inkblot.

      Wildenboer connects these formal qualities to the process of deciphering texts. Her biography notes, “she cuts through these dense and claustrophobic discourses, rendering them mute.” Instead, she alters books to the point that they’re no longer legible, transforming the once familiar characters into new glyphs.

      See more from the artist on her website and Instagram.

      “Genesis”

      “Cogito Ergo Sum” More