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    Wang Mansheng Turns to Nature to Make His Own Paintbrushes from Organic Materials

    All images courtesy of the artist and The Huntington

    Wang Mansheng Turns to Nature to Make His Own Paintbrushes from Organic Materials

    July 17, 2025

    ArtCraftNature

    Kate Mothes

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    Have you ever sought out the best variety of paper, highest quality paints, or most-trusted brand of equipment only to find that a cheaper, more readily available version actually worked better? That’s something Chinese painter and calligrapher Wang Mansheng thinks about a lot. Making his own brushes from natural materials, the artist considers how organic imperfections are often ultimately more interesting than anything produced “perfectly” in a factory.

    The artist’s solo exhibition at The Huntington, Without Us, envisions a world literally devoid of us, which he describes as a “pure land without humans, without pollution, without humans’ damage.” Comprising a series of 22 ink paintings on silk scrolls suspended from the ceiling, the body of work highlights the interconnectedness of all living things. Starting with the equipment he uses, nature remains central in his practice.

    A short documentary produced by The Huntington delves into Wang’s process of creating his own brushes from scratch, utilizing stalks of grass and pieces of twine. “Manufactured things have a certain form,” the artist says. “Like a manufactured brush—they are all really fine. The factory is trying to make it as fine as they could. But when you use it, all the lines come out as smooth and beautiful. But sometimes, I think it’s too perfect.”

    To bring out the character of old trees and dramatic cliffs in his paintings, Wang employs brushes that produce a rougher line or texture. In the film, he demonstrates how he transforms the soft, wide bristles of tall reeds into a tool suited to his needs. Through trial and error, he taught himself how to shape and use different sizes and densities to achieve a variety of effects. Overall, the texture mirrors age and exposure to the elements that shape how trees and rocks look over time.

    Wang Mansheng: Without Us continues through August 5 in San Marino, California. Find more on the artist’s website. (via Kottke)

    Installation view of Without Us at The Huntington

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    Enigmatic Phenomena and Galactic Shapes Revolve in Shane Drinkwater’s Cosmic Systems

    All images © Shane Drinkwater, shared with permission

    Enigmatic Phenomena and Galactic Shapes Revolve in Shane Drinkwater’s Cosmic Systems

    June 2, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    For Queensland-based artist Shane Drinkwater, self-imposed restrictions provide a key starting point for works he creates in ink, pen, acrylic, and collage—always in a square format measuring about 50 by 50 centimeters. Arrows, crosses, dots, and numbers build linear elements and patterns, while primary colors provide the foundation for the occasional green or gradient.

    Drawing on a lifelong love for maps, ciphers, and astronomical charts, Drinkwater continues to explore the possibilities of fictional cosmic networks (previously). In some pieces, concentric circles resemble diagrams of the Solar System, while in others, references to comets or esoteric systems suggest the imaginary workings of atomic phenomena or alchemical experiments.

    Drinkwater’s work was recently included in the book Elements: Chaos, Order and the Five Elemental Forces, published by Thames & Hudson. He is currently preparing work for art fairs this fall in Copenhagen and Paris, along with a group show at Gagné Contemporary in Toronto. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

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    Metaphysical Interactions Unfold in Moonassi’s Surreal ‘Mind Illustrations’

    “Same difference” (2024), ink and acrylic on Hanji, 72.7 x 60.6 centimeters. All images courtesy of the artist, shared with permission

    Metaphysical Interactions Unfold in Moonassi’s Surreal ‘Mind Illustrations’

    May 12, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    Through ink on hanji paper that juxtaposes deep blacks with delicate cross-hatching, surreal scenes unfold in the drawings of Seoul-based artist Moonassi (previously). Through the dramatic use of chiaroscuro and simple yet elegantly delineated faces, hands, and limbs, the artist constructs dreamlike worlds in which figures commune and explore.

    Moonassi’s use of meok, a traditional Korean inkstick ground with water against a stone to produce a liquid, results in a deep black medium achieved through a meditative process. He refers to his work as “mind illustration,” delving into the emotional and psychological bonds between pairs, small groups, and otherworldly surroundings.

    “Meme” (2024), ink and acrylic on Hanji, 130.3 x 193.9 centimeters

    Recent pieces like “Same difference” explore dualities like opaqueness and transparency, weight and lightness, and unity and individuality. Moonassi’s compositions are often intrinsically introspective, as the figures interact with others that may or may not be versions of themselves or figments of their own imaginations.

    Repetition and scale play significant roles in the artist’s work, like in “Meme,” in which a central figure crouches onto the ground and gently cups another tiny figure in their hands, who in turn does the same. At some point, it dawns on us that the main figure is also framed by enormous hands, akin to an otherworldly Matryoshka nesting doll. Moonassi’s scenes challenges our senses of perspective, presence, care, and the spiritual world.

    Find more on the artist’s website.

    “Mineral Wait” (2024), ink on Hanji, 76 × 145 centimeters

    “Acrobat IV” (2024), ink and acrylic on Hanji, 72.7 x 60.6 centimeters

    “Becoming Nature” (2024), ink and acrylic on Hanji, 72.7 x 60.6 centimeters

    “The feeling aligned for us” (2024), ink and acrylic on Hanji, 130.3 x 190.4 centimeters

    “Rippled and sparkled” (2024), ink on Hanji, 130.3 x 193.9 centimeters

    “Feeling Kintsugi” (2024), ink and acrylic on Hanji, 72.7 x 60.6 centimeters

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