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    Loose Fibers Billow Out of Warped Ceramic Sculptures by Artist Nicole McLaughlin

    
    Art
    Craft

    #ceramics
    #fiber art
    #identity
    #mixed media
    #sculpture

    January 14, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Nicole McLaughlin, shared with permission
    “As a product of an American father and a Mexican mother, I am influenced by the conflicting expectations I have received as a woman within my two cultures,” says artist Nicole McLaughlin. From her studio in Marion, Massachusetts, McLaughlin combines historically domestic crafts—ceramics and fiber art—into striking sculptures that explore identity and heritage, particularly in relation to gendered expectations, traditions, and the changes that occur as generations pass.
    In her mixed-media works, the artist contrasts the soft, pliable fibers with the fragility of the plates painted with blue-and-white motifs. Dyed in subtle gradients and earth tones, the loose threads are woven through the sloping ceramic edges and knotted in the center. McLaughlin explains how it’s important that the utility of both elements is removed once combined:
    (The vessels) serve as vehicles for fiber.  As the fiber flows from, weaves into, or frames the ceramic, it distorts the functionality but becomes a meaningful component as plate and cloth merge. The vessels contain an expression of femininity and an essence of personal and cultural history.
    These dichotomies in the materials also reflect the artist’s experience eschewing “the feminine ideals of my Mexican identity,” she says. “I am a force, and I think I tend to push the boundaries of what might be within the female expectation in Mexican culture.”
    Currently, McLaughlin is serving as a teaching fellow at Tabor Academy. She sells some smaller ceramic pieces in her shop, and you can follow her work on Instagram, where she also shares glimpses into her process.

    #ceramics
    #fiber art
    #identity
    #mixed media
    #sculpture

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    Miniature Mixed Media Lace Works Depict Pastoral Scenes in New Work by Ágnes Herczeg

    
    Art
    Craft

    #found objects
    #lace
    #mixed media

    October 2, 2020
    Christopher Jobson

    All photos © Ágnes Herczeg, shared with permission
    Working within a scale of just a few small inches, Hungarian artist Ágnes Herczeg (previously) threads together fragments of wood, seeds, and wire with delicate lace work to form pastoral scenes inspired in part by her surroundings in a small town near the river Danube. This year Herczeg utilized more tree bark and golf leaf, and developed her abilities with silk thread to create pieces even smaller than before. In a note to Colossal she shares this challenge to work increasingly smaller is “a very good mind game.” You can see lots of her new work on her website, and several pieces are for sale in her online shop.

    #found objects
    #lace
    #mixed media

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    Bees Encase Raw-Material Embroideries with Honeycomb in New Encaustic Works by Ava Roth

    
    Art
    Design
    Science

    #bees
    #encaustic
    #honey
    #mixed media

    September 18, 2020
    Grace Ebert

    “Falling Horsehair, Gold #2,” encaustic, Japanese tissue, horse hair and thread in embroidery hoop, embedded in honeycomb, custom double length Langstroth hive frame, 19”x 9.5 inches. All images © Ava Roth, shared with permission
    When Ava Roth adds the last stitch grasping horsehair or porcupine quills to her embroidered artworks, she passes the fibrous material on to her black-and-yellow counterparts. The Toronto-based artist collaborates with bees to encase her mixed-media pieces in waxy honeycomb. What emerges are organic artworks that consider interspecies interactions and the beauty that such meetings can garner.
    Since 2019, Roth has been expanding the wooden frames of her works to twice the size as previous projects. She receives help from master beekeeper Mylee Nordin, and together, they vertically stack hive boxes, which are known as supers, and insert large, custom-made structures. The artist also has developed a more detailed practice in recent months. “Because this project has required so much trial and error, I was still experimenting with materials last season, trying to find substances that the bees would consistently respond to positively,” she writes. “I was trying to find organic substances that would not harm the bees but also that the bees would not eat or otherwise destroy.”
    When the bees finished wax production in late October, Roth says her understanding of the species and confidence in her choice of raw matter had grown. “I spent the winter weaving and embroidering beeswax, porcupine quills, horsehair, and other organic material into embroidery hoops, and then fixing them onto my new custom made frames,” she notes.

    Beeswax, porcupine quills, Japanese tissue, metallic thread in embroidery hoop, embedded in natural honeycomb
    Roth’s projects also have a sense of urgency through their connection to Colony Collapse Disorder, a phenomenon that’s killing colonies and threatening the species’ population. “Honeybees are often considered a harbinger of the health of our planet, and CCD is interpreted by many environmentalists and scientists as a clear indicator of our current environmental crisis,” the artist says.
    I consider the bees to be my co-workers, collaborators in every sense. I take cues from their needs, design the project around their capacities, and work in sync with their seasons. Ultimately, this art that we make together is essentially hopeful at a time when we are overwhelmed with despair at the state of the environment, and our role in its destruction.
    During the winter, Roth plans to refine her project further after reflecting on another season of interspecies collaboration. Follow the latest updates on her encaustic works on Instagram.

    Beeswax, porcupine quills, Japanese tissue, metallic thread in embroidery hoop, embedded in natural honeycomb
    “Honeycomb Embroidery, Amber,” beeswax, Japanese tissue, glass beads, thread, honeycomb in embroidery hoop, 6 inches
    “Porcupine Quill Flowers,” encaustic, Japanese tissue, porcupine quills, metal thread, seed beads, and embroidery hoop embedded in honeycomb, a traditional Langstroth hive frame, 19 x 9.5 inches
    Left: “Honeycomb Embroidery, Birch and Moss,” beeswax, Japanese tissue, glass beads, thread, honeycomb, birch bark in an embroidery hoop, 6 inches. Right: “Honeycomb Embroidery, Flora,” beeswax, Japanese tissue, glass beads, thread, honeycomb, birch bark, leaves, in embroidery hoop, 9.5 inches

    #bees
    #encaustic
    #honey
    #mixed media

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