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      Monumental Cut Paper Portraits Celebrate the Fundamental Importance of Community and Friendship

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      Art

      #identity
      #paper
      #portraits

      July 12, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “The limits of my language are the limits of my world” (2021), hand-cut paper, ink, pencil, paint, 77 x 48 1/4 inches. All images courtesy of Antonius Bui and Monique Meloche Gallery, shared with permission
      Vietnamese-American artist Antonius Bui highlights the flexible, evolving nature of identity and the value of community through a series of unapologetically affectionate portraits. Elaborate hand-cut botanicals and geometric motifs envelop and give shape to Bui’s subjects, who include chosen and biological family members, friends, and colleagues. Painted in deep blue or inked in smaller spots to emit a warm glow, the pieces are monumental in scale—some extend upwards of 10 feet—and saturated with underlying stories that reveal themselves through smaller portraits and displays of domestic life embedded in the central image.
      Continually focused on the power of narrative, Bui leaves gaps in the metaphorical, mesh-like works as a way to create space for more nuanced understandings of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, immigrant experiences, queerness, and the prevalence of false binaries. A child of Vietnamese refugees, they draw on their family’s heritage with “allusions to the spiritual significance of Joss paper, an incense paper used both to imitate value and as a form of blessings, position(ing) each work almost as an offering to honor queer communities,” a statement about the portraits says.
      All of the works shown here are part of The Detour Is to Be Where We Are, which is on view through August 14 at Monique Meloche Gallery in Chicago. You can find more of Bui’s intimate pieces on their site and Instagram.

      Detail of “The limits of my language are the limits of my world” (2021), hand-cut paper, ink, pencil, paint, 77 x 48 1/4 inches
      Detail of “for hunger is to give the body what it knows it cannot keep” (2020), hand-cut paper, ink, pencil, 120 x 61 inches
      “If I had the words to tell you we wouldn’t be here now” (2020), hand-cut paper, ink, pencil, 104 x 60 inches
      Left: “I remember opening you into words, gently, with a single question” (2021), hand-cut paper, ink, pencil, paint, 100 3/4 x 49 3/4 inches. Right: “for hunger is to give the body what it knows it cannot keep” (2020), hand-cut paper, ink, pencil, 120 x 61 inches
      “theoriginalcalloutqueen” (2021), hand-cut paper, ink, pencil, 50 x 99 1/2 inches
      Left: “When they move on, it’s just us” (2021), hand-cut paper, ink, pencil, 34 3/4 x 26 3/4 inches. Right: “Vessel 4″ (2021), hand-cut paper, ink, pencil, paint, 33 3/4 x 21 inches
      “If I had the words to tell you we wouldn’t be here now” (2020), hand-cut paper, ink, pencil, 104 x 60 inches

      #identity
      #paper
      #portraits

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      Layers of Cut Paper Foliage Fragment Christine Kim’s Collaged Portraits

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      Art
      Craft
      Illustration

      #collage
      #graphite
      #mixed media
      #paper
      #portraits

      July 8, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Christine Kim, shared with permission
      Obscured faces peek through tangles of leaves and stems in the ethereal portraits of Toronto-based artist Christine Kim. Her mixed-media collages layer textured graphite gradients and mesh-like cuttings into splintered depictions of her subjects. “‘Fragmentary’ is one word that I return to again and again because I think portraiture is an act of catching glimmers of a person,” she tells Colossal. “I like the idea of not being able to see everything. Having multiple layers partially conceals but the patterns of foliage, (which) also act like a kind of shelter.”
      For each work, Kim first illustrates a single figure—the subjects shown here are models Yuka Mannami and Hoyeon Jung—and then digitally draws a corresponding botanical pattern. Those motifs are cut with the help of a Silhouette Cameo machine before they’re built up sheet by sheet. Graceful and at times surreal, the resulting portraits portray fractions of faces and hands that are duplicated or filtered through colorful webs.
      You can dive into Kim’s process in this studio visit, and find a larger collection of her tiered illustrations on Instagram. (via Supersonic Art)

      #collage
      #graphite
      #mixed media
      #paper
      #portraits

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      Minimal Lines and Colorful Geometric Shapes Compose Luciano Cian’s Portraits

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      Art
      Illustration

      #digital
      #portraits
      #posters and prints

      June 21, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Luciano Cian, shared with permission
      Rio de Janeiro-based artist Luciano Cian (previously) has an affinity for the bold blocks of color that compose his minimal portraits. Although he recently expanded his practice to include acrylic paintings and collage, Cian works primarily digitally, rendering anonymous figures with thin lines and vibrant, geometric shapes like in his MAGNA series. “It has this name because it is big, both in dimensions and in purpose,” he tells Colossal. “I always work with images that allude to ethnicity. This series, like the others, talks about the miscegenation of races and peoples, with diversity as the central focus.”
      Cian teamed up with the nonprofit Prints Against Poverty to sell a collection of 15 works, and you can purchase more of his available pieces on Saatchi Art and Artsper. Find an extensive archive of his portraits on Behance and Instagram.

      #digital
      #portraits
      #posters and prints

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      Distorted Figures Navigate the Aftermath of Environmental Destruction in Portraits by Stamatis Laskos

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      Art

      #oil painting
      #painting
      #portraits
      #self-portrait

      June 11, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Losing the last rights” (2021), oil on canvas, 200 x 120 centimeters. All images © Stamatis Laskos, shared with permission
      Fantastically tall figures with elongated limbs and torsos inhabit the distorted, mysterious realities painted by artist Stamatis Laskos (previously). The highly stylized artworks, which extend upwards of six feet, imagine a universe marred by unknown destruction: an elderly man wades through waist-high water while fire burns in the background, a woman retrieves a human skeleton from a flood, and a self-portrait shows the artist shielding his eyes with detached hands. Working with Earth tones and an implied dim light, Laskos shrouds each scene with shadow, which obscures the figures’ faces and casts an eerie tension over the degraded environments.
      At once distant and deeply personal, each painting draws on ideas of collective unconscious and Jungian archetypes, whether portrayed through wise figures, an apocalypse, or the unification of opposing forces. “Giving them the necessary deformation, my archaic protagonists carve out incompatible and irreconcilable trajectories,” Laskos says. “The unconscious and the hidden memories are framed by colors, shapes, and situations that complement my compositions in such a way that each work is a page from my diary, always reminding me how and why it was created.”
      Laskos is currently based in his hometown of Volos, Greece, and some of his works on canvas are on view through June 25 at Lola Nikolaou Art Gallery in Thessaloniki. Later this summer, he’ll be painting a larger mural in Athens focused around a theme of environmental ruin, and you can follow his progress on that piece on Behance and Instagram.

      “Self-portrait” (2021), oil on canvas,110 x 80 centimeters
      “Golden hour” (2021), oil on canvas, 180 x 120 centimeters
      “Cretan” (2020), oil on canvas, 1,880 x 1,120 centimeters
      Detail of “”Cretan” (2020), oil on canvas, 1,880 x 1,120 centimeters
      “Soldier”
      “Under the table” (2021), oil on canvas, 150 x 150 centimeters
      Detail of “Under the table” (2021), oil on canvas, 150 x 150 centimeters
      Laskos working on “Losing the last rights”

      #oil painting
      #painting
      #portraits
      #self-portrait

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      Sculptural Portraits Fashion Raw Wool into Expressive Figures by Salman Khoshroo

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      Art

      #portraits
      #sculpture
      #wool

      May 24, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Salman Khoshroo, shared with permission
      Iranian artist Salman Khoshroo (previously) continues his wool portraiture series with dozens of new sculptural works. Chunky, dyed rovings stretch and curl into facial features, beards, and coifs that pair the supple shape and color of the raw materials with a unique expression.
      This nuanced set expands on the original collection he created last year in response to quarantine and personal trauma, although they deviate with more stable and durable structures and new materials like velvet and synthetic fur. Khoshroo describes this evolved process as therapeutic and indicative of wide-spread change:
      Weaving inanimate fibers into faces has brought me comfort and helped with overcoming my own experience of contracting the virus. These portraits are delicate and vulnerable and resonate with my own precarious situation. We live in fragile times, and I feel the need to find new materials and the mindset to reinvent my practice. Wool brings warmth and intimacy to these portraits and plays with provoking the nurture instinct.
      In addition to shaping unspun wool into the portraits shown here, Khoshroo also has been creating full busts with the natural fiber along with sculptures made of foam paint, all of which you can see on his site and Instagram.

      #portraits
      #sculpture
      #wool

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      An Expansive Exhibition Pairs Two Indigenous Artists to Explore the Power of Socially Engaged Artmaking

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      Art

      #animals
      #collaborative
      #found objects
      #installation
      #portraits
      #sculpture

      May 21, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Each/Other,” (2021) about 700 bandannas, approximately 16 x 9 feet, a collaboration between Marie Watt and Cannupa Hanska Luger
      A monumental patchwork wolf, warriors sparring with a fang-bearing snake, and an abstract woolen tapestry made of restored blankets comprise Each/Other: Marie Watt and Cannupa Hanska Luger, which opens this weekend at the Denver Art Museum. The expansive exhibition—featuring 26 mixed-media sculptures, installations, and wall hangings—joins two of the leading Indigenous artists working today in a manner that distinguishes both the connective threads and nuances within their bodies of work.
      Situated at the center of the space is the 16-foot creature the pair created together by fashioning about 700 patterned bandannas submitted by an international crew around a steel armature. The collaborative installation, titled “Each/Other,” physically tethers Watt’s and Luger’s individual artworks while drawing on the socially engaged aspects inherent to both of their practices.

      Cannupa Hanska Luger, “Every One” (2018), ceramic, social collaboration, 12 x 15 x 3 feet. Image courtesy of Marie Walsh Sharpe Gallery of Contemporary Art at Ent Center for the Arts, UCCS, Colorado Springs, Colorado
      Based in New Mexico, Luger is a multi-media artist of Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota, and European descent whose projects often speak to contemporary life within Indigenous communities. For example, his 2018 piece “Every One” strings together 4,096 ceramic beads into a pixelated portrait of a young figure. Each individual orb represents one of the women, girls, and queer and trans folks who have been murdered or gone missing in Canada.
      Watt, who is a member of the Seneca Nation and has Scottish and German heritage, utilizes everyday objects steeped in historical narratives and collective memory. Whether presented through leaning, stacked towers or smaller wall hangings, the Portland-based artist primarily works with materials gathered from the community, like blankets stitched in sewing circles.
      Following the end of its run in Denver on August 22, Each/Other will visit the Michael C. Carlos Museum in Atlanta from September 25 to December 12, 2021, and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem from January 29 to May 8, 2022. Find out more about Luger and Watt on their sites.

      Marie Watt (Seneca), “Butterfly” (2015), reclaimed wool blankets, satin binding, thread, cotton twill tape, and tin jingles, 94 x 126 inches. Image © Marie Watt
      Cannupa Hanska Luger, “This Is Not A Snake” (2017-2020), ceramic, fiber, steel, oil drums, concertina wire, ammunition cans, trash, found objects, 78 x 36 x 600 inches. “The One Who Checks & The One Who Balances” (2018), ceramic, riot gear, afghan, wool surplus industrial felt, beadwork by Kathy Elkwoman Whitman; 6-1/2 feet x 12 inches x 8 inches (each, approximate). Image © Cannupa Hanska Luger, courtesy of the Heard Museum, Craig Smith
      Marie Watt “Companion Species (Radiant)” (2017), crystal and western maple base, 8 x 27 x 16 inches. Image © Marie Watt and Kevin McConnell. Made in collaboration with Jeff Mack, Glassblower, and Corning Museum of Glass Hot Glass Team in Partnership with the Rockwell Museum, Corning, New York
      Cannupa Hanska Luger “Mirror Shield Project” (2016), drone operation/performance organization by Rory Wakemup., at Oceti Sakowin camp, Standing Rock, North Dakota

      #animals
      #collaborative
      #found objects
      #installation
      #portraits
      #sculpture

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      Capricious Characters Express Emotional Ambivalence in Yoshitoshi Kanemaki’s Glitched Sculptures

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      Art

      #emotions
      #portraits
      #sculpture
      #wood

      May 19, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Fleeting Moment Caprice.” All images @ Yoshitoshi Kanemaki, courtesy of FUMA Contemporary Tokyo, shared with permission
      Japanese artist Yoshitoshi Kanemaki (previously) carves fickle, ambivalent, and even contradictory sentiments in his figurative sculptures that embody a range of emotions. The wooden characters are surreal in form with multiple limbs, duplicate features, and recurring faces that wind entirely around their bodies. Whether conveyed through kaleidoscopic or blurred techniques, each portrait “expresses the dignity of life as a human being, the hate and harassment that people experience, and the importance of environmental awareness,” the artist says, explaining:
      It’s the hesitation, contradiction, two-sidedness, or multi-sidedness, double standard. These are the problems that all people have, and I express them as sculptures under the concept of “ambivalence.” I want to portrait a modern person, who visualizes the “ambivalent” state that everyone has.
      Kanemaki is based in Nagareyama City and is currently altering one of his older works titled “Memento Mori” to deepen its sentiments and add more complexity. Explore an archive of his glitched figures at Fuma Contemporary Tokyo.

      “Singing in Rounds Geometry”
      “All Day Believing”
      “Singing in Rounds Geometry”
      “Swing Caprice”
      “Swing Caprice”
      “Repetition Geometry”

      #emotions
      #portraits
      #sculpture
      #wood

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      Red-Eyed Subjects Peer Forward in Bright, Impasto Portraits by Artist Annan Affotey

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      Art

      #impasto
      #painting
      #portraits

      May 6, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images courtesy of Annan Affotey and Danny First, shared with permission
      Annan Affotey has an affinity for bold, bright colors that set his subjects apart from the negative space framing their figures. Through gestural strokes that sweep across the canvas, the Ghanaian artist renders intimate portraits of his friends, family members, and the occasional public figure who, through distinctly red eyes, look directly at the viewer, a decision that’s both aesthetic and cultural.
      “When I moved to the U.S. from Ghana, I was often questioned why my eyes were red and whether it meant I hadn’t slept or was doing drugs, neither of which was true. And it became a symbol for misinterpreted identities,” he says. That experience was complicated further by cultural expectations, which Affotey explains to Colossal:
      I want the subject to have a direct conversation with the viewer, something I couldn’t do myself a few years ago. I am a shy person and when I first moved to the United States I would often look down when talking with people. In Ghana, looking down indicates shyness or respect. After being in the U.S. for a while, I finally came out of my shell and became more accustomed to looking people directly in the eye.
      Currently living and working in Oxford, the artist prefers to surround his subjects with impasto strokes because of the liveliness they generate beyond the figures’ expressions. “I use textures in my paintings for several reasons. One reason is to portray energy or emotion centered around my subject,” he says. “I (also) use many textures so that people who can’t see will still have the opportunity to feel the canvas, brush strokes and feel a story from that.”
      If you’re in London, you can see a collection of Affotey’s vibrant paintings at Ronchini Gallery through June 18. Otherwise, follow him on Instagram to keep up with his latest works.

      #impasto
      #painting
      #portraits

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