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    An Ornate Stenciled Rug by Mateo Complements a Cultural Center’s Communal Rooftop in Dakar

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    All images courtesy of Mateo, shared with permission

    An Ornate Stenciled Rug by Mateo Complements a Cultural Center’s Communal Rooftop in Dakar

    August 1, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    On the rooftop of TRAMES, an artistic and cultural center in Dakar, Senegal, a vibrant new installation by Mateo creates a welcoming atmosphere above the hustle and bustle of the city. Using paint and stencils, the artist incorporated motifs familiar in Senegal culture, like traditional wrestling, bird tracks, fish, and wax fabrics.

    Mateo was also inspired by teraanga, a word in the Wolof language that loosely translates to “hospitality” but is also characterized by a much more holistic philosophy of generosity and acceptance. For hundreds of years, teraanga has shaped communities’ openness and exchange with one another, continuing today as an integral and defining facet of the Senegalese way of life.

    Mateo was invited to TRAMES for a residency, where he initially planned to paint a mural. But he was inspired by the communal rooftop space of the center and conceived instead of a large patterned carpet that evokes the teraanga ethos and celebrates Senegalese culture.

    “Rather than painting a wall, I chose to work on the rooftop terrace, a vibrant space used for gatherings, celebrations, and dance rituals,” the artist says. Painting on the carpet directly onto the ground facilitated, he adds, “a symbolic, open-air space for connection and ritual.”

    Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

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    • 113 Shares189 Views

      in Art

      Lifelike Canines Lounge in Emily O’Leary Uncanny Hooked Rugs

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      “Fluffy-Tailed Ticked Dog” (2022), hand-hooked mostly-wool yarn on linen. All images courtesy of Emily O’Leary, shared with permission

      Lifelike Canines Lounge in Emily O’Leary Uncanny Hooked Rugs

      January 13, 2025

      ArtCraft

      Kate Mothes

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      Most dogs spend at least half of their day asleep—some getting z’s for upwards of 18 hours. Whether curled up on the floor or enjoying a long-legged stretch, the subjects of Emily O’Leary’s rugs evoke our beloved pets.

      Based on photographs of actual dogs, she focuses mostly on animals the artist doesn’t know. “I like to hook dogs that are pretty ‘mutty’ looking, that don’t look like yard-bound Golden Retrievers or Doodles,” she tells Colossal. “I’m attracted to the shared history of humans and dogs—how the bulk of their domestication may have happened somewhat inadvertently.”

      “Injured Elbow Dog” (2020), hand-hooked wool yarn on linen

      Employing a carpet-making technique called rug hooking, the earliest form of which can be traced to Northern England in the early 19th century, O’Leary spends several months on a single piece. Compared to tufting, “It’s a slower, more traditional process,” she says, but the process allows each individual loop to be applied at a different height, giving her the ability to create three-dimensional reliefs.

      O’Leary learned to make rugs after predominantly focusing on embroidery. When some friends organized an exhibition themed around dogs, she had the idea to make a work in the shape of a life-size canine. “I’m lucky that the rugs sort of do inspire tender feelings in the people who see them, but that they’re also a bit uncanny,” she says.

      The pieces’ weight and realistic details engender an intimate connection as they come to life, so to speak. “I really feel like I’ve built a relationship with the object,” she says, adding: “Sometimes the dogs I hook have wounds or scars. The dog rug I’m working on right now is missing a little chunk of her ear.  I want to depict them as they are, not stuffed animal versions.”

      Find more on O’Leary’s website and Instagram.

      “Brown and Black Dog” (2021), hand-hooked wool yarn on linen

      Detail of “Mottled-leg Dog” (2024), hand-hooked wool yarn on linen

      “Sandy Reddish Dog” (2023), hand-hooked mostly-wool yarn on linen

      Photo by Bucky Miller

      Photo by Bucky Miller

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    • 188 Shares129 Views

      in Art

      Tens of Thousands of Individual Dots Bring Ornamental Rugs to Life in Antonio Santín’s Paintings

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      “Momo” (2024), oil on canvas, 63 x 86 5/8 inches. All images courtesy of the artist and Marc Straus Gallery, New York

      Tens of Thousands of Individual Dots Bring Ornamental Rugs to Life in Antonio Santín’s Paintings

      January 9, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      From grid-like woven patterns to intertwined strands of fringe, Antonio Santín’s hyperrealistic oil paintings (previously) look incredibly similar to the ornamental carpets they’re modeled on. By studying real rugs and the way they scrunch, fold, and interact with light, he transfers these qualities to canvas. The overall designs, however, are a product of the artist’s imagination.

      Santín trained as a sculptor, and his eye for shapes and the power of contrast lent itself to paintings with tactile textures and a dimensionally illusory quality. “In the past two years, as his technical skills allowed for far more detail than is found on a sewn carpet, he began to invent the entire image,” says Marc Straus, who is presenting Santín’s work in the artist’s seventh solo show with the gallery.

      Detail of “Puente de plata”

      The artist continues to employ a precisely calibrated pneumatic compressor that allows him to apply oil pigments millimeters at a time. Tens of thousands of individual dots are arranged to create a consistent rhythm across the entire surface.

      New paintings in Puente de plata, or “silver bridge,” celebrate the relationship between abstraction and pure pattern, reveling in vibrant color and intricacy in works that are more personal. The show opens tomorrow and continues through March 1 in New York. Explore more on the gallery’s website and Santín’s Instagram.

      “Puente de plata” (2024), oil on canas, 63 x 85 5/8 inches

      “Tafalla” (2023), oil on canvas, 23 5/8 x 19 3/4 inches

      “Victoria” (2024), oil on canvas, 94 1/2 x 78 3/4 inches

      Detail of “Victoria”

      Detail of “Victoria”

      “Carambola” (2024), oil on canvas, 70 7/8 x 78 3/4 inches

      “Aldealengua” (2024), oil on canvas, 25 3/8 x 21 1/2 x 2 inches (framed)

      Detail of “Aldealengua”

      “Puente de plata” (2024), oil on canas, 63 x 85 5/8 inches

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    • 175 Shares169 Views

      in Art

      Ornate Rugs by Artist Faig Ahmed Ooze Onto the Floor in Drippy Fabric Puddles

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      Art

      #glitch
      #rugs
      #sculpture
      #textiles

      November 18, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images courtesy of Sapar Contemporary, shared with permission
      Azerbaijani artist Faig Ahmed (previously) has amassed a staggering archive of sculptural carpets that blur the boundaries of digital distortion and traditional craft techniques. Often monumental in scale, his fringed rugs are woven with classic, ornate patterns on top before they billow into a pool of glitches and skewed motifs.
      Ahmed weaves conceptual and historical relevances into his most recent trio, which is on view as part of his solo show PIR at New York’s Sapar Contemporary through January 6, 2022. Each piece draws its name from a spiritual leader who profoundly impacted Azerbaijani culture, including Shams Tabrizi, Yahya al-Shirvani al-Bakuvi, and Nizami Ganjavi. The carpet inspired by Tabrizi, who was Rumi’s mentor, for example, “gradually dissolve(s) into a black woolen space of nothingness, much like the final stages of a mystic’s spiritual journey: annihilation (fana’) of one’s individual ego within the divine presence, like the flame of a candle in the presence of the sun.”
      Visit Ahmed’s site to see behind-the-scenes photos of his process and to explore a larger collection of his fiber-based sculptures.

      “Yahya al-Shirvani al-Bakuvi”
      “Nizami Ganjavi” (2021), handmade wool carpet

      “Shams Tabrizi”
      Detail of “Nizami Ganjavi” (2021), handmade wool carpet
      “Yahya al-Shirvani al-Bakuvi”

      #glitch
      #rugs
      #sculpture
      #textiles

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    • 113 Shares109 Views

      in Art

      Life-Sized Wildlife Protrude from Ornate Rugs in Perspective-Bending Sculptures

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      Art

      #animals
      #carpets
      #rugs
      #sculpture
      #textiles

      March 29, 2021
      Anna Marks

      “Persian Kangaroo.” All images © Debbie Lawson, shared with permission
      A new menagerie of polar bears, stags, and kangaroos resemble typical wildlife except for the fact that they’re literally swept under the carpet, their features hidden from view. These towering sculptural forms are by artist Debbie Lawson (previously), who crafts animals that are cloaked in sweeping Persian rugs. Rather than being camouflaged by a forest, jungle, or snow-covered Arctic, Lawson’s creatures boldly protrude from the fabric and loom over the viewer.
      In her process, Lawson sculpts the animals from a combination of chicken wire and masking tape. She then layers luscious carpets across them, creating the illusion that these animals are about to jump, walk, and prance out of the fabric. This method is derived from what Lawson describes as her ability to spot hidden images in floors, textured walls, and various patterns, an interest that’s mirrored in her perspective-altering sculptures that appear to leap out from the gallery’s walls.
      Peek inside Lawson’s studio and find a larger selection of her carpeted creatures on her site and Instagram.

      Lawson with “Polar Bear” in-progress
      “Bear Cartouche”
      Detail of “Persian Kangaroo”
      Detail of “Polar Bear” in-progress
      Left: “Blue Stag.” Right: “Red Boar”
      “Bear Cartouche”
      Detail of “Red Boar”

      #animals
      #carpets
      #rugs
      #sculpture
      #textiles

      Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now!

       
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