More stories

  • in

    World War II Journal Entries Float in a Web of Blood-Red Yarn in Chiharu Shiota’s ‘Diary’

    Installation view of ‘Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries’ at Japan Society Gallery, New York, 2025. Photos by Go Sugimoto. All images courtesy of the artist and Japan Society Gallery, shared with permission

    World War II Journal Entries Float in a Web of Blood-Red Yarn in Chiharu Shiota’s ‘Diary’

    October 2, 2025

    ArtHistory

    Kate Mothes

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, Berlin-based artist Chiharu Shiota presents a poignant suite of large-scale works in Two Home Countries at Japan Society Gallery. That artist is known for her immersive string installations, inviting us into emotive, atmospheric experiences that tap into both universal and deeply personal narratives.

    In Two Home Countries, viewers enter a vivid world shaped by red thread, redolent of intertwined veins and blood vessels that attach to the floor, take on the shapes of houses, and spread through an entire room with a cloud-like aura of red—filled with written pages. Themes of memory, mortality, connection, identity, and belonging weave through Shiota’s pieces, exploring “how pain, displacement, boundaries, and existential uncertainty shape the human condition and our understanding of self,” the gallery says.

    Detail of “Diary” (2025) in ‘Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries’ at Japan Society Gallery, New York, 2025

    An expansive, room-sized work titled “Diary,” which is based on an earlier installation and commissioned anew for Two Home Countries, incorporates a dense web of yarn in which float pages of journals that once belonged to Japanese soldiers. Some were also penned by German civilians in the post-war era. “The accumulated pages reveal an expansive record of shared human existence across national boundaries,” the gallery says.

    “When the body is gone, the objects which surrounded them remain behind,” Shiota says in a statement. “As I wander the stalls of the markets in Berlin, I find especially personal items like photographs, old passports, and personal diaries. Once, I found a diary from 1946, which was an intimate insight into the person’s life and experiences.” For Shiota, the power of these objects are revealed in how she feels the presence of writer’s “inner self.”

    Two Home Countries is on view through January 11 in New York City. Plan your visit on the Japan Society’s website, and find more on Shiota’s site and Instagram.

    Installation view of ‘Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries’ at Japan Society Gallery, New York, 2025

    Installation view of ‘Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries’ at Japan Society Gallery, New York, 2025

    Installation view of ‘Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries’ at Japan Society Gallery, New York, 2025

    Installation view of ‘Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries’ at Japan Society Gallery, New York, 2025

    Detail of “Two Home Countries” (2025) in ‘Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries’ at Japan Society Gallery, New York, 2025

    Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.

    Hide advertising

    Save your favorite articles

    Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop

    Receive members-only newsletter

    Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms

    Join us today!

    $7/month

    $75/year

    Explore membership options

    Previous articleNext article More

  • in

    Lakota and Western Art History Converge in Dyani White Hawk’s Vibrant Works

    “Wopila | Lineage II” (2023), acrylic, glass beads, synthetic sinew, and thread on aluminum panel, 96 x 120 inches. Gochman Family Collection. Photo by Rik Sferra. All images courtesy of Alexander Gray Associates, New York, and Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis, shared with permission

    Lakota and Western Art History Converge in Dyani White Hawk’s Vibrant Works

    October 1, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    Throughout history, those who wield the most power or resources are typically the ones whose stories are represented in textbooks, passed down through generations, and etched into our collective consciousness. Without intentional effort, it can be difficult to hear more than a single narrative.

    In art history, the reality is much the same. The canon has always privileged white male artists, from titans of the Renaissance like Michelangelo to bad-boy American Modernists like Jackson Pollock. The foundations of 19th-century American landscape painting, for example, are inextricable from the belief in Manifest Destiny, as the American government violently expanded westward. And Western painting and sculpture have historically reigned supreme in the market-driven hallows of galleries and auction houses. But what of the incredible breadth of—namely Indigenous—art forms that have long been overlooked?

    “Visiting” (2024), acrylic, glass beads, thread, and synthetic sinew on aluminum panel with a quartz base, 120 x 15.5 x 15.5 inches (base 5 x 24 x 24 inches). Collection of the Denver Art Museum. Photo by Rik Sferra

    For Sičáŋǧu Lakota artist Dyani White Hawk, the construction of American art history lies at the core of her multidisciplinary practice. “She lays bare the exclusionary hierarchies that have long governed cultural legitimacy, authority, value, and visibility,” says a joint statement from Alexander Gray Associates and Bockley Gallery. “In this light, White Hawk reframes Indigenous art and Western abstraction as inseparable practices—linked by a shared history that dominant narratives have labored to separate and obscure.”

    Pablo Picasso is credited with the saying, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” Seminal paintings like “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” and others created in the early 1900s would not exist if it were not for his fascination with African masks. White Hawk draws a similar parallel between the 20th-century Color Field and Minimalism movements to highlight the influence of Native American art forms in the evolution of these styles. She prompts viewers to consider how these notions shape our aesthetic perceptions and judgment while also considering the role of cultural memory and community.

    White Hawk’s work spans painting, sculpture, photography, performance, and installations. Alongside oil and acrylic paint, she incorporates materials commonly used in Lakota art forms, like beads, porcupine quills, and buckskin.

    “I strive to create honest, inclusive works that draw from the breadth of my life experiences,” White Hawk says in a statement, merging influences from Native and non-Native, urban, academic, and cultural education systems. She continues: “This allows me to start from center, deepening my own understanding of the intricacies of self and culture, correlations between personal and national history, and Indigenous and mainstream art histories.”

    “Nourish” (2024), ceramic tile installation of handmade tiles by Mercury Mosaics, 174 x 369 1/2 inches. Collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Whitney Acquisition Fund 2024.13

    Mirroring the meditative labor and incredible attention to detail required to create traditional Lakota artworks—from elaborately beaded garments to abstract buckskin paintings—White Hawk creates energetic installations that are bold and confrontational. Vibrant geometric patterns are direct and visceral in a way that “unsettles the categories of Eurocentric art history,” the galleries say.

    White Hawk notes that her mixed-media canvases honor “the importance of the contributions of Lakota women and Indigenous artists to our national artistic history…as well as the ways in which Indigenous artists helped shape the evolution of the practices of Western artists who were inspired by their work.”

    “Nourish,” an installation that spans nearly 31 feet wide and 14.5 feet tall, comprises thousands of handmade ceramic tiles that visually reference Lakota beadwork and quillwork. Permanently installed at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the piece enters into a dialogue with the history of American Modernism through painters such as Marsden Hartley and Pollock, who are credited as trailblazers of American abstraction and yet were indelibly influenced by Native American art.

    Detail of “Visiting.” Collection of the Denver Art Museum. Photo by Rik Sferra

    “At its core, White Hawk’s practice is sustained by ancestral respect and guided by value systems that center relationality and care for all life,” the galleries say. “By addressing inequities affecting Native communities, she creates opportunities for cross-cultural connection and prompts a critical examination of how artistic and national histories have been constructed. Her work invites viewers to evaluate current societal value systems and their capacity to support equitable futures.”

    Minneapolis-based Bockley Gallery, which has represented White Hawk for more than a decade, has recently announced co-representation of the artist with New York City-based Alexander Gray Associates, where she’ll present a solo exhibition in fall 2026. If you’re in Minneapolis, Love Language opens on October 18 at the Walker Art Center and continues through February 15. The show then travels to Remai Modern in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where it will be on view from April 25 to September 27, 2026. See more on White Hawk’s website.

    Installation view of ‘Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 6 to September 5, 2022). “Wopila | Lineage” (2022), acrylic, glass beads, and synthetic sinew on aluminum panel, 96 9/16 x 168 3/8 inches. Photo by Ron Amstutz

    “Carry IV” (2024), buckskin, synthetic sinew and thread, glass beads, brass sequins, copper vessel, copper ladle, and acrylic paint, 123 x 12 x 10 inches. Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Photo by Rik Sferra

    Detail of “Carry IV.” Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Photo by Rik Sferra

    Installation view of “I Am Your Relative” (2020) in ‘Sharing the Same Breath,’ John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI, 2023. Courtesy of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center

    Detail of “Visiting.” Collection of the Denver Art Museum. Photo by Rik Sferra

    Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.

    Hide advertising

    Save your favorite articles

    Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop

    Receive members-only newsletter

    Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms

    Join us today!

    $7/month

    $75/year

    Explore membership options

    Next article More

  • in

    Craig & Karl’s ‘Mateys’ Bring Vibrancy and Joy to Bridges in Brisbane and Beyond

    Detail of “Converge.” Photo by Alex Chomicz

    Craig & Karl’s ‘Mateys’ Bring Vibrancy and Joy to Bridges in Brisbane and Beyond

    October 1, 2025

    ArtDesign

    Kate Mothes

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    In vibrant colors, patterns, and shapes, the immersive works of Craig & Karl invite us to relish moments of joy and surprise. While Craig is based in New York, and Karl is based in London, the two collaborate across the pond—and around the world—to produce multimedia installations that revitalize urban spaces and celebrate the power of play.

    As part of the 2025 Brisbane Festival, Craig & Karl created a pair of large-scale inflatable interventions on two of the city’s bridges, both riffing on the idea of the arch as passageway. Additionally, numerous illustrations, interactive sculptures, and inflatable “Mateys” — a series of quirky characters with expressive faces — pop up on buildings and sidewalks to enable joyful encounters as part of the expansive, city-wide exhibition titled Rear Vision.

    “Walk This Way” (2025), Kangaroo Point Bridge, Brisbane. Photo by JD Lin

    Collectively titled “Walk This Way,” the bridge installations encourage Brisbanites to see their city with fresh eyes. The expressive, flexible characters are also immanently relatable for viewers of all ages. “The Mateys serve as companions that help foster community and shared experiences, welcoming us into different corners of the city,” says a festival statement.

    Craig & Karl are known for their vivid participatory projects, which range from mini-golf courses to playgrounds to murals. The artists initially met 30 years ago while studying at Griffith University in Brisbane, and since, their collaborative practice has included partnerships with global brands and publications like Adidas, Nike, Apple, Chanel, The New Yorker, Variety, and more.

    While the bridge installations came to a close at the end of September, you can still stroll along the Public Art Trail through October 20 to spot Craig & Karl’s sculptures and installations in unexpected places. Then, drop by the exhibition Double Vision at the Griffith University Art Museum, which continues through January 7.

    Plot your course on the Brisbane Festival website, and see more of the artists’ projects on their site and Instagram.

    “Mateys” (2025), part of ‘Rear Vision’ Public Art Trail, Brisbane. Photo by Claudia Baxter

    “Mateys” (2025), part of ‘Rear Vision’ Public Art Trail, Brisbane. Photo by Alex Chomicz

    Detail of “Converge.” Photo by Alex Chomicz

    “Converge” (2025), Neville Bonner Bridge, Brisbane. Photo by JD Lin

    “Prismatic,” Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong

    Detail of “Unfold,” Suzhou, China

    “Cosmos,” Melbourne Central, Melbourne

    Detail of “Cosmos”

    Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.

    Hide advertising

    Save your favorite articles

    Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop

    Receive members-only newsletter

    Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms

    Join us today!

    $7/month

    $75/year

    Explore membership options

    Previous articleNext article More

  • in

    Monumental Tapestries by Jacqueline Surdell Invoke Forests as Portals to the Divine

    “Suddenly, she was hell-bent and ravenous (after Giotto)” (2024), nylon cord, steel, polyester fabric, steel spool top, steel chain and meat hooks, 165 (body) x 252 (pole to pole) x 7 inches. All images courtesy of Secrist | Beach, shared with permission

    Monumental Tapestries by Jacqueline Surdell Invoke Forests as Portals to the Divine

    October 1, 2025

    Art

    Grace Ebert

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    Jacqueline Surdell (previously) likens her process of looping and knotting rope to painting. She considers a roving line of interwoven fiber to be that of a gesture, one that might surge and swell across a canvas.

    A lifelong athlete, Surdell gravitates toward a demanding, physical practice that often turns her body into a shuttle as she weaves on an oversized loom from a lift. Monumental steel bars stretching more than 20 feet wide hold the resulting hefty compositions of industrial nylon and cotton cording, which the artist creates through repetitive movement not unlike that which goes into training for competition.

    Detail of “Suddenly, she was hell-bent and ravenous (after Giotto)” (2024), nylon cord, steel, polyester fabric, steel spool top, steel chain, and meat hooks, 165 (body) x 252 (pole to pole) x 7 inches

    Surdell incorporates a range of influences into her latest body of work on view at Secrist | Beach in Chicago. For her solo exhibition, The Conversion: Rings, Rupture, and the Forest Archive, the artist takes transformation and reverence as a starting point. In particular, she draws on what she calls “a cosmic connection” to her great uncle Paul, with whom she shares a birthday and who died in a forested area during the Battle of the Bulge.

    Connecting nature to narrative, the artist also loops in her Catholic upbringing and biblical undertones, particularly as it relates to places of epiphany. She considers forests to be “sacred thresholds,” and in this line of thinking, her dynamic works become portals to the divine. “Looking out into the forest is very different from a painting of the forest because it is more about storytelling and mythmaking,” she shares in a video interview.

    Printed polyester fabric makes several appearances in this new body of work. A photographic snapshot of sunlight streaming through a lush forest canopy augments the darkened “Penance of Leaves,” while “Paul” features a vivid sunset. Nature, for Surdell, is not passive. Instead, it’s an active participant in preserving collective memory and an inviting site for transcendence.

    The Conversion is on view through November 15. Find more from Surdell on Instagram.

    “Paul” (2025), nylon cord, cotton cord, polyester fabric, and steel, 90 x 140 x 12 inches

    Detail of “Penance of Leaves” (2025), nylon cord, cotton cord, polyester fabric, and steel, 74 x 81 x 15 inches

    “Penance of Leaves” (2025), nylon cord, cotton cord, polyester fabric, and steel, 74 x 81 x 15 inches

    Detail of “My Roman Empire” (2025), cotton cord, nylon cord, and steel, 74 x 90 x 12 inches

    “Desire Path” (2025), nylon cord, cotton cord, polyester fabric, steel, 49 x 73 x 7 inches

    “My Roman Empire” (2025), cotton cord, nylon cord, and steel, 74 x 90 x 12 inches

    Detail of “Suddenly, she was hell-bent and ravenous (after Giotto)” (2024), nylon cord, steel, polyester fabric, steel spool top, steel chain, and meat hooks, 165 (body) x 252 (pole to pole) x 7 inches

    Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.

    Hide advertising

    Save your favorite articles

    Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop

    Receive members-only newsletter

    Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms

    Join us today!

    $7/month

    $75/year

    Explore membership options

    Previous articleNext article More

  • in

    Detroit’s Heidelberg Project in Wisconsin? Tyree Guyton Transports His Magic

    ‘Heidelbergology: Is It Art Now?’ installation
    view (2025). All images courtesy of the artist and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, shared with permission

    Detroit’s Heidelberg Project in Wisconsin? Tyree Guyton Transports His Magic

    September 29, 2025

    Art

    Grace Ebert

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    If you were to have visited the 3600 Block of Heidelberg Street in Detroit around 1986, you would have likely encountered a young artist beginning the project of a lifetime. Found object assemblages and painted patterns were quickly transforming a neighborhood that had experienced mass disinvestment, turning grassy lots and abandoned homes into an enclave of creativity.

    Soon, an immersive, vernacular art environment emerged and was at once an amalgamation of everyday materials and what seemed to be a mystical translation from another realm. The creator behind the sprawling installation—which continues today—is artist Tyree Guyton, who dubbed what would become his most famous work in his home neighborhood of McDougall Hunt, The Heidelberg Project.

    Site view of ‘The Heidelberg Project’ (1986–ongoing)

    Spanning nearly four decades and several blocks, the ever-evolving environment has become a destination for tourists and locals alike as Guyton’s spiritual philosophies reach every inch of the property. There’s the iconic polka-dot house, another covered in long paintings of shoes, a collection of portraits on car hoods, and countless sculptures and assemblages that seem to take on a life of their own. Because the works are exposed to the elements, maintenance and upcycling occur regularly at the project, as the artist adds to an existing piece or transforms materials anew.

    Several of Guyton’s standalone works are on view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. A large-scale presentation of the artist’s decades-long outdoor and studio projects, Heidelbergology: Is It Art Now? is rooted in what the museum describes as “the study of discarded material incorporated into the fabric and structure of a community and the effects on the community.”

    Guyton, on the other hand, is much more abstract, offering the following in a phone conversation from Detroit. “That’s what this show is about, magic. Two plus two equals eight, Heidelbergology…There are people there that have not been here, and I came there to give them a reason to come. It’s an invitation.”

    While exhibiting in a traditional white-cube gallery space, Guyton brings his community focus to Sheboygan. He invited locals to paint his beloved polka dots on the walls, providing a vivid and expressive backdrop for his expansive works. Looming in the entrance is Guyton’s version of Noah’s Ark, composed of crowd-sourced stuffed animals and children’s toys piled high atop a painted fishing boat.

    “Auto World” (1998), mixed media and paint

    Guyton makes an explicit connection to the divine—and Yahweh, in particular—throughout the exhibition and his work, more broadly. He considers The Heidelberg Project to be both a mirror to society and also a conduit to a higher power, one whose messages he translates and shares with anyone who might encounter the work.

    “What I see happening in the world? I put it on those TV sets, put it in a museum, turn it into works of art, to give it back to the public and to say to them, look at what’s happening,” he says. “Like, can we see it? I see it through me.”

    The exhibition also nods to the artist’s own history and his grandfather, Sam Mackey, who first introduced Guyton to art as a child. A collection of Mackey’s drawings made at the end of his life is suspended in a house-shaped structure at the center of the museum. These familial works aren’t typically on view in Detroit and offer special, often-unseen insight into the artist’s background.

    As Guyton and the project’s team prepare for the future, they intend to transfer The Heidelberg Project to the community, who they hope will steward the enormous effort and further invest in the neighborhood. “I’m here to do something that when I die, it’s going to live on,” the artist says. “I believe that what I have done here is so philosophical, it’s teaching me, and I love making mistakes.”

    Site view of ‘The Heidelberg Project’ (1986–ongoing)

    While hoping to secure support for the project, Guyton isn’t precious about his work and easily embraces change. When the exhibition in Sheboygan wraps, for example, the sculptures and paintings that have been so meticulously cared for in a museum setting will be returned outdoors, although they might find themselves in a new spot if the artist filled the previous location with something new.

    In this way, The Heidelberg Project is always in motion, presenting new messages for Guyton to learn and share through a graffiti-covered television set or a collaged work on panel. When asked how he feels a piece is complete, he answers clearly: “My work is finished when I’m dead.”

    See Heidelbergology: Is It Art Now? through February 15, 2026. And while you’re in the area, be sure to check out the truly impeccable environments at the Art Preserve just a few miles away. You can find more about the project on the website and Instagram.

    ‘Heidelbergology: Is It Art Now?’ installation view (2025)

    ‘Heidelbergology: Is It Art Now?’ installation view (2025)

    ‘Heidelbergology: Is It Art Now?’ installation view (2025)

    Site view of ‘The Heidelberg Project’ (1986–ongoing)

    Site view of ‘The Heidelberg Project’ (1986–ongoing)

    Site view of ‘The Heidelberg Project’ (1986–ongoing)

    Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.

    Hide advertising

    Save your favorite articles

    Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop

    Receive members-only newsletter

    Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms

    Join us today!

    $7/month

    $75/year

    Explore membership options

    Previous articleNext article More

  • in

    Vernacular Architecture and Mossy Trees Fill Michael Davydov’s Tiny Worlds

    All images courtesy of Michael Davydov, shared with permission

    Vernacular Architecture and Mossy Trees Fill Michael Davydov’s Tiny Worlds

    September 24, 2025

    ArtCraft

    Kate Mothes

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    In the miniature world of Michael Davydov, tiny houses, moons, trees, and barns balance precariously in clusters and stacks. Observing the architecture and flora around his home in the Nizhny Novgorod region of Russia, he taught himself how to draw and eventually began assembling small sculptures.

    The hobby quickly morphed into a passion for creating miniature realms in which diminutive structures jumble, float, and balance on one another, sometimes complemented by moss and slender coniferous trees. Inspired by the vernacular of northern climes, his houses resemble the small, stilted structures one might encounter in coastal villages in Greenland, for example, or the traditional timber dwellings of Russian farmsteads.

    Davydov often encases his scenes in glass, using domes or vials that lend the impression of delicate specimens being collected and preserved. Like folkloric fairy houses nestled in the woods, one can almost imagine wandering through a mossy forest and stumbling upon one of these tiny, enigmatic settlements.

    Explore more on the artist’s website.

    Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.

    Hide advertising

    Save your favorite articles

    Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop

    Receive members-only newsletter

    Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms

    Join us today!

    $7/month

    $75/year

    Explore membership options

    Previous articleNext article More

  • in

    Raul De Lara’s Whimsical Wooden Sculptures Defy Borders

    “Cavale II” (2023), walnut, cedar, hemu,
    Hermés saddle, horsehair, lacquer, pigment, and
    urethane, 50 x 64 x 19 inches. All images © Raul De Lara, shared with permission

    Raul De Lara’s Whimsical Wooden Sculptures Defy Borders

    September 23, 2025

    ArtSocial Issues

    Grace Ebert

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    Why can plants be considered native to more than one nation while people can’t? This line of inquiry grounds a large-scale exhibition by Raul De Lara in which he presents his surreal sculptures that merge flora and furnishings.

    HOST, on view now at The Contemporary Austin, brings together a collection of works that call into question belonging and identity and rejects the idea that state borders are fixed and natural. Using wood endemic to Texas and Mexico, De Lara sculpts potted monsteras sprouting from chains, a schooldesk covered in long spines, and a cactus disguised as a child’s rocking horse.

    The resulting pieces translate what should be a common object—a shovel, for example, or an enormous cluster of daisies in a vase—into the strange and uncanny. Many works are also rendered unusable, including a spiked ladder even the bravest among us would hesitate to climb.

    Detail of “Wilt” (2022), walnut, pine, red oak, urethane, pigment, and polyurethane, 125 x 25 1/4 x 45 inches

    Now based in Ridgewood, Queens, De Lara grew up near Austin as a child of Mexican immigrants. He first learned woodoworking in his family’s shop, which he describes as “a world where each tool has its own language, each piece of wood shows the passing of time on its skin, and where one is able to communicate through their hands.” A strong belief in animism, luck, and the paranormal pervaded this sacred space and taught the budding artist that he could harness the energy of a particular material to create beautiful objects.

    Today, he sees woodworking as a mode of storytelling, one in which magical realism flourishes. “I welcome the idea that artworks can hold their own spark of life and extend it to us,” De Lara says, adding:

    When I make my work, I remember childhood memories of when I would see local carvers turn branches into saints. I always wondered at what point inthe carving process does the ghost enters that piece of wood. I strive to make works that invite a certain kind of trust and acceptance from the viewer, that let them live without our realm.

    As global concerns about immigration and human rights intensify, De Lara’s work is all the more relevant. The artist has DACA status and knows firsthand the precarity and swift change that comes with a new administration.

    “Lotion In Your Lungs” (2019), pine, oak, wood glue, sand from Mexico/US border, acrylic, andlacquer, 72 x 24 x 50 inches

    His sculptures capture a sense of whimsy and play that might seem in opposition to this reality, but for De Lara, woodworking, and traditional craft more broadly, is a superpower. “It cannot be taken away from you as it is not tied to location, politics, or laws. You carry it with you and can practice anywhere, with anyone, and oftentimes, it disarms differences amongst us,” he says.

    See HOST through January 11, 2026. Keep up with De Lara’s work on Instagram.

    “For Being Left-Handed” (2020), pine, Chiclets gum, acrylic, brass, steel, and particle board, 24 x 13 x 13 inches

    Installation view of ‘HOST: Raul De Lara’ at The Contemporary Austin (2025). Photo by Alex Boeschenstein

    Detail of “For Being Left-Handed” (2020), pine, Chiclets gum, acrylic, brass, steel, and particle board, 24 x 13 x 13 inches

    “20 Years Later / 20 Años Después” (2024), walnut, ash, steel, Polyx-wax, and polyurethane, 39 x 8 x 5 inches

    “Familia” (2024), walnut, Polyx-wax, and polyurethane, 40 x 41 x 26 inches

    De Lara with “La Escalera”

    Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.

    Hide advertising

    Save your favorite articles

    Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop

    Receive members-only newsletter

    Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms

    Join us today!

    $7/month

    $75/year

    Explore membership options

    Next article More

  • in

    ‘Companions’ Celebrates Our Animal Friends and Colleagues

    Misato Sano, “なるほど! /  Oh, I see!” (2025), camphor wood and oil paint

    ‘Companions’ Celebrates Our Animal Friends and Colleagues

    September 22, 2025

    ArtPartner

    Joy Machine

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    “Play between humans and pets, as well as simply spending time peaceably hanging out together, brings joy to all the participants. Surely that is one important meaning of companion species.” –Donna Haraway, ‘Companion Species Manifesto‘

    Companions is a group exhibition celebrating our closest animal friends and colleagues. Featuring works across media by Lola Dupre, Debra Broz, Roberto Benavidez, Misato Sano, William Mophos, and Nicolas V. Sanchez, this show revels in the ways we share our lives with non-human species.

    Debra Broz, “Horse Boxer” and “Boxer Horse” (2025), secondhand ceramic figurines and mixed media

    Each artist translates their furry and feathered subjects in a distinctively human way: Dupre and Broz distort any realistic likeness in favor of surreal, exaggerated amalgamations, while Benavidez translates a small kitten into the celebratory form of a piñata. Sano similarly gouges small pieces of camphor wood to carve a range of expressive pups, which she then paints in oils.

    Although their renderings take a more realistic approach, Sanchez and Mophos utilize substrates embedded within human life, the former gravitating toward the blank pages of a sketchbook and the latter scouring the streets of São Paulo for architectural remnants that become small jagged canvases.

    In this way, these artists present companionship as a bridge between nature and culture. They see their companions as being both of their own making–in that any relationship is influenced and created by both parties– and as independent beings with big personalities all their own.

    Companions opens on September 27, 2025. RSVP to our opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday.

    Roberto Benavidez, “Medieval Kitten” (2025), paper, paperboard, wire, glue, crepe paper, fallen cat whiskers, 5.5 x 6 x 3 inches

    Lola Dupre, “Geordi” (2025), paper collage, 12 x 16 inches

    William Mophos, “Tom Tom” (2025), acrylic painting on wall fragments in an acrylic frame with cement board backing, 16.6 x 21 x 7.5 centimeters

    Nicolas V. Sanchez, “Mariana with lambs” (2018), color ballpoint pen on paper, 5.5 x 10.5 inches

    Next article More