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    Filled with ‘Half-Pots,’ Adam Ledford’s Life-Size Room Drawings Reflect Timeless Routines

    Detail of “Don’t Worry About the Government.” All images courtesy of Adam Ledford, shared with permission

    Filled with ‘Half-Pots,’ Adam Ledford’s Life-Size Room Drawings Reflect Timeless Routines

    April 1, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    In Harold and the Purple Crayon, the young protagonist composes a fantasy reality using the deceptively simple power of line. Harold manifests numerous adventures with a single writing instrument, drawing himself into ever more exciting capers. For artist Adam Ledford, Crockett Johnson’s iconic 1955 children’s book provides one reference point for his approach to large-scale installations.

    Ledford dots life-size line drawings of domestic spaces with “half pots,” or reliefs of ceramic vessels, which reflect how everyday objects represent individuals’ values, experiences, and projection of identity. Canisters of coffee or cleaning solutions detail vintage packaging design, while other items like cooking utensils or decorative objects highlight personal taste and daily routines.

    Detail of “Don’t Worry About the Government”

    “I am the person visiting your house, who is eyeing up all the tchotchkes, asking about your tea kettle, and picking up and looking at the bottom of your tableware,” Ledford tells Colossal. He credits his love for pottery for providing the lens through which he also learned America’s historical timeline, describing how “the objects help set a mental stage for the abstract process of thinking about the past.”

    In Ledford’s expansive installations, which range from multiple walls to single architectural features, black-and-white outlines represent kitchen cabinets, countertops, or fireplaces—locations where containers and vessels are collected, stored, or displayed. “Theater,” for example, is a replica of his own kitchen. The artist says, “The drawn environments are a stage setting for the objects to play and star.”

    Ledford’s work is currently on view in Dinner Table, on view through May 29 at The Delaware Contemporary in Wilmington. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram. You might also enjoy the hand-drawn installations of Anastasia Parmson and Shantell Martin.

    “Theater”

    Detail of “Theater”

    Detail of “Theater”

    “Don’t Worry About the Government”

    Detail of “Don’t Worry About the Government”

    “A Room with a View”

    Detail of “A Room with a View”

    Detail of “Don’t Worry About the Government”

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    Blasting Books with High-Pressure Water, Guy Laramée Scales Mountains of Knowledge

    “Livros 2” (2025), water-carved books, inks, pigments, acrylic sealer, and metal clip, 12.99 x 10.63 x 8.27 inches. Photos by by Ivan Macedo Dias. All images © Guy Laramée, courtesy of JHB Gallery, New York, shared with permission

    Blasting Books with High-Pressure Water, Guy Laramée Scales Mountains of Knowledge

    March 31, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    From his mountainside studio in Nova Friburgo, Brazil, Guy Laramée (previously) creates otherworldly sculptures that mirror nearby peaks like Pico da Caledônia. Using a unique method of blasting antique books with high-pressure water and stripping them of their covers, he manipulates the bound text blocks into craggy cliff faces and rocky promontories.

    When viewed from certain angles, each sculpture’s identity as volumes of text nearly vanishes as we perceive mountains in miniature. As one moves around the pieces, the rigid form of stitched binding appears or printed pages ruffle and hint and the contents.

    Detail of “Livros 3”

    Laramée’s sculptures tread the line between object and landscape, juxtaposing themes of knowledge, history, and archives with geology, time, and the environment. The artist often employs dictionaries and encyclopedias, which constantly evolve and require updates, exploring the tension between physical representations of information and learning and our relationship with the natural world.

    The works shown here are part of Laramée’s online exhibition presented by JHB Gallery, Livros, which continues through May 4. Find more on the artist’s website.

    “Livros 3” (2025), waterblasted books, inks, pigments, and acrylic sealer, 9.06 x 10.63 x 8.27 inches

    “Livros 6” (2025), waterblasted books, inks, pigments, and acrylic sealer, 7.87 x 14.17 x 5.91 inches

    “Livros 6”

    “Livros 2” (2025), water-carved books, inks, pigments, acrylic sealer, and metal clip, 12.99 x 10.63 x 8.27 inches

    “Livros 1” (2025), water-carved books, inks, pigments, acrylic sealer, and metal clip, 6.66 x 9.84 x 5.91 inches

    “Livros 5” (2025), waterblasted books, inks, pigments, and acrylic sealer, 11.4 x 15.75 x 9.06 inches

    Detail of “Livros 5”

    “Livros 4” (2025), waterblasted books, inks, pigments, and acrylic sealer, 9.84 x 15.75 x 9.06 inches

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    In ‘Electric Garden,’ Ricky Boscarino Leads a Tour of His Whimsical Handbuilt Home

    © 2024 Stockton University

    In ‘Electric Garden,’ Ricky Boscarino Leads a Tour of His Whimsical Handbuilt Home

    March 24, 2025

    ArtFilm

    Kate Mothes

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    In December 1988, artist Ricky Boscarino was on the hunt for real estate. Not just any property would do, though. “It was really my boyhood ambition to built my dream house, where literally all my dreams could come true,” he says in the short documentary “Electric Garden.” Little did he know that over the course of the next four decades, a dilapidated hunting cabin would transform into a veritable way of life.

    Luna Parc emerged on a wooded six-acre parcel in northwestern New Jersey and has been in progress continually since 1989. “Family lore is that we were carpenters for many, many generations,” Boscarino says. “My whole life became about making things with metal, wood, glass, fabric, concrete.”

    With numerous additions and labyrinthine levels, Luna Parc includes a kind of living museum, where Boscarino adds new work all the time, plus studios devoted to various mediums, living spaces, and an expansive sculpture garden. At 5,000 square feet, the self-described “madcap” artist’s vibrant, elaborately ornamented home evokes a fairytale dwelling or a whimsical, Tim Burton-esque construction.

    Boscarino continues to add new details to Luna Parc, whether electrifying a concrete sculpture garden with colored lights or adding new works to the museum. The house occasionally opens to the public during the summer months, and you can learn more and plan your visit on Boscarino’s website. Watch the documentary in full on Vimeo.

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    Salvador Dominguez Confronts Identity and Labor Through Woven Pipe Cleaner Vessels

    Images © Salvador Dominguez, shared with permission

    Salvador Dominguez Confronts Identity and Labor Through Woven Pipe Cleaner Vessels

    March 18, 2025

    ArtCraft

    Jackie Andres

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    “I was among the first in my family to go to college,” artist Salvador Dominguez says. “Years after graduating, I began to realize the biggest challenge was going to be sharing the work I make with those closest to me.”

    When art is so deeply intertwined with identity, a profound irony can form when trying to share it with loved ones who haven’t had access to the same resources or lessons in Western art theory and history. Even when the work itself is rooted in shared culture and family connection, how do artists bridge this gap?

    The Chicago-based artist confronts this question in a series of hand-woven vessels titled Mano de Obra. Paying homage to a nostalgic vibrancy from his upbringing in southern California and Mexico, the brilliant colors within Dominguez’s work serve as cultural markers. Memories of vividly painted houses and colorful statues inside corner stores and carnicerias, or butcher shops, guide the artist’s use of color and pattern, each component tethered to his sense of identity.

    Pipe cleaners—which are fairly accessible and easily recognized by both children and adults—proved to be a clear choice as Dominguez contemplated different materials to work with. Weaving each slender, fuzz-covered wire into functional vessels greatly alters the value of the material in a fascinating way and evokes a familiar environment in which the artist was raised, where trade and craft were used interchangeably as currency.

    Recently, Dominguez has begun to teach his mother, Silvia, the weaving techniques he developed with pipe cleaners. He shares:

    Her labor within domestic life often went unseen, but her imagination came alive through craft and embroidery. By involving her in this creative process, I not only honor her contributions but also try to maintain our connection, transforming her labor into a visible and valued part of the work. I remain curious about how this collaborative effort has the potential to bridge the gap between generations, particularly since we live in separate parts of the country.

    To stay inspired, the artist also collects a slew of domestic items. From his mother’s hand-embroidered tortilleros to household textiles like pillowcases and table runners from Indigenous artisans from Mexico, Dominguez’s collection of precious goods influences form, pattern, and palette in his own work. Though he has encountered these articles since early life, turning to them for research has established a new, unique relationship with the familiar objects.

    Dominguez is anticipating a group exhibition in Antwerp, Belgium this May with de boer gallery. Find more work and updates on the artist’s website and Instagram.

    Photo by Ian Vecchiotti. Courtesy of the artist and ANDREW RAFACZ, shared with permission

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    Delight in Heather Rios’s Delectable Cakes Made from Polymer Clay and Embroidery

    All images courtesy of Heather Rios, shared with permission

    Delight in Heather Rios’s Delectable Cakes Made from Polymer Clay and Embroidery

    March 17, 2025

    ArtCraftFood

    Kate Mothes

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    While Heather Rios’s slices of layer cake look ready to stick a fork into, you may want to think twice. Formed of polymer clay and finished with embroidery, the artist pairs the sweets with a vintage plate—and sometimes a fork—in playful trompe l’oeils.

    Enveloped in realistic frosting and decorated with berries, blossoms, and sprinkles, each work evokes pieces you’d be ready to dig into at a birthday or wedding. Rios meticulously embroiders each sponge element, fashioning patterned layers in thread on a hoop before transferring the finished panel to the sculpture.

    In addition to freestanding forms, Rios embellishes small paintings with shallow reliefs of cakes on canvas, emphasizing vibrant color and the fluffy texture of the exposed interiors.

    Many of Rios’s cakes would be exceedingly difficult to achieve in reality, like detailed floral designs or motifs from blue-and-white porcelain. Lucky for us, we can have our cake and keep it, too. Find more on the artist’s Instagram, and purchase a slice from her Etsy shop.

    A sponge embroidery in progress

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    Rui Sasaki Encases Spectral Flowers in Intimate Glass Assemblages

    “Residue” (2018). Photo by Ryohei Yanagihara. All images courtesy of Rui Sasaki, shared with permission

    Rui Sasaki Encases Spectral Flowers in Intimate Glass Assemblages

    March 10, 2025

    ArtNature

    Kate Mothes

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    “What is essential is invisible to the eye,” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote in his 1943 novella The Little Prince, a sentiment that drives Rui Sasaki’s work. From what the artist (previously) describes as a “mysterious and ambiguous material,” botanicals appear to float in frozen cubes of water.

    Sasaki employs glass to document and preserve the nature of the present. Works like “Subtle Intimacy” respond to places and experiences where she feels present. “It is vital for me to connect who I am and where I am, especially when I am in unfamiliar spaces,” the artist tells Colossal. She likens intimacy to nostalgia, exploring the depth of feeling associated with memories, comfort, and security.

    “Subtle Intimacy 2012-2023” (2023), glass, plants, LED, and aluminum, 253.5 x 310 x 332 centimeters. Collection of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. Photo by Nik van der Giesen

    Sasaki traces her fascination with the medium to childhood, specifically to its visual similarities to the surfaces of ponds or lakes. “I was always wondering how I could make something out of water,” she says. “When I saw molten glass at a glassblowing studio during a summer family trip in Okinawa, I fell in love with it.”

    When Sasaki moved to the U.S. from Japan in 2007, she began incorporating plants into her work as a way to “recover my senses from my loss of intimacy and home in my mother country,” she says. When she returned to Japan five years later, she continued to hone her focus on botanicals.

    Enchanted by how plants can express experiences of her surroundings, Sasaki portrays individual botanicals in sculptures ranging in size from a few feet wide to room-size installations. She says:

    Collecting plants is the most important aspect of the work. I use all my five senses in gathering plants. That helps me to recall my past memories, especially in my childhood, and to connect my feelings of intimacy towards my country, Japan.

    Sasaki places collected specimens between two sheets of glass and fires the piece in a kiln. The plant turns to white ash, leaving the impression of petals, leaves, and veins. Air bubbles that naturally emerge in the heat are also preserved in what the artist likes to a time capsule. The original form of the plant no longer exists but its impression endures.

    Detail of “Subtle Intimacy 2012-2023″ (2023). Photo by Nik van der Giesen

    Dualities like presence and absence, fragility and strength, and transparency and opacity merge with Sasaki’s interest in “befriending” glass while reveling in the knowledge that she will never fully comprehend everything about it.

    If you’re in Denmark, you can see Sasaki’s sculptures at Glas from March 22 to September 28 in Ebeltoft. Her work will also be on view later this year at the Aichi Triennale 2025. Explore more on the artist’s website, and follow Instagram for updates.

    “Residue” (2018). Photo by Ryohei Yanagihara

    “Unforgettable Gardens” (2022). Photo courtesy of Art Court Gallery / Takeru Koroda

    “Subtle Intimacy 2012-2023” (2023), glass, plants, LED, and aluminum, 253.5 x 310 x 332 centimeters. Collection of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. Photo by Nik van der Giesen

    Detail of “Subtle Intimacy / Utsuroi” (2024). Photo courtesy of National Crafts Museum (National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) / Tomoya Nomura

    “Subtle Intimacy / Utsuroi” (2024). Photo courtesy of National Crafts Museum (National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) / Tomoya Nomura

    Detail of “Dormant Recollections” (2024). Photo courtesy of Northern Alps Art Festival

    Detail of “Unforgettable Reminiscences” (2022-2023), installation view at Bellustar One. Photo by Keizo Kioku, ©︎ Tokyu Kabuchiko Tower

    Detail of “Unforgettable Reminiscences” (2022-2023), installation view at Bellustar One. Photo by Keizo Kioku, ©︎ Tokyu Kabuchiko Tower

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    ‘The Praise House’ Shares the Story of a Contemplative Installation on an Alabama Plantation

    All images courtesy of 1504, shared with permisison

    ‘The Praise House’ Shares the Story of a Contemplative Installation on an Alabama Plantation

    March 6, 2025

    ArtFilmHistorySocial Issues

    Grace Ebert

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    On the site of the former Scott’s Grove Baptist Church, artist Tony M. Bingham has constructed a monumental work of contemplation and reflection. Two wood-paneled walls stand parallel in the serene clearing with stained glass windows, a Sylacauga marble floor, and a steel cutout depicting members who once worshiped on its grounds.

    A tribute to local history, Bingham’s work is titled “The Praise House,” which takes its name from the vernacular structures people who were enslaved often built on plantations throughout the Southern U.S. as a space for prayer. “My way of addressing the power and the legacy is to just begin to look at some of the possible sources of opposition that the enslaved community could have participated in,” the artist says.

    A new short documentary follows Bingham as he visits The Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation and installs the work. Located just outside of Birmingham in Harpersville, Alabama, the former plantation house is now a space for healing and reconciliation run by descendants of both the enslaved and enslavers.

    Today, the center hosts a variety of art and culture programming to reflect on its history, and “The Praise House” is one such commission. After learning more about the enslaved communities, Bingham wanted to create a work that honored their legacy. “Using organic, repurposed, and cast-off materials, I make art that tells the story of my cast-off people,” he says, adding:

    The house was being historically renovated, and planks of lumber were being replaced. I imagined that these old boards were the very surfaces enslaved people walked on or touched, and I sought to bring those materials back together in a way that could inspire reflection on the history of the enslaved people who once lived there.

    Directed by Tyler Jones of 1504, the film is a poignant, enlightening glimpse into the lengthy process behind “The Praise House.” Bingham, who is a professor at Miles College in Birmingham, frequently invokes the historical realities of the location and returns to fundamental questions about the purpose of his work and art more broadly. “Who will speak for my people if not the artist?” he asks. “Who will help those outside of the art dialog to understand the creative potential they possess?”

    Watch “The Praise House” above, and find more from the artist on Instagram.

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    Folk Traditions, Quotidian Items, and Spiritual Symbolism Merge in Haegue Yang’s Sensory Sculptures

    “Sonic Intermediates – Triad Walker Trinity” (2020), powder-coated steel and handles, casters, nickel and brass-plated bells, metal rings, plastic twine, turbine vents, artificial plants, pine cones, and foam. Photo by Nick Ash. Image courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York. All images courtesy of the artist, shared with permission

    Folk Traditions, Quotidian Items, and Spiritual Symbolism Merge in Haegue Yang’s Sensory Sculptures

    March 6, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    “Abstraction is not a…simplified way of thinking: it’s a leap—a leap into a dimension that cannot otherwise be understood,” says Haegue Yang, whose multimedia installations and sculptures explore a wide array of material associations, immersing the senses. Series such as Light Sculptures and Sonic Sculptures defy genres, often combining ready-made, mass-produced items with industrially created substances.

    At the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Yang’s solo exhibition Lost Lands and Sunken Fields engages viewers in a “dialectic of contrasts: light and dark, aerial and grounded, buoyant and heavy, spare and dense, interior and exterior,” a statement says. The show follows the artist’s first major survey in the U.K. at London’s Hayward Gallery, which embarked on a collage-forward celebration of work created during the past 20 years.

    “Frosted Scales Mermaid Queen – Mesmerizing Mesh #218” (2023), Hanji, washi, and origami paper on alu-dibond, framed, 24 3/8 x 24 3/8 inches. Image courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York

    Working between Seoul and Berlin, Yang hybridizes folk customs and craftsmanship, everyday items, and vernacular techniques in pieces that combine sculpture, installation, collage, text, video, wallpaper, and sound. “Sonic Intermediates – Triad Walker Trinity,” for example, coats steel frames in tiny bells, metal rings, plastic twine, and more, which evoke vaguely animalistic forms that move around on casters.

    Time and geography collapse in an abstracted visual language that merges the modern and the pre-modern, art history and literature, and themes of displacement, migration, forced exile, and global diasporas. Her works “link various geopolitical contexts and histories in an attempt to understand and comment on our own time,” says a statement from kurimanzutto, which represents the artist.

    The gallery also presents a concurrent exhibition titled Arcane Abstractions, including two-dimensional collage works complemented by an archival display of pieces by Mexican artisans. Yang continues to investigate cultural heritage and ritualistic symbolism through materials as she forwards “a proposal to live our lives today with a holistic view of mobility and technology, respect for spirituality, as well as contemplation on the resilient adaptability of both nature and humans,” says a statement. 

    Arcane Abstractions continues through April 5 in Mexico City, and Lost Lands and Sunken Fields runs through April 27 in Dallas.

    “Airborne Paper Creatures – Flutterers” (2025), birch plywood, wood stain, stainless steel components, Hanji, washi, origami paper, marbled paper, honeycomb paper balls, beads, metal bells, plastic crown flowers, parandy, Punjabi earrings and ornaments, stainless steel chains, split rings, steel wire ropes, and swivels, 47 3/4 x 22 x 25 1/2 inches, 21 3/4 x 12 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches, and 36 1/2 x 23 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches (three parts). Photo by Studio Haegue Yang. Image courtesy of the Nasher Sculpture Center

    Detail of “Airborne Paper Creatures – Flutterers.” Image courtesy of the Nasher Sculpture Center

    Installation view of ‘Haegue Yang: Leap Year’ (2024). Photo by Mark Blower. Image courtesy of the artist and the Hayward Gallery, London

    Installation view of ‘Haegue Yang: Leap Year’ (2024). Photo by Mark Blower. Image courtesy of the artist and the Hayward Gallery, London

    “Aztec Underwater Wanderer – Mesmerizing Mesh #214” (2023), Hanji and washi on alu-dibond, framed, 24 3/8 x 24 3/8 inches. Image courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York

    “Radial Tousled Epiphyte” (2025), birch plywood, wood stain, acrylic board, powder-coated stainless steel wall mount, stainless steel components, Hanji, and marbled paper, 54 3/4 x 54 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches. Photo by Studio Haegue Yang. Image courtesy of the Nasher Sculpture Center

    Detail of “Radial Tousled Epiphyte.” Image courtesy of the Nasher Sculpture Center

    “Sonic Clotheshorse–Dressage #3” (2019), powder-coated aluminum frame, mesh and handles, casters, brass-and nickel- plated bells, split rings, 60 1/4 x 22 x 30 3/4 inches, and “Sonic Clotheshorse–Dressage #4” (2019), powder-coated aluminum frame, mesh and handles, casters, brass-and nickel-plated bells, and split rings, 50 1/4 x 19 1/4 x 33 3/4 inches. Installation view of ‘Haegue Yang: Emergence’ at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada, 2020. Photo by Craig Boyko, AGO

    “Aqua-Respirating Soul Sheet – Mesmerizing Mesh #263” (2024), Hanji, washi, and origami paper on alu-dibond, framed, 24 3/8 x 24 3/8 inches. Image courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York

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