More stories

  • in

    Donald Wasswa’s Delicate Wooden Creatures Emerge from a Speculative Future

    “Lutamaguzi” (2025), Albizia, ebony, and copper, 22 x 17 x 14 centimeters. All images courtesy of the artist and Circle Art Gallery, shared with permission

    Donald Wasswa’s Delicate Wooden Creatures Emerge from a Speculative Future

    August 12, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    Using the wood of silk trees, ebony, and embedded copper details, Donald Wasswa conjures bold forms evocative of imagined living beings. Based in Kampala, Uganda, Wasswa explores the relationships between—and evolution of—science, technology, society, and environmental transformation. Loosely resembling tentacled jellyfish yet somewhat unsettlingly dark and sharp, his sculptures evoke a distinctive tension between familiarity and the unknown; sentient creatures and the stuff of science fiction.

    Through the process of manipulating materials, Wasswa considers the secret lives of familiar objects “and how they might in turn determine future humans,” says Circle Art Gallery, which represents the artist. If you plan to be in London this fall, see Wasswa’s works at contemporary African art fair 1-54, which runs from October 16 to 19.

    “Kayondo” (2025), Albizia, ebony, and copper, 40 x 26 x 28 centimeters

    Detail of “Kayondo”

    “Muganzi” (2025), Albizia, ebony, and copper, 40 x 34 x 20 centimeters

    “Muhangi” (2025), Albizia, ebony, and copper, 30 x 38 x 30 centimeters

    “Gyagenda” (2025), Albizia, ebony, and copper, 34 x 24 x 20 centimeters

    “Kyomuhendo” (2025), Albizia, ebony, and copper, 38 x 36 x 25 centimeters

    Alternate view of “Muganzi”

    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

    Through Stacks of Laundry and Humble Vessels, Danym Kwon Cherishes the Mundane

    “Dear Moments” (2025), acrylic gouache on canvas, 51 1/4 x 114 1/2 inches. All images courtesy of Hashimoto Contemporary, shared with permission

    Through Stacks of Laundry and Humble Vessels, Danym Kwon Cherishes the Mundane

    August 11, 2025

    Art

    Grace Ebert

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    For Danym Kwon, the concept of home is mutable. The artist (previously) recently relocated to San Jose from her native Seoul, having spent just a few years back in South Korea before realizing that she longed to return to the Bay Area where she lived while her children were young.

    “I may never have had a place to stay forever. But wherever we were together became a home,” Kwon says about her move and the paintings and sculptures that emerged from the experience. “These works are my way of holding onto that—of cherishing the moments that pass too quickly.”

    “A Message of Comfort” (2025), acrylic gouache on canvas in cherry wood foldable frame, 22 1/8 x 33 1/2 x 1 1/8 inches

    On view at Hashimoto Contemporary in New York, Dear Moments presents Kwon’s tender, pastel-hued recollections of family life. Tucked within her signature stacks of laundry are small vignettes of siblings digging in the sand at the beach, a couple wandering through an art museum, and a parent snuggled up in bed with their child and a book. The artist’s vessels are similar, depicting a woman strolling along a candy-colored path or a young boy playing with blocks and a toy car.

    Having worked largely on canvas, she ventures into birch sculpture for this exhibition, plucking the doting characters common within her paintings and presenting them in three dimensions.

    Seemingly mundane, these familial scenes become magical and revered in Kwon’s hands. She beckons viewers into a world where even chores like folding clean clothes offer space for reflection and calm. While we might not treasure such simple moments in the present, Kwon suggests, we should hang on dearly to the small embraces and quiet acts of togetherness that ultimately make us feel at home.

    Dear Moments is on view through August 30. Find more from Kwon on her website and Instagram.

    “Looking together” (2025), acrylic gouache on birch plywood, 9 1/4 x 7 1/4 x 1 1/8 inches

    “A Still Life of You” (2025), acrylic gouache on canvas, 35 3/4 x 28 5/8 inches

    “Sand, Stories and a Small House” (2025), acrylic gouache on canvas, 17 7/8 x 17 7/8 inches

    “Sunday” (2025), acrylic gouache on birch plywood, 12 1/2 x 21 3/4 x 1 1/8 inches

    “My Favorite Path” (2024), acrylic gouache on canvas, 35 3/4 x 28 5/8 inches

    “Little Reader’s Nest” (2025), acrylic gouache on paper in cherry wood frame, 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches

    Detail of “Dear Moments” (2025), acrylic gouache on canvas, 51 1/4 x 114 1/2 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

    ‘Speak of the Devil’ Conjures the World of Twin Sisters Haylie and Sydnie Jimenez

    Sydnie Jimenez, “Prima,” “Lil Shay,” “Big Tone,” “Cali Girl,” and “Malice” (from left). All images courtesy of Joy Machine, shared with permission

    ‘Speak of the Devil’ Conjures the World of Twin Sisters Haylie and Sydnie Jimenez

    August 8, 2025

    ArtPartner

    Joy Machine

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    Joy Machine is thrilled to present Speak of the Devil, a joint exhibition of ceramic and mixed-media works by Chicago artists Haylie and Sydnie Jimenez. The exhibition runs from August 9 to September 20, 2025.

    An expression of endearment and surprise, “speak of the devil” is about manifesting what one desires. The idiom connotes a strange, even magical ability to conjure someone’s presence with a mere mention. Simply say their name and wait for them to appear.

    Haylie Jimenez, “In the grass with a flower” (2025), found table with grouted tiled image, 24 x 28 x 23 inches

    For Haylie and Sydnie Jimenez, making art is also an act of conjuring. Twin sisters with parallel and sometimes collaborative practices, the artists work primarily in ceramics and share a similar aesthetic, one rooted in narrative and rich with tattoos, piercings, and a generally punk style. Where Sydnie focuses on three-dimensions and builds figurative sculptures and totemic heads, Haylie prefers to etch scenes into flat panels. Both artists act as world-builders, depicting their queer, Black and brown friends and neighbors embracing their chosen kin.

    “These groups of people we call family and friends are the best of us and should be recognized as such,” the artists say. “We want to fully acknowledge our wonderful communities and depict them as they should be.”

    The Jimenez sisters were raised in the South, first in Florida and then in Georgia, with a Catholic mother. Born from religious fear, the phrase “speak of the devil” originated as a 17th-century superstition of summoning evil. The expression has since lost its sinister meaning, although a surface reading still elicits the diabolical.

    This contradiction between a superficial interpretation and reality is one Haylie and Sydnie are endlessly interested in teasing out. They have lived in Chicago for nearly a decade and have found commonality between their adopted city and the South: “both places that often get a bad rep but are so rich in culture, shared histories and positive aspects,” they say.

    Sydnie Jimenez, “Curtain Hair Guardian” (2025), terracotta and oxide wash

    Speak of the Devil invokes the cultural and social similarities between Chicago and the South. Centering people first and foremost, the artists highlight the vibrant communities that thrive in both regions. Architectural details like Sydnie’s gargoyle-esque sculptures and domestic items like Haylie’s lamps and inlay tables reference the very spaces necessary to establishing meaningful relationships and a community of care.

    While celebrating their friends, family, and those who might become such in the future, the artists create a warm, welcoming environment–complete with custom-stenciled walls—that offers an alternative to both oppression and violence and enduring stereotypes proliferated through popular culture and the media. This is their own magical act of conjuring. By visualizing a world of radical acceptance, pleasure, and endless joy, the artists lay the foundation to make such a world appear.

    Haylie Jimenez, “Lake Vibe” (2025), multiple glazed ceramic tiles, 25 x 18 inches

    Haylie and Sydnie Jimenez, “Te Quiero Mucho” (2025), glazed terracotta, 11 x 12 inches

    Sydnie Jimenez, “Jimenez Jersey” (2025), glazed stoneware and rhinestones, 39 x 14 x 6.5 inches

    Detail of Sydnie Jimenez, “Jimenez Jersey” (2025), glazed stoneware and rhinestones, 39 x 14 x 6.5 inches

    Haylie Jimenez, “Tangled Kudzu,” glazed ceramic tile, 7 x 8 inches

    Next article More

  • in

    Xanthe Summers Weaves Themes of Labor and Visibility in Bold Ceramic Vessels

    “The Weary Weaver” (2024), glazed stoneware, 39.4 x 28.4 x 28.4 incjes. Photo by Southern Guild and Hayden Phipps. All images courtesy of Xanthe Summers, shared with permission

    Xanthe Summers Weaves Themes of Labor and Visibility in Bold Ceramic Vessels

    August 7, 2025

    ArtCraftSocial Issues

    Kate Mothes

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    “Clay is an incredible medium to hold narrative,” says Xanthe Summers, who turns to the medium as a way to explore themes around domesticity, craft, and so-called “women’s work” like cleaning, mending, working with textiles, and caregiving. When it comes to clay, she says, “I think mostly I am invigorated by its ability to hold—to hold water, to hold function, to give shape, to carry stories, and to carry meaning.”

    Currently based in London, Summers grew up in Zimbabwe, where she observed inequities within the social structure that mirror many places around the world, especially in terms of gendered labor within the domestic sphere that often goes largely unseen and unacknowledged.

    “Common Threads” (2025), glazed stoneware, 23.6 x 21.7 x 21.7 inches

    She explains that “many homes have cleaners and gardeners who exist within this ‘invisible’ framework: caring for children, cooking their meals, and sometimes traveling for hours—and their work is underpaid, undervalued, and considered unskilled.”

    Summers taps into ceramics, especially the archetypal vessel motif, to join the ever-evolving continuum of the medium. Throughout millennia and across myriad distinct cultures, the earthen material has found endless applications in the home, industry, and art.

    “Clay has the unique ability to cross the boundaries between functionality, art, craft, class, and culture, and because of this, it is a vital medium to hold stories about humankind,” she says. “I understand clay to be an archive for the stories of humans.”

    The vessels often take on figurative proportions, standing tall on plinths and exhibiting saturated hues, bold patterns, and tactile textures. Some of the pieces crumple, especially toward the top, as if hit with something or caving under some invisible weight.

    Installation view at Southern Guild, Cape Town. Photo courtesy of Southern Guild

    The artist’s vessels tread the boundary between form and function and delve into another craft often associated with women’s labor: weaving. She describes how everything from the sheets we sleep on to the carpets we tread across to the clothes on our back can be “extrapolated to speak more broadly about domesticity, women’s work, and racialized spaces in Zimbabwe and the Global South.” She adds:

    Weaving can be used as a wider metaphor for social cohesion—or lack thereof. This predicament is significant in Zimbabwe but is apparent the world over, where women’s work is undervalued.

    Next year, Summers embarks on a trip to Guadalajara, Mexico, for a residency at Ceramica Suro, where she will learn from local ceramic artists, glassblowers, and weavers. And this October, you’ll be able to see her work at London’s 1-54, a fair dedicated to contemporary African art, which runs from October 16 to 19. Explore more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

    “Woven Tales Stand Tall” (2022). Photo by Deniz Guzel

    Detail of “Woven Tales Stand Tall.” Photo by Deniz Guzel

    “By the Pricking of My Thumbs” (2025), glazed stoneware, 39.4 x 27.6 x 27.8 inches. Photo by Southern Guild and Hayden Phipps

    “Working Class Femininity” (2023), glazed stoneware, 41 x 19.8 x 19.8 inches. Photo by Deniz Guzel

    “Weaver’s Woe” (2024,), glazed stoneware, 22.4 x 19.7 x 19.7 inches. Photo by Deniz Guzel

    “Of Woof and Woe” (2024), glazed stoneware, 43.3 x 25.3 x 25.3 inches. Photo by Southern Guild and Hayden Phipps

    Xanthe Summers in her studio

    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

    Xanthe Somers Weaves Themes of Labor and Visibility in Bold Ceramic Vessels

    “The Weary Weaver” (2024), glazed stoneware, 39.4 x 28.4 x 28.4 incjes. Photo by Southern Guild and Hayden Phipps. All images courtesy of Xanthe Summers, shared with permission

    Xanthe Somers Weaves Themes of Labor and Visibility in Bold Ceramic Vessels

    August 7, 2025

    ArtCraftSocial Issues

    Kate Mothes

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    “Clay is an incredible medium to hold narrative,” says Xanthe Somers, who turns to the medium as a way to explore themes around domesticity, craft, and so-called “women’s work” like cleaning, mending, working with textiles, and caregiving. When it comes to clay, she says, “I think mostly I am invigorated by its ability to hold—to hold water, to hold function, to give shape, to carry stories, and to carry meaning.”

    Currently based in London, Somers grew up in Zimbabwe, where she observed inequities within the social structure that mirror many places around the world, especially in terms of gendered labor within the domestic sphere that often goes largely unseen and unacknowledged.

    “Common Threads” (2025), glazed stoneware, 23.6 x 21.7 x 21.7 inches

    She explains that “many homes have cleaners and gardeners who exist within this ‘invisible’ framework: caring for children, cooking their meals, and sometimes traveling for hours—and their work is underpaid, undervalued, and considered unskilled.”

    Somers taps into ceramics, especially the archetypal vessel motif, to join the ever-evolving continuum of the medium. Throughout millennia and across myriad distinct cultures, the earthen material has found endless applications in the home, industry, and art.

    “Clay has the unique ability to cross the boundaries between functionality, art, craft, class, and culture, and because of this, it is a vital medium to hold stories about humankind,” she says. “I understand clay to be an archive for the stories of humans.”

    The vessels often take on figurative proportions, standing tall on plinths and exhibiting saturated hues, bold patterns, and tactile textures. Some of the pieces crumple, especially toward the top, as if hit with something or caving under some invisible weight.

    Installation view at Southern Guild, Cape Town. Photo courtesy of Southern Guild

    The artist’s vessels tread the boundary between form and function and delve into another craft often associated with women’s labor: weaving. She describes how everything from the sheets we sleep on to the carpets we tread across to the clothes on our back can be “extrapolated to speak more broadly about domesticity, women’s work, and racialized spaces in Zimbabwe and the Global South.” She adds:

    Weaving can be used as a wider metaphor for social cohesion—or lack thereof. This predicament is significant in Zimbabwe but is apparent the world over, where women’s work is undervalued.

    Next year, Somers embarks on a trip to Guadalajara, Mexico, for a residency at Ceramica Suro, where she will learn from local ceramic artists, glassblowers, and weavers. And this October, you’ll be able to see her work at London’s 1-54, a fair dedicated to contemporary African art, which runs from October 16 to 19. Explore more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

    “Woven Tales Stand Tall” (2022). Photo by Deniz Guzel

    Detail of “Woven Tales Stand Tall.” Photo by Deniz Guzel

    “By the Pricking of My Thumbs” (2025), glazed stoneware, 39.4 x 27.6 x 27.8 inches. Photo by Southern Guild and Hayden Phipps

    “Working Class Femininity” (2023), glazed stoneware, 41 x 19.8 x 19.8 inches. Photo by Deniz Guzel

    “Weaver’s Woe” (2024,), glazed stoneware, 22.4 x 19.7 x 19.7 inches. Photo by Deniz Guzel

    “Of Woof and Woe” (2024), glazed stoneware, 43.3 x 25.3 x 25.3 inches. Photo by Southern Guild and Hayden Phipps

    Xanthe Summers in her studio

    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

    Laser-Cut Steel Forms Radiate Ornate Patterns in Anila Quayyum Agha’s Immersive Installations

    “A Beautiful Despair (Blue)” (2021), lacquered steel and halogen bulb, 60 x 60 x 60 inches. Image courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery, NYC, © the artist. Photo by Steve Watson / Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth. All images courtesy of Seattle Asian Art Museum, shared with permission

    Laser-Cut Steel Forms Radiate Ornate Patterns in Anila Quayyum Agha’s Immersive Installations

    August 6, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    Influenced by the ornate decor of Islamic mosaics and architecture, Anila Quayyum Agha creates large-scale installations that utilize the power of light and shadow to transform a room. Laser-cut steel structures, like her seminal work “Intersections,” take a simple cube as a starting point. The artist incises elaborate patterns from the surface, then situates a light inside, which casts shadows onto the surrounding walls.

    Anila Quayyum Agha: Geometry of Light, which opens later this month at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, marks the first time the Pakistani-American artist’s work has been exhibited in the Pacific Northwest. Based in Indianapolis, she is known for exploring the ever-evolving relationships between cultural identity, gender, art, and spirituality.

    “A Beautiful Despair (Blue)” (2021), lacquered steel and halogen bulb, 60 x 60 x 60 inches. Image courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery, NYC, © the artist. Photo courtesy of Masterpiece Art Fair, London

    “Through the use of light and color, the artist’s ornate designs have the ability to turn spaces into ethereal environments reminiscent of traditional sacred spaces through the use of lanterns or mashrabiya, wooden lattice screens that diffuse light, casting intricate shadows while allowing for the flow of air and creating intimacy,” the museum says.

    Geometry of Light will include three of Agha’s space-transforming installations, plus a number of framed, mixed-media paper works. The exhibition runs from August 27 to April 19, 2026, and you can find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

    “This is Not a refuge! (2)” (2019), laser-cut, resin-coated aluminum and light bulb, 93 x 58 x 72 inches. Courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery, NYC, © the artist. Photo courtesy of Columbia Museum, Columbia, North Carolina

    “A Beautiful Despair (Blue)” (2021), lacquered steel and halogen bulb, 60 x 60 x 60 inches. Image courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery, NYC, © the artist. Photo by Steve Watson / Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth

    “Liminal Space” (2021), laser-cut and lacquered steel, 65 x 65 inches. Image courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery, NYC, © the artist. Photo by Steve Watson / Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth

    Detail of “Liminal Space” (2021). Photo by Steve Watson / Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth

    “This is Not a refuge! (2)” (2019), laser-cut, resin-coated aluminum and light bulb, 93 x 58 x 72 inches. Courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery, NYC, © the artist. Photo courtesy of Masterpiece Art Fair, London

    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

    Terracotta and Gold Figures by Vipoo Srivilasa Conjure Joy and the Divine

    “Serene Spirit” (2025), terracotta, glaze, overglaze, and gold lustre, 39 x 28 x 15 centimeters. All images courtesy of Edwina Corlette, shared with permission

    Terracotta and Gold Figures by Vipoo Srivilasa Conjure Joy and the Divine

    August 5, 2025

    Art

    Grace Ebert

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    Joy and the possibilities of creative communion ground the practice of Vipoo Srivilasa (previously). The artist, who lives and works between Australia and Thailand, is known for his ceramic sculptures that take an ebullient approach to life.

    Standing between one and two feet tall, Srivilasa’s figures are clad in floral baubles, mandala-like motifs, and gold details, often with their fingers shaped like a V. The lively characters invoke both the mundane and the divine as they portray aspects of the spiritual world while firmly rooted on the earth.

    “Inner Goddess” (2025), terracotta, glaze, and gold lustre, 60 x 25 x 13 centimeters

    A collection of Srivilasa’s sculptures opens this month at Edwina Corlette in a solo exhibition titled Iconic Figures: Devas, Deities and Divas. Bringing together 15 years of the artist’s practice, the show features both his signature white and blue materials, along with a more recent foray into terracotta, a mix that bridges Srivilasa’s cultural heritages.

    Iconic Figures runs from August 20 to September 16 in New Farm, Queensland. Find more from Srivilasa on his website and Instagram.

    “Guardian Light” (2025), earthenware glazed and gold lustre, 100 x 50 centimeters

    “Heavenly Bloom” (2025), terracotta, earthenware glazed, and gold lustre, 100 x 50 x 60 centimeters

    Back of “Heavenly Bloom” (2025), terracotta, earthenware glazed, and gold lustre, 100 x 50 x 60 centimeters

    Back of “Serene Spirit” (2025), terracotta, glaze, overglaze, and gold lustre, 39 x 28 x 15 centimeters

    “Majestic Grace” (2025), terracotta glazed and gold lustre, 70 x 42 x 15 centimeters

    Back of “Majestic Grace” (2025), terracotta glazed and gold lustre, 70 x 42 x 15 centimeters

    “Dancing Diva” (2025), terracotta, glaze, and gold lustre, 29 x 14 x 18 centimeters

    “Radiant Bloom” (2025), terracotta glaze and gold lustre, 53 x 34 x 20 centimeters

    Back of “Radiant Bloom” (2025), terracotta glaze and gold lustre, 53 x 34 x 20 centimeters

    “Golden Aura” (2025), terracotta, glaze, and gold lustre, 66 x 33 x 19 centimeters

    “Sacred Flame” (2025), terracotta, glaze, and gold lustre, 69 x 37 x 24 centimeters

    Back of “Sacred Flame” (2025), terracotta, glaze, and gold lustre, 69 x 37 x 24 centimeters

    “Joyful Deity” (2025), earthenware glazed and gold lustre, 62 x 45 x 28 centimeters

    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

    ‘Quiver’ Surveys Twenty Years of Striking Feather Sculptures by Kate MccGwire

    “Circe” (2023). Photo by JP Bland. All images courtesy of Kate MccGwire, shared with permission

    ‘Quiver’ Surveys Twenty Years of Striking Feather Sculptures by Kate MccGwire

    August 5, 2025

    ArtNature

    Kate Mothes

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    Although we’re familiar with numerous birds displaying bright blue hues, from the aptly named blue jays to indigo buntings to various species of heron, this color in avians’ feathers is actually a trick of physics. While hues like red and yellow are produced from pigments, blue results from the way light interacts with molecules inherent to the structure of the feathers. And it’s this delightful, elusive luster that lends itself so well to Kate MccGwire’s striking sculptures.

    Next month, MccGwire (previously) opens a solo exhibition at the Djanogly Gallery at Lakeside Arts titled Quiver, surveying two decades of the artist’s work with ethically sourced feathers. Striking, framed wall pieces meet undulating specimens in freestanding vitrines and large-scale, site-specific installations. The vintage glass cases and domes nod to the 19th-century fascination with taxidermied trophy animals that adorned museum walls and grand private homes.

    “Quiver” (2012). Photo by Ian Stuart

    Working from a converted Dutch barge in West London, MccGwire’s studio mirrors her interest in nature. Like water, her compositions shimmer in the light and appear to swirl and roil, whether pool-like in frames or serpentine and encased in glass. Plumbing the inherent tensions between themes of beauty and revulsion, life and death, and wildness and captivity, the artist encourages us to consider our emotional and ever-evolving relationship with nature.

    Quiver runs from September 20 to January 4 in Nottingham. If you’re in Sag Harbor, you can also see MccGwire’s work in The Ark at The Church, curated by Eric Fischl, which continues through September 1. And a piece is also included in Iris Van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses, which runs through August 10 at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore before traveling to the Kunsthal, Rotterdam, where it opens on September 27. Find more on the MccGwire’s website and Instagram.

    “Flex”

    “Cavort (West)”

    “Host.” Photo by Tessa Angus

    “Reel” (2015). Photo by JP Bland

    “Stifle.” Photo by Tessa Angus

    “Gyrus” (2019). Photo by JP Bland

    “Surge (Columba).” Photo by Tessa Angus

    “Gag”

    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