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    Flowers and Butterflies Stitch Messages of Hope into Crumpled Metal and Corroded Barrels

    Detail of “MEADOWS.” Photo by Ineta Armanavičiūtė. All images courtesy of Severija Inčirauskaitė, shared with permission

    Flowers and Butterflies Stitch Messages of Hope into Crumpled Metal and Corroded Barrels

    January 24, 2025

    ArtSocial Issues

    Kate Mothes

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    On the sides of rusted barrels or crushed steel spheres, Lithuanian artist Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė (previously) applies delicate reminders of resilience. Using cotton thread, the artist cross-stitches vibrant flowers and butterflies onto facets of corroded metal, merging materials that appear to have little in common.

    Where metal is rough, strong, and utilitarian, embroidery is tender, soft, and decorative. Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė taps into these diametric characteristics in her continuing examination of war. A large metal ball titled “OFFSIDE,” for example, represents the world’s cumulative conflicts. “It is like a huge disaster with a small embroidered butterfly that is like a small, fragile sign of hope,” she says.

    “Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)” (2023), metal and cotton thread. Photo by Modestas Ežerskis and Ineta Armanavičiūtė

    The small nation of Belarus separates Lithuania from Ukraine, where the impacts of the ongoing Russian assault reverberate across the region. “The war is very close to us,” the artist tells Colossal, “so we can’t relax and just think about life.” Incorporating insects and blooms, steeped in symbolic references to compassion, generosity, and care, Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė suggests that despite humans’ destructive actions, hope perseveres.

    Find more on the artist’s Instagram.

    “Offside” (2024), metal, and cotton threads. Photo by Enrika Samulionytė

    Detail of “Offside.” Photo by Enrika Samulionytė

    “OFFSIDE” (2024)

    “MEADOWS” (2023), metal barrels and cotton, 360 x 40 x 20 centimeters. Photo by Ineta Armanavičiūtė

    Detail of “MEADOWS.” Photo by Ineta Armanavičiūtė

    “Timeless Fragility” (2022), oil barrel lid and cross stitch, 60 centimeters diameter. Photo by Ineta Armanavičiūtė

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    Asya Marakulina Sculpts Poignant Ceramic Portraits of Demolished Homes

    All images courtesy of Asya Marakulina, shared with permission

    Asya Marakulina Sculpts Poignant Ceramic Portraits of Demolished Homes

    January 22, 2025

    ArtSocial Issues

    Kate Mothes

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    Prior to the 20th century, apartment buildings and row houses were often built with shared walls between adjoining properties. Intrigued by these aging structures, Vienna-based artist Asya Marakulina began cataloging examples she first noticed on walks around her former home in St. Petersburg, Russia.

    “Since houses in the 19th century were built without gaps between them, when one house is torn down, the neighboring house often bears traces of the demolished one,” Marakulina tells Colossal. These remnants of decor, plumbing, and other signs of human habitation form the basis of her ongoing ceramic series, There Was a Home.

    When Marakulina moved to Vienna, she noticed a similar phenomenon in the remains of older buildings that had been demolished there, too. Fragments of floor still clung to the walls and the outlines of painted or papered rooms were suddenly—somewhat uncomfortably—external. The ease of a warm interior and its associated domesticity was upended.

    “What touches and affects me the most in images of ruined houses are the traces of wallpaper, tiles, and children’s rooms, which suddenly become visible to the entire street,” the artist says, sharing that the sight evokes a deep sadness. “These spaces were never meant to be seen in such a way.”

    Marakulina likens houses to the bodies of living organisms, imbued with emotions, memories, and layered histories. The ceramic cross-sections take on a portrait-like quality, capturing straightforward views of multistory edifices that are simultaneously immediate and intimate. “Maybe that’s why these images captivate me so much because a part of someone’s inner, domestic life is suddenly turned inside-out and put on public display,” she says.

    The houses in There Was a Home are typically drawn from real buildings, photographs of which she captures herself or finds on the internet. Marakulina also considers the impacts of war and is profoundly moved by the current conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, where thousands of homes have been destroyed and their inhabitants killed or displaced. The half-standing homes simultaneously represent lives lost and the hope of one day being able to rebuild.

    Rather than straightforward copies of the buildings she encounters, Marakulina takes liberties with wall colors, sometimes adding graffiti or words she sees on the streets or derives from the news. She scores the clay to create the textures of tile and concrete or delineate lintels and former doorways. The resulting reliefs become collage-like, merging locations and motifs.

    If you’re in Belgium, you can see the artist’s work in Ceramic Brussels, which opens today and continues through January 26. In London, Marakulina created a site-specific installation for a solo show at The Smallest Gallery in Soho, which continues through mid-February, and later that month, she will exhibit with Vienna Collectors Club. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

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    Lauren Halsey’s ’emajendat’ Is an Energetic Celebration of South Central Los Angeles

    Installation view of ’emajendat’ at Serpentine South. Installation photos by Hugo Glendinning, © Lauren Halsey, courtesy of Serpentine, shared with permission

    Lauren Halsey’s ’emajendat’ Is an Energetic Celebration of South Central Los Angeles

    January 14, 2025

    ArtSocial Issues

    Kate Mothes

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    Inspired by the South Central neighborhood of Los Angeles, where Lauren Halsey’s family has lived for generations, vibrant sculptures and site-specific installations vividly reflect the artist’s community.

    At Serpentine South, a large-scale, maximalist exhibition titled emajendat highlights Halsey’s self-described obsession with material culture, her interest in remixing messages and symbols, and the need to confront issues that affect people of color, the queer community, and the working class.

    Installation view

    Halsey gathers photographs, posters, flyers, commercial signs, and found objects that relate to her communities’ activism, highlighting “a sense of civic urgency and free-flowing imagination,” says David Kordansky Gallery, which co-represents the artist with Gagosian. “Inspired by Afrofuturism and funk, as well as the signs and symbols that populate her local environments, Halsey creates a visionary form of culture that is at once radical and collaborative.”

    Past, present, and future merge in the artists exploration of how idols, architecture, history, and communication fuel how we perceive identities and society. She draws on the imagery of ancient Egypt, the African diaspora, Black and queer icons, and the visionary design associated with funk to construct a kind of ever-evolving archive.

    In a monumental rooftop installation titled “the eastside of south central los angeles hieroglyph prototype architecture (I),” Halsey nods to palatial, ancient Egyptian architecture, placing the faces of notable Black figures on the columns’ capitals, such as activist Susan Burton and ethnomusicologist Dr. Rachel Eubanks.

    Halsey’s eclectic “funkmound” sculptures also encompass numerous found items, harboring miniature dioramas and objects that appear as though they are emerging from heaps of cotton candy. Throughout emajendat, seemingly endless collages, sculptures, reflections, prismatic color, patterns, messages, and textures welcome the viewer into an enthusiastically immersive experience.

    Installation view of ‘The Roof Garden Commission: Lauren Halsey,’ “the eastside of south central los angeles hieroglyph prototype architecture (I)” (2022). Photo by Hyla Skopitz, © Lauren Halsey, courtesy of the artist; David Kordansky Gallery and The Metropolitan Museum of Art

    The social element of Halsey’s work is amplified by a community center she founded in 2019 called Summaeverythang, located adjacent to her studio in South Central. The nonprofit initiative is “dedicated to the empowerment and transcendence of Black and Brown folks socio-politically, economically, intellectually, and artistically.”

    emajendat continues through February 23 in Kensington Gardens, London. Plan your visit on the gallery’s website.

    Foreground: “keepers of the krown (susan burton)” (2024), glass fiber, reinforced concrete, and mixed media, 261 3/4 x 48 1/8 x 48 1/8 inches. Background: “keepers of the krown (dr. rachel eubanks)” (2024), glass fiber, reinforced concrete, and mixed media 261 3/4 x 48 1/8 x 48 1/8 inches. Photo by Andrea Avezzù, © Lauren Halsey, courtesy of the artist, David Kordansky Gallery, and Gagosian

    Installation view

    Installation detail

    Installation view

    Installation detail

    Installation collage detail

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    Annie Duncan’s Ceramic Sculptures Expand Upon the Modern Feminine Experience

    Detail of “Material Girl” (2023). All images © Annie Duncan, shared with permission

    Annie Duncan’s Ceramic Sculptures Expand Upon the Modern Feminine Experience

    January 6, 2025

    ArtSocial Issues

    Jackie Andres

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    What objects are associated with femininity? Male-dominated art historical eras point to more traditional motifs such as flowers for fertility and dainty, domestic accoutrements like lace and porcelain. A more contemporary perspective might include everyday items from the drugstore, such as disposable shaving razors, claw clips, and lipstick.

    From centuries past to present day, do these objects ultimately embody similar messages about femininity that withstand the test of time? This overarching question is a catalyst for San Francisco-based artist Annie Duncan.

    Installation view from “Looking Glass” (2023)

    Within her work, sculptural assemblages of mascara tubes, necklaces, perfume bottles, and droopy flowers resemble the familiar surface of a cluttered vanity or overcrowded bathroom countertop. Although Duncan carefully places each sculpture in these compositions, their disorder achieves an air of authenticity. From uncapped cherry Chapstick tubes standing as if they were set down in a rush to discarded rings one decided not to wear after all, there is realism and relatability in each considered detail.

    Encountering common goods at an oversized scale prompts the viewer to confront the social impact each item holds. For instance, in “Material Girl,” an enlarged IUD implant is scattered among a variety of ubiquitous products, calling to the desensitization of challenges faced by those with female bodies. “Suddenly, the presence of these objects and everything they evoke—the burden, the beauty, the cultural magnitude that they possess—is too big to overlook,” the artist says.

    Duncan begins each piece by sculpting clay with a playful disposition. “It really is just grown-up play-dough or Sculpey,” she remarks. Also a painter, the artist hones in on brushwork during the glazing stage. Treating the bisque-fired surface as a canvas, her ceramic forms come to life with a lustrous sheen.

    Lately, the artist has been exploring the power of duality and how the idea of expectations versus reality can be communicated through her sculptures.

    “It’s become a really generative theme in my work; this sense that we’re carrying around our hopes and ambitions, and there’s always an adjustment that happens with the real thing. It doesn’t necessarily mean disappointment, but a sort of a flipping or altering of the plan,” Duncan explains. “To me, this feeling is deeply embedded in the feminine experience. Dialing down your initial vision, and learning to be ok with it; saying one thing while meaning another.”

    Duncan is currently working on a forthcoming group show that will take place in Seoul. Find her on Instagram for updates and check out her website for more artwork.

    Installation view from “Looking Glass” (2023)

    “Wilted Lily” (2023)

    “Biological Clock” (2022)

    “Pair of Razors” (2024)

    “Material Girl” (2023)

    “Instant Remedy” (2024)

    “Friendship Bracelet (Blue)” (2024), “Friendship Bracelet (Pink)” (2024)

    Installation view from “Looking Glass” (2023)

    “You’re Welcome” (2022)

    Installation view from “Looking Glass” (2023)

    Installation view from “Looking Glass” (2023)

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    In Paintings and Quilts, Stephen Towns Spotlights Black Leisure in the Jim Crow South

    “Looking for Lorraine” (2024), natural and
    synthetic fabric, polyester and cotton thread, and acrylic and crystal glass beads, 55.5 x 68 inches. All images courtesy of the artist and Rockwell Museum, shared with permission

    In Paintings and Quilts, Stephen Towns Spotlights Black Leisure in the Jim Crow South

    January 2, 2025

    ArtHistorySocial Issues

    Kate Mothes

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    In central Florida, Ocala National Forest is dotted with more than 600 lakes and rivers. A nearby recreation hub, Silver Springs, has capitalized on the tourism potential of these glistening, clear bodies of water for decades, offering sandy riverside beaches and taking visitors on jaunts in glass-bottom boats.

    Until 1968 and the passing of the Civil Rights Act, Silver Springs—similar to many other places in Florida and the South more broadly—was racially segregated and only open to white patrons. In 1949, the owners of Silver Springs opened Paradise Park a mile down the road as a destination “for colored people,” as the welcome sign read, who were prohibited from the other resort.

    “Swimming Lessons” (2022), acrylic, oil, and metal leaf on panel, 40 x 40 inches

    Paradise Park was one of three beaches in Florida open to Black visitors during this time and also offered sandy beaches, rides in glass-bottom boats, a petting zoo, a dance pavilion with a jukebox, performances, games, and a softball field. It remained in operation until 1969, shortly after desegregation, and became a subject of fascination for photographer Bruce Mozert (1916-2015), who documented happenings at both recreation areas.

    For artist Stephen Towns, Mozert’s images and the history of Paradise Park provide the foundation for Private Paradise: A Figurative Exploration of Black Rest and Recreation, now on view at the Rockwell Museum. Through paintings and quilted compositions, the artist explores how certain parks could be places of refuge and leisure for Black Americans during the Jim Crow era.

    “Black people had to set up their own spaces in order to find recreation and to find peace,” Towns says in a video accompanying the exhibition. “This show is a way of illuminating that. It gives people a sort of way into history that’s not as scary as it can be in other forms.”

    Towns’ paintings portray groups of children swimming, sunbathing, and playing on the sandy shoreline. His fabric compositions are imagined scenes of respite and togetherness, which come across as disarming and candid.

    “Motown in Motion” (2024), natural and synthetic fabric, polyester and cotton thread, and acrylic and crystal glass beads, 55.5 x 68 inches

    “Motown in Motion,” for example, depicts a group of young people gathered on the beach, and “I Will Follow You My Dear” trails two women swimming underwater—another nod to Mozert’s work as a pioneer in underwater photography.

    The figures in Towns’ paintings are more posed, drawn directly from Bruce Mozert’s snapshots, depicting smiling kids at play. Towns often uses reflective materials like metal leaf that emanate light back toward the viewer, reiterating a sense of brightness. “I want people to feel that warm, reflective energy when they see the show,” he says.

    Explore more on Towns’ website and Instagram, and if you’re in New York, you can see Private Paradise in Corning through January 19.

    “Taking Flight” (2022), acrylic, oil, and metal leaf on panel, 40 x 40 inches

    “I Will Follow You My Dear” (2024), natural and synthetic fabric, polyester and cotton thread, and acrylic and crystal glass beads, and shells, 55 x 72 inches

    “When We Were Young” (2022), acrylic, oil, and metal leaf on panel, 40 x 40 inches

    “A Taste of Lemonade” (2024), natural and synthetic fabric, polyester and cotton thread, crystal glass beads, metal and resin buttons, 55.5 x 68 inches

    Photograph of visitors at Paradise Park by Bruce Mozert

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    Sonya Kelliher-Combs Merges Collective Knowledge and Native Alaskan Heritage in Mixed Media

    “Goodbye” (2018), installation from Anchorage Museum’s Collection. All images courtesy of the artist and Hirmer Verlag, shared with permission

    Sonya Kelliher-Combs Merges Collective Knowledge and Native Alaskan Heritage in Mixed Media

    December 26, 2024

    ArtBooksHistorySocial Issues

    Kate Mothes

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    Raised in the Alaska community of Nome, which sits on the coast of the Bering Sea, Sonya Kelliher-Combs traces her family lineage to the northernmost reaches in Utqiaġvik and the central inland city of Nulato. Now based in Anchorage, her Iñupiaq and Athabascan ancestry, cultural heritage, and relationship to the land constitute the nucleus around which her multidisciplinary work revolves.

    Growing up in a rural community, Kelliher-Combs observed and learned “time-honored traditional women’s and collective labor—skin sewing, beading, and food preparation—that taught her to appreciate the intimacy of intergenerational knowledge and material histories,” says an artist statement in the foreword of the artist’s new monograph, Mark.

    “Credible Small Secrets” (2021-present), sculpture, printed fabric, human hair, nylon thread, glass beed, and steel pen, variable dimensions. Photo by Chris Arend

    Published by Hirmer Verlag, the volume explores the breadth of Kelliher-Combs’s practice, from paintings, sculptures, and installations to her curatorial and community advocacy work.

    Drawing on the materials and symbolism of ancestral, Indigenous knowledge, Kelliher-Combs addresses what she describes as “the ongoing struggle for self-definition and identity in the Alaskan context,” delving into history, culture, family, and long-held customs.

    The works “also speak of abuse, marginalization, and the historical and contemporary struggles of Indigenous peoples in the North and worldwide,” her statement continues. In “Goodbye,” for example, 52 gloves and mittens are gathered together as if waving a collective farewell.

    The poignant installation aimed to open the dialogue about the sensitive subject of suicide, the rate of which at the time Kelliher-Combs made the piece was nearly 52 Native Alaskans per 100,000—more than triple the age-adjusted rate among Americans in general. The mitts were all handmade and lent by local community members.

    “A Million Tears” (2021), painting and mixed media, variable dimensions. Photo by Chris Arend

    Through delicate, tactile sculptures and atmospheric paintings, the artist venerates ancient ancestral practices, like animal hide preparation, while exploring the way contemporary materials like plastic and fossil fuels are transforming the landscape. She often incorporates maps, thread, beads, hair, and fabric.

    Kelliher-Combs also combines organic and synthetic materials, merging the traditional with the new; the local with the imported. She describes how she pushes “beyond the binary divisions of Western and Indigenous cultures, self and other, and man and nature, to examine the interrelationships and interdependence of these concepts.”

    See more of the artist’s work on her website, and find your copy of Mark on Bookshop.

    “Credible II” (2022), painting installation, mixed media. Photo by Chris Arend

    “Credible, Fairbanks” (2019), painting, mixed media, 16 x 16 inches. Photo by Minus Space, courtesy of the Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado

    “Credible Small Secrets”

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    Nicholas Galanin Hews Visions of the Present From Indigenous Knowledge, Land, and Memory

    “Never Forget” (2021), steel and paint, 59 feet 4 inches x 360 feet 7 inches. Photo by Lance Gerber. All images courtesy of the artist and Peter Blum Gallery, New York, shared with permission

    Nicholas Galanin Hews Visions of the Present From Indigenous Knowledge, Land, and Memory

    December 24, 2024

    ArtHistorySocial Issues

    Kate Mothes

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    Between 1869 and the 1960s in the U.S., thousands of Indigenous children attended at least 523 boarding schools, supported by the government and church groups that were fueled by the grim motto, “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.”

    Children were sent hundreds, if not thousands, of miles from their families and tribal communities, suffering horrific abuse, and in many cases, dying as a result. Federal agents often abducted minors, who were sent to school and punished severely if they spoke their Native languages. By 1926, nearly 83 percent of Indigenous school-age children were enrolled.

    “Loom” (2022), prefab children’s school desks and chairs with graphite and pencil carving
    100 x 83 x 54 inches. Photo by Jason Wyche. Image courtesy of the artist; Peter Blum Gallery, New York; and the Gochman Family Collection

    The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition explains that the purpose of the schools was “expressly intended to implement cultural genocide through the removal and reprogramming of American Indian and Alaska Native children to accomplish the systematic destruction of Native cultures and communities.”

    In October, the U.S. government issued a formal apology for its role in the boarding schools, yet efforts will long continue to fully understand, process, and begin to heal the trauma.

    For Tlingit-Unangax̂ artist Nicholas Galanin, looking to the past is fundamental to constructing a more nuanced perception of the present. His multidisciplinary practice “aims to redress the widespread misappropriation of Indigenous visual culture, the impact of colonialism, as well as collective amnesia,” says a statement from Peter Blum Gallery, which represents the artist and is currently showing Galanin’s solo exhibition, The persistence of Land claims in a climate of change.

    “We can sharpen our vision of the present with cultural knowledge and memory,” Galanin says. “These works embody cultural memory and practice, reflecting persistence, sacrifice, violence, refusal, endurance, and resistance.”

    “White Flag” (2022), trimmed polar bear rug and wood, polar bear: 50 x 78 inches; wood: 10 1/2 x 6 1/4 inches. Image courtesy of the artist; Peter Blum Gallery, New York; and Gochman
    Family Collection. Photo by Jason Wyche

    Based in Sitka, Alaska, Galanin often incorporates traditional Tlingit and Unangax̂ art forms into contemporary sculptures and installations. “The Imaginary Indian (Garden),” for example, takes as its starting point a totem pole, a customarily towering representation of animals hewn from a single tree that is deeply imbued with spiritual and social significance.

    In “3D Consumption Illustration,” Galanin comments on a lack of respect for the art form by cutting up a single totem figure like firewood, as if it’s disposable or merely decorative. In “Loom,” he stacks a series of ready-made children’s desks into a winged, totem pole-like tower to memorialize the children who suffered in residential schools.

    Galanin’s often provocative work emphasizes the inherent power of symbols and associations. A polar bear pelt stands in for fabric in “White Flag,” a nod to a symbol for surrender, which draws attention to the increasingly stark effects of the climate crisis on the arctic and on Native peoples’ way of life.

    In Miami earlier this month, masts and rigging emerged from the sand as if a Spanish galleon had been buried beneath the beach. The sails boldly asked in both English and Spanish: “What are we going to give up to burn the sails of empire?” and “What are we going to build for our collective liberation?”

    “The Imaginary Indian (Garden)” (2024), Indonesian replica of a Lingít totem with Victorian wallpaper, installation dimensions variable; totem: 81 1/4 x 69 3/4 x 17 3/4 inches. Photo by Jason Wyche

    The installation, titled “Seletega (run, see if people are coming/corre a ver si viene gente),” tapped into the European colonization of North America and its aim of extracting wealth, establishing cities and commerce, and expanding westward at the dire expense of Indigenous peoples.

    In The persistence of Land claims in a climate of change, Galanin continues to highlight the “Indigenous cultural continuum,” says a gallery statement, defying cultural erasure and refusing the legitimacy of colonial occupation. “Galanin reflects on the distance between peace and justice by centering the enduring Indigenous protection of Land in the face of expansive extraction.”

    Through photography, monotypes, and sculptural works in ceramic, bronze, and wood, the artist reflects on systems of racial oppression and disenfranchisement, Indigenous knowledge and responsibility, and the importance of collectivity and connection as we proceed into the future.

    Galanin is the recipient of a slew of prestigious awards recently, including a Joan Mitchell Fellowship in 2023 and both the Guggenheim Fellowship and Don Tyson Prize this year. See more of his work on Instagram, and if you’re in New York, visit The persistence of Land claims in a climate of change until January 18.

    “Seletega” (2024), site specific commission,
    dimensions variable. Photo by Oriol Tarridas. Image courtesy of the artist and Faena Art

    “Neon American Anthem (red)” (2023), neon installation, 7 x 16 feet. Photo by Brad Tone

    “The Value of Sharpness: When it Falls” (2019), 60 porcelain hatchets, 13 1/4 x 5 x 1 inches each; installation variable. Photo by Thomas Mccarty. Image courtesy of the artist; Peter Blum
    Gallery, New York; and the Gochman Family Collection

    Detail of “The Value of Sharpness: When it Falls”

    “The American Dream is Alie and Well” (2012), U.S. flag, felt, .50 cal ammunition, foam, gold leaf and plastic, 84 x 84 x 9 inches. Photo by Jason Wyche. Image courtesy of the artist; Peter Blum Gallery, New York; and Sheldon Museum of Art, Nebraska

    Detail of “The Imaginary Indian (Garden)”

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    Our Favorite Stories of 2024

    All images © Todd Antony, shared with permission

    Our Favorite Stories of 2024

    December 13, 2024

    ArtColossalHistoryPhotographySocial Issues

    Colossal

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    As we look back at the hundreds of remarkable initiatives, artworks, discoveries, and events we’ve chronicled throughout 2024, we’re continually awed by the creative work we’re able to write about everyday. It’s a privilege to be able to share so much creativity with you, and we thought we’d compile a list of our favorites.

    Below, you’ll find eight picks—two from each of us—that showcase just a few of the remarkable projects we published over the past twelve months. Many of these articles impart deeper context, delve into personal experiences through interviews, and highlight important stories that may have flown under the radar.

    You might also enjoy our readers’ choice top articles of the year and Colossal’s favorite books of 2024. Happy reading!

    —Christopher, Grace, Kate, and Jackie

    Image © Irina Werning

    Jackie’s Pick: In ‘Las Pelilargas,’ Irina Werning Celebrates the Impeccably Long Hair of Latin American Women and Girls

    For the last 17 years, Irina Werning has traveled throughout Latin America photographing women and girls for her ongoing series, Las Pelilargas, or The Longhairs. Shot in color and black and white, the portraits document a distinct cultural practice through an incredibly alluring, even surreal lens.

    L.V. Hull at her home in Kosciusko, Mississippi, in 2002. Photo by Bruce West. Image courtesy of the L.V. Hull Legacy Center

    Grace’s Pick: The Home Studio of the Late Artist L.V. Hull Is Added to the National Register of Historic Places

    Kosciusko is a small town in the center of Mississippi with just under 7,000 residents. Known as the birthplace of Oprah Winfrey, Kosciusko was also home to the late artist L.V. Hull (1942–2008) who devoted her life to painting and assembling found objects.

    Ellie Hannon works on one of her paintings on the aft deck during sunset on the Timor Sea around Ashmore Reef. Images © Schmidt Ocean Institute

    Kate’s Pick: Art and Science Set Sail in Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Artist-at-Sea Program

    “There are many ways to tell a story or to document and share research and discoveries,” says artist Ellie Hannon, one of 54 artists who have embarked on a unique residency organized by the Schmidt Ocean Institute. From slip-cast porcelain and painting to 3D printing and virtual reality, the storytelling possibilities are endless in the Artist-at-Sea program, which invites artists to work alongside scientists on weeks-long expeditions into some of the least-explored areas of our oceans. More