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Kita imbues seemingly mundane tasks with consequence and emotion, freezing them in time.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Emotions Manifest as Uncanny Scenarios in Ayako Kita’s Tender Sculptures appeared first on Colossal. More
“My boundaries” (2021), Japanese cypress and acrylic resin, 16.5 x 30 x 12 centimeters. All images courtesy of the artist and FUMA Contemporary Tokyo | BUNKYO ART, shared with permission
Emotions Manifest as Uncanny Scenarios in Ayako Kita’s Tender Sculptures
November 24, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
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Combining hand-carved Japanese cypress with crystal-clear acrylic resin, Ayako Kita sculpts tender, emotive figures. For her current exhibition, The End of the Day Begins at FUMA Contemporary Tokyo, she focuses on the transitional moment of returning home, in which seemingly mundane tasks like switching on a light or opening a curtain are imbued with consequence, frozen in time.
Kita’s work emphasizes an often introspective world, where a young woman or girl’s consciousness, emotions, and anxieties manifest in uncanny scenarios. The titles usually offer important clues, too. In “me & me,” for example, an extra pair of legs is literally tethered to the character’s own limbs, as if another half-formed parallel version of her person is always present. And change is in the air in “Premonition,” where a slightly apprehensive expression is accompanied by a gust of wind.
“Premonition” (2022), Japanese cypress and acrylic resin, 29 x 17 x 11 centimeters
In her most recent work, the figures exhibit expressions of curiosity, thoughtfulness, and faint concern, gazing directly at the viewer, as if seeing us unexpectedly across a room or out a window. “When I began to think about creating a world in which all the pieces would connect as one continuous story, this series naturally came to mind,” Kita says in a statement.
The End of the Day Begins includes works the artist has made throughout the past five years. Her newest pieces combine figures with furnishings and architectural elements, a theme she first explored when she was a student. “Rather than a return to my origins, this production became a time to reaffirm that these scenes still exist vividly within me,” she says.
The End of the Day Begins continues through November 29 in Tokyo. Follow Kita on Instagram for updates. You might also enjoy the multifaceted woodcarvings of Yoshitoshi Kenamaki.
“me & me” (2020), Japanese cypress and acrylic resin, 30 x 22.5 x 15 centimeters
“Night Falls” (2025), Japanese cypress and acrylic resin, 55 x 21.5 x 18.5 centimeters
“Let go of everything” (2024), Japanese cypress and acrylic resin, 33.5 x 20.5 x 14 centimeters
“Causality” (2021), Japanese cypress and acrylic resin, 30 x 30 x 15 centimeters
“Shut Down” (2025), Japanese cypress and acrylic resin, 51 x 30 x 21 centimeters
“Today Ends Here” (2025), Japanese cypress and acrylic resin, 47 x 32 x 26.5 centimters
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All images courtesy of Arghavan Khosravi, shared with permission
Radiant Sculptures by Arghavan Khosravi Meditate on Subconscious Terrain
November 14, 2025
Art
Grace Ebert
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Known for addressing issues of censorship and inequality, Iranian artist Arghavan Khosravi (previously) has long utilized her bold, fragmented works to confront large-scale problems relevant around the world. Her alluring color palettes and delicate motifs catch the eye and are paired with distinct symbols of tension: a chain lock, cords binding body parts, and roiling flames.
While her concerns are global, Khosravi has always considered her practice somewhat of a balm that helps her cope with trying times. And so the inward turn of her latest body of work perhaps ventures farther into this territory as she allows herself to delve deep into a personal and collective subconscious.
The past year has engendered a period of introspection, which the artist translates into a collection of smaller, altar-esque pieces. She refers to them as “intimate constructions where interior space carries its own symbolism. It’s been a way to move inward for a moment, allowing ideas to surface without a predetermined destination.”
Both the subconscious and symbolic have long figured prominently in her work, and recent pieces are similar. Many layer seemingly disparate components into surreal scenes, with recurring imagery of long, flowing hair, bright orbs of light, birds, and patterns from historic Persian architecture and design. Whereas earlier works frequently incorporated windows, doorways, and other portal-like structures, Khosravi’s newer pieces peer outward from inside, inviting the viewer into a new realm.
The artist is in the early stages of preparing for an upcoming solo show at Uffner & Liu in New York next year. Until then, follow her practice on Instagram.
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“Naan” (2023), wood beads, acrylic paint, transparent epoxy resin on wood panel, 60 × 60 inches. All images courtesy of the artist, GAVLAK, West Palm Beach and Blouin Division, Montreal, shared with permission
Vibrant Beaded Compositions by Renée Condo Convey the Mi’gmaq Spirit of Empathy
October 30, 2025
Art
Grace Ebert
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Throughout her practice, Renée Condo draws on the philosophical tenets of her Mi’gmaq ancestry. The Montreal-based artist works with wooden beads that she sands, paints in bold acrylic, and nests into energetic compositions depicting juicy fruits, raindrops, and brilliant, golden suns.
Condo is interested in mntu, or spirit, and what she refers to as heart knowledge, acts that emerge from empathy and love. Through sculptural pieces that emphasize interconnection and flow, the artist draws on Indigenous creation stories and myths, considering her beadwork a reimagining of various traditions.
“Giju’” (2024), wood beads, acrylic paint, epoxy on wood panel, 72 × 60 inches
Condo often engages the relationship between the component and composition, emphasizing the ways in which a singular piece would appear abstract without a broader context. “The bead as fundamental entity, as infinite potentiality, can appear as divided, as unit, as part,” she says, “but is at once whole and all-encompassing, holding secrets of the world and to the nature of reality.”
This fall, Condo will have work on view at GAVLAK, where she’s represented. You can find more of her practice on Instagram.
“Newt” (2023), wood beads, acrylic paint, transparent epoxy resin on wood panel, 60 × 60 inches
“Welgwija’latl V” (2023), wood beads, acrylic paint, epoxy on wood panel, 44 × 44 inches
Detail of “Gesiangam’tg 2” (2025), wood beads, acrylic paint, epoxy on wood panel, 60 x 25 inches
“Gesiangam’tg 3” (2025), wood beads, acrylic paint, epoxy on wood panel, 60 x 25 inches
“Pgumane’get / Go to get (pick) Blueberries” (2022), wood beads, acrylic paint, transparent epoxy resin on wood panel, 60 × 60 × 2 inches
“Ne’talqigwat: Between Worldviews (a,b)” (2024), wood beads, acrylic paint, epoxy on wood panel, 72 x 60 inches each
A studio view of “Ne’talqigwat: Between Worldviews (a,b)” (2024), wood beads, acrylic paint, epoxy on wood panel, 72 x 60 inches each
“Untitled” (2025), wood panel, wood beads, acrylic paint, resin, 72 x 48 inches each
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Ikuo Inada, “Some things aren’t ‘whatever’” (2025), camphor wood, 58 x 18.5 x 18 centimeters. All images courtesy of the artists and FUMA Contemporary Tokyo, shared with permission
A Japanese Exhibition Places Contemporary Woodcarving Within the Continuum of Art History
October 22, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
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Japan is an island nation rich in timber, from cypress (Hinoki) to cedar (Sugi) to larch (Karamatsu). Its renowned woodworking heritage dates back centuries, taking the form of immaculately carved wooden beams in houses, ornate storage boxes, and revered religious statuary. For some artists working today, this timeless tradition translates perfectly into contemporary expressions.
Hand-hewn from timber, expressive faces and dynamic motifs emerge in the sculptures of Kigaku – Re(a)lize – at FUMA Contemporary Tokyo. Colossal readers may be familiar with the work of Ikuo Inada and Yoshitoshi Kanemaki, and the show also includes recent pieces by Kosuke Ikeshima, Ayako Kita, Yuta Nakazato, and Ryo Matsumoto.
Ayako Kita, “Let Go of Everything” (2024), Japanese cypress and acrylic resin, 33.5 x 20.5 x 14 centimeters
Inada’s recognizable figurative sculptures, for example, feature sleepy people, their faces often obscured by sweatshirts or blankets, as if they are wandering back to bed after a midnight snack. Kanemaki’s characteristically glitchy portraits reveal numerous faces belonging to one personality, and Kita’s bold pieces combine carved wood with clear resin, creating an optical element with dresses one can see right through.
The exhibition furthers a project initiated in 2018 called Kigaku – XYLOLOGY, which highlighted the technique of wood carving and aimed to shine a light on contemporary artists working with the medium. Kigaku – Re(a)lize – is a continuation of this mission, showcasing the work of six Japanese artists creating today.
Alongside pieces made within the past few years, Kigaku – Re(a)lize – includes examples of carved sacred sculptures from the Early Edo period (1603-1690) and the Heian period (794-1185). The exhibition continues through November 1. Find more on the gallery’s website.
Yoshitoshi Kanemaki, “Tiny Caprice” (2025), painted Japanese boxwood, 13.2 x 4.5 x 4.5 centimeters
Kosuke Ikeshima, “Vanitas” (2025), camphor wood, 29 x 27 x 11.5 centimeters
Ayako Kita, two views of “Public Self” (2023), Japanese cypress and acrylic resin, 33.5 x 20 x 16 centimeters
Yuta Nakazato, “Princess’s Whereabouts” (2025), Japanese cypress, 37 x 35 x 60 centimeters
Ryo Matsumoto, “kyojitsuhiniku, offering, broken skull-shinenshisou, kyojitsuhiniku, offering, mask” (2025), maple and camphor wood, 19 x 15 x 22 centimeters and 16 x 13 x 5 centimeters
Ikuo Inada, “Some things aren’t ‘whatever’” (2025), camphor wood, 58 x 18.5 x 18 centimeters
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Detail of ‘Untitled Project: Robert Smithson Library & Book Club’ installed at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, 2014. All images courtesy of Conrad Bakker, shared with permission
Conrad Bakker Recreated All 1,100+ Books in Pioneering Land Artist Robert Smithson’s Personal Library
October 16, 2025
Art
Grace Ebert
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An autodidact and polymath, Robert Smithson cemented himself as one of the pre-eminent land artists in his short lifetime. Along with his fellow artist and wife Nancy Holt, Smithson pioneered a new way of working that explored connections to the landscape and place and endlessly probed the formation of knowledge.
When he died in a plane crash in 1973 at just 35 years old, he left behind a vast personal library that represented his broad interests: there were books on crystals and rock minerals, dinosaurs and insects, myths and children’s rhymes, and classics like James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake and Jorge Luis Borges’ Ficciones. Holt donated the entirety of Smithson’s collection— approximately 1,120 books—to the Archives of American Art after his death, where it’s still housed today.
‘Untitled Project: Robert Smithson Library & Book Club’ member Pep Fernàndez, holding his book in Barcelona, Spain
There’s also, though, another way to peek into the narratives and materials that shaped Smithson’s thinking and practice. In 2019, Conrad Bakker completed a five-year-long project of recreating every title in that original collection on a 1:1 scale. Presented in museums and galleries from Utah to Arkansas to New York, “Untitled Project: Robert Smithson Library & Book Club” is both a painstaking ode to the pioneering artist and a bold consideration of how we access and consume information.
“I can’t really remember my first encounter with Robert Smithson, but I’ve always been a fan of his artwork and, in particular, the way he oriented his sculptures to coexist inside the physical space of a gallery and outside in the landscape,” Bakker says. He first encountered the artist’s library through Ann Reynolds’ Robert Smithson: Learning from New Jersey and Elsewhere, which provided a comprehensive catalog of each title and edition in the collection.
“I was captivated by this wonderful list of books and curious about the diversity of his research subjects, the intensity of his self-education through books,” Bakker says, adding that the library also serves as a “time capsule of artistic research of the 1960s. I imagined this collection of books as an extension of Robert Smithson’s mind, his curiosity, and thinking.”
This prompted one component of Bakker’s ongoing Untitled Projects, a practice of recreating everyday objects like chocolate bars or VHS tapes to explore facets of economic systems, production, and consumption. Using images from online booksellers, he carved and painted wooden replicas of each edition.
Detail of ‘Untitled Project: Robert Smithson Library & Book Club’ installed in the exhibition ‘Extra Taste at International Objects,’ NYC, 2024
Displayed in cardboard-like boxes and stacked on the floor, Bakker’s collection has taken many forms, from room-sized installations to a full-scale bookstore in the storefront of the Famous Hardware building in Springdale, Arkansas. While the library remains intact in his studio, the “Book Club” also allowed collectors to purchase a second sculpture for a time. He created about 350 additional works for this element of the project.
The library is just one part of Bakker’s interest in books as objects, which includes a used paperback sale and an archive of self-help titles from the 1970s. For the artist, these objects offer numerous lines of inquiry from “books as historical records of culture and personal memories, books ascommodities, bookstores as public spaces, books as (outdated) technology, and books as portable containers of information, instructions, and ideas,” he writes.
Bakker is currently working on several projects, including a full-scale copy shop (think 1980s-era Kinko’s) for The Weather Station in Lafayette, Indiana. In early 2026, he’ll also show a piece connecting capitalism and climate change at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. The library is likely headed to Stockholm in the coming months, but keep an eye on the project’s Instagram for more.
You might also enjoy Bernie Kaminski’s papier-mâché objects and Matt Stevens’ Good Movies as Old Books.
Detail of ‘Untitled Project: Robert Smithson Library & Book Club’ installed in the exhibition ‘Extra Taste at International Objects,’ NYC, 2024
Installation view of ‘Untitled Project: Smithson’s Books’ installed in the storefront windows of the Famous Hardware building in Springdale, Arkansas, 2021
‘Untitled Project: Robert Smithson Library & Book Club’ member Ruth Lopez holding her book
Detail of ‘Untitled Project: Robert Smithson Library & Book Club’ installed at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, 2014
Detail of ‘Untitled Project: Robert Smithson Library & Book Club’ installed in the exhibition ‘Extra Taste at International Objects,’ NYC, 2024
Installation view of ‘Untitled Project: Robert Smithson Library & Book Club’ installed in the exhibition ‘Extra Taste at International Objects,’ NYC, 2024
Conrad Bakker inside ‘R. Smithson Books.’ Photo by Meredith Mashburn Photography
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“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
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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”
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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
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“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
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Detail of “Breathing Caprice A,” paint on Torreya, 135 x 75 x 55 centimeters. All images courtesy of the artist and FUMA Contemporary Tokyo, shared with permission
Yoshitoshi Kanemaki’s Sculptures Sport Kaleidoscopic Expressions in Their Search for a ‘True Self’
September 2, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
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Yoshitoshi Kanemaki is no stranger to human emotions, imbuing his playful sculptures with not one but several expressions all at once. The Tokyo-based artist is known for his “glitched” sculptures carved from single pieces of timber, and in his ongoing current series Prism, he continues to explore the nature of distortion, reflection, and self-consciousness.
Insight Prism, the artist’s solo exhibition opening at FUMA Contemporary this month, combines two concepts the artist dovetails in his chiseled-wood compositions.
“Insight Prism,” paint on Japanese nutmeg and katsura, 170 x 72 x 67 centimeters
“The word ‘insight’ carries the meaning of seeing into the essence of things with clarity, while ‘prism’ metaphorically refers to elucidating what is complex,” Kanemaki says. Through a fragmented triangular motif, he highlights warped features that refract, separate, and reassemble—much like the ever-evolving nature of human consciousness and social interactions.
Insight Prism marks the artist’s first solo exhibition in two years, presenting the largest sculpture he’s yet created in the Prism series—the namesake of the show. Kanemaki delves into the multiple roles we all play in our daily lives, switching between different versions of ourselves to contend with different situations or environments. He says:
While such shifts can be seen as a necessary social manner to keep life running smoothly, there are times when we lose the vision of our “true self.”… The idea for my new sculptures began with the question: What might the form of searching for one’s “true self” look like?
Insight Prism opens on September 12 and continues through September 27 in Tokyo. Find more on the artist’s Instagram.
“Breathing Caprice A,” paint on Torreya, 135 x 75 x 55 centimeters
Detail of “Insight Prism”
“Reflection Prism,” paint on Torreya, 170 x 53 x 51 centimeters
Detail of “Reflection Prism”
“Ulala Caprice 3rd,” paint on Japanese nutmeg and camphor wood, 100 x 34 x 34 centimeters
Detail of “Ulala Caprice 3rd”
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