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      Nails Puncture Inscrutable Characters Carved in Wood by Artist Jaime Molina

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      Art
      #nails
      #sculpture
      #woodFebruary 1, 2022Grace EbertAll images © Jaime Molina, courtesy of Paradigm Gallery, shared with permissionMysterious and enigmatic, the wooden figures that occupy Jaime Molina’s imagined world appear to be in perpetual states of meditation or slumber. The Denver-based artist (previously) sculpts small characters atop angular bodies and large heads that split open to reveal inner objects like a cactus, honeybee, or small, worn house. Many are then pierced with nails of various sizes and ages that frame their faces with blankets of spikes.Molina adorns each figure with closed eyes, a serene, solemn appearance, and striped clothing of ambiguous shapes, and he sees the variety of textures and dimensions as part of their unique narratives. “To me, (facial expressions) are like syllables of a word or a unique note in a song,” he says. “These ideas of isolated language and invented slang are portrayed through the figure’s expressions and the patterns in their hair and bodies. These patterns are like an imaginary quilt made up of their histories and memories.”His sculptures broadly evoke folk and outsider art traditions, particularly in their use of found materials—a partial logo remains visible on a bench for one character, rusted and bent nails are mixed with newer fasteners, and a gnarled hunk of wood becomes a stage—and he shares that he gravitates toward pieces “made purely for the sake of creating.” The artist explains:My great uncle used to make a lot of different things when I was younger. He’d paint on old pieces of wood or old saws and even carve things out of wood. They were all over his house and some at my grandmother’s house, and I used to love seeing them. I guess it made an impression on me that you could just make art with what you had around you. You didn’t need to go to school or wait for an opportunity. You could just make things when you had the urge.To explore more of Molina’s work, which spans murals, large public pieces, and other sculptural creations, head to his site and Instagram.
      #nails
      #sculpture
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      A Serpentine Rattlesnake Wraps Around a Metaphorical Wood and Book Sculpture by Maskull Lasserre

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      Art
      #books
      #sculpture
      #snakes
      #woodJanuary 7, 2022Grace EbertAll images © Maskull LasserreIn a towering, totem-style sculpture titled “The Garden,” Canadian artist Maskull Lasserre (previously) compresses a collection of 18th-century botanical texts between two parallel planks of Douglas Fir. Metal vices bore through the wooden beams, securing the first four volumes of William Withering’s An Arrangement of British Plants, although both the natural and manufactured components are eroded with Lasserre’s intricately carved snake that winds around the perimeter and appears to bind the individual components together. “The Garden” is one of the artist’s most recent works that metaphorically and physically considers the concept of tension, and you can see more in his portfolio.
      #books
      #sculpture
      #snakes
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      Hyperrealistic Ceramic Sculptures by Christopher David White Mimic the Splintered Texture of Decaying Wood

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      Art
      #ceramics
      #hyperrealism
      #sculpture
      #trompe l’oeil
      #woodDecember 16, 2021Grace Ebert“Carbon Footprint.” All images © Christopher David White, shared with permissionIn his Richmond studio, artist Christopher David White (previously) practices an alchemy of materials as he transforms slabs of clay into deceptive sculptures and functional objects that appear carved from hunks of decaying wood. His trompe l’oeil ceramics are fragile depictions of the hardy material, complete with its gnarled knots and splintered edges in various states of decomposition.To achieve such a hyperrealistic finish, each piece undergoes multiple rounds of detailing—head to Instagram for a glimpse behind-the-scenes—which White starts by shaping the initial form with knots and branches and imprinting large grooves for the grain. After the work dries slightly, dental instruments, wire brushes, and Xacto knives aid in crafting the more intricate components, and the slightly dehydrated material lends itself to natural cracks and divots that enhance the woody texture. Once fired, the artist paints each sculpture with a largely neutral palette of acrylics.White continues to explore humans’ relationship to the environment in both his figures and smaller works, although he’s recently shifted to more overt considerations of the topic. “I seek to highlight humanity’s abuse and disregard for nature along with the contradictions in our actions,” he says. “Humans have a tendency to acknowledge the beauty, fragility, and uniqueness of nature while simultaneously viewing it as a resource to be endlessly exploited, controlled, and discarded.”Shop prints in White’s shop, and keep an eye on his Instagram and site for updates on new batches of mugs, planters, and other works.“Paint It Red”“Pushing Up Daisies”“Weathered Heart”“Not 2B”“Coral mug”“Small planters”“Teapot set”
      #ceramics
      #hyperrealism
      #sculpture
      #trompe l’oeil
      #woodDo stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now! Share this story  More

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      In ‘Boogey Men,’ Monumental New Works by Hugh Hayden Reflect on American Culture and Politics

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      Art
      #cars
      #copper
      #furniture
      #sculpture
      #skeleton
      #trees
      #woodDecember 9, 2021Grace EbertAl images courtesy of ICA Miami, by Zachary Balber, shared with permissionAn exhibition now on view at ICA Miami samples the recurring themes and motifs that are central to artist Hugh Hayden’s body of work: twisting flames spout from a wooden Adirondack chair and spindly twigs envelop a massive skeleton carved from bald Cyprus trees, two works that evoke the Dallas native’s barbed furniture and embedded branch designs. In a suspended installation comprised of metallic instruments and pots, faces mimicking traditional African masks emerge from copper cookware similar to the cast iron skillets he presented last year.The metaphorical new pieces comprise Boogey Men, Hayden’s solo show that responds to myriad social dynamics, cultural issues, and an increasingly tense political environment through imposing, anthropomorphic forms and more subtle works. At the center of the exhibition space is a hammered stainless steel car disguised by a sheet painted in white. Both cartoonish and sinister in its reference to hooded Klansmen, the titular sculpture is an effective indictment of police brutality. Hayden gives attention to the origins of facets of American culture in the pieces that surround that central work, alluding to jazz and culinary traditions.Boogey Men is on view in Miami through April 17, 2022, before it travels to the Blaffer Art Museum for a stay from June 11 to August 21. You can find more of Hayden’s work and view the process behind many of the pieces shown here on his Instagram.
      #cars
      #copper
      #furniture
      #sculpture
      #skeleton
      #trees
      #woodDo stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now! Share this story  More

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      Carved Organic Patterns Highlight the Natural Wood Grain of Carbonized Mahogany

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      Art

      #carving
      #sculpture
      #wood

      November 22, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “By any other name” (2021), carbonized mahogany, 27 x 2 inches. All images courtesy of TERN Gallery, shared with permission
      In Splinters and Shards, artist John Beadle enriches the beauty of wood’s natural grain with a series of gouged dots, line carvings, and smooth, supple curves. His small, circular sculptures and vertical towers accentuate the texture and subtle gradients of carbonized mahogany through etched patterns that reveal the pristine reddish hue peeking through the charred surface. Always highlighting the potential of the raw material, Beadle, whose background is in painting and printmaking, evokes these mediums through layering dimension and motif in a single work and drawing on the subtraction inherent in carving into a blank woodblock.
      Splinters and Shards is on view at the new TERN Gallery in Beadle’s hometown of Nassau, The Bahamas, from December 11, 2021, to January 22, 2022. Until then, check out the artist’s Instagram for a look at his process.

      “Fruit & Texture one” (2021), carbonized mahogany, 28.5 x 2 inches
      “Artifact II” (2020), carbonized mahogany and metal, 52.25 x 11.875 x 2 inches
      “Fruit & Texture” (2021), carbonized mahogany, 27 x 2 inches
      “Eclipse” (2021), carbonized mahogany, 52.75 x 2 inches
      “Well Rooted” (2020), carbonized mahogany and metal, 69.5 x 7 x 2 inches
      “What’s left behind” (2021), carbonized mahogany, 27 x 2 inches
      “Before the chaos” (2021), carbonized mahogany, 27 x 2 inches

      #carving
      #sculpture
      #wood

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      This Is Not a Gun: An Interview with Cara Levine Explores Collective Trauma, Grief, and the Power of Ritual

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      Art

      #clay
      #social justice
      #wood

      November 16, 2021
      Paulette Beete

      All images © Cara Levine, shared with permission
      In December 2016, Harper’s Magazine published a list of more than 20 objects that had been “mistaken for guns during shootings of civilians by police in the United States since 2001.” Artist Cara Levine found herself stunned then grief-stricken by the items, prompting her to launch the multi-faceted This Is Not a Gun project, which she discusses in the latest interview supported by Colossal Members.
      I needed to slow down and understand what I was looking at because I don’t want to live in a world where someone can be killed eating a sandwich. We are getting this information so fast. I decided first to carve. I thought, “If I can carve a sandwich, somewhere in the process, from block of wood to sandwich I can understand how someone might think this is a gun. If I just spend all the time understanding its form, maybe I’ll understand how it was mistaken as a gun.”
      As Levine explains in her conversation with Colossal contributor Paulette Beete, she wasn’t naïve about gun violence or how often it occurred in Black communities at the hands of police. What she found unfathomable, however, was how these everyday objects could be interpreted as threats. So she turned to her art as a way to understand the seemingly understandable. In this interview,  Levine speaks about how This Is Not A Gun has informed and evolved her practice, her understanding of both individual and collective grief and trauma, and the importance of ritual.

      A This Is Not A Gun workshop

      #clay
      #social justice
      #wood

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      Otherworldly Hybrid Characters by Toco-Oco Consider Human Existence Through Emblems and Myth

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      Art

      #animals
      #clay
      #resin
      #sculpture
      #wax
      #wood

      November 8, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Toco-Oco, shared with permission
      Lara Alcântara and Guilherme Neumann, the duo behind the fantastical figurine maker Toco-Oco, envision an alternate world populated by curious animalistic creatures. Sculpted from a combination of wood, resin, fabric, clay, and wax, the hybrid characters wear garments and masks imprinted with emblems and child-like doodles and express a vast array of emotions that grapple with the strange universe they find themselves in. “It is a world very similar to ours, full of injustices but full of hope,” the pair says in an interview with WePresent. “Our work has reverence for the mystical, natural, and spiritual, trying to rescue this greater connection.”
      Based in Brazil, Alcântara and Neumann root each figure in larger narratives often tied to human existence. One character, for example, lugs an oversized, hollowed-out head filled with kindling on its back, a metaphor for a mind overwhelmed by emotion and worries for the future, while smaller busts function as totems with chest cavities and torsos marked by gaping shapes or mythological symbols. A tension between civility and natural instinct is a prominent feature and references “the wild, raw, ruthless, predatory, insatiable, powerful side which is repressed—or worse, is disguised—by the false idea of ​​consciousness,” they say.
      Toco-Oco’s sculptures sell out quickly, although they have a pre-sale slated for November 15. Follow updates on that new piece and see more of the otherworldly figures on Behance and Instagram.

      #animals
      #clay
      #resin
      #sculpture
      #wax
      #wood

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      Colorful Patterns of Stained Glass Nestle Within Repurposed Sea Defense Timber

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      Art
      Craft

      #glass
      #light
      #sculpture
      #stained glass
      #wood

      October 27, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Louise Durham, shared with permission
      Based in the coastal town of Shoreham-by-Sea, England, artist Louise Durham creates towering wooden sculptures of reclaimed sea defense timber and vibrant stained glass. She embeds stripes and circles in a full spectrum of color within the totem-style works, which when illuminated, cast kaleidoscopic shadows on their surroundings. “It is all about the light,” she says. “That’s the magic of glass and the magic of all living things.”
      In a note to Colossal, Durham explains that she utilizes traditional leaded light techniques, along with fusing and slumping—these involve connecting two pieces together and melting the material in a mold, respectively—to create bisected circles and asymmetric stripes. Shen then arranges the translucent elements in gradients and rainbow-like columns and leaves the rugged edges and knots of the repurposed wood visible. “Even having all the colors of glass laid out in front of me on my cutting table is enough to make me feel good, and I think that’s why the work is so popular. Color makes us feel good,” she shares. “I try not to interfere too much on an intellectual level. The work is definitely not from the head and totally and utterly from my heart.”
      You can find more of Durham’s brilliant sculptures on her site and Instagram. (via Women’s Art)

      #glass
      #light
      #sculpture
      #stained glass
      #wood

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