anatomy

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Art Craft Science

Anatomical Forms Emerge From Zippers, Quilted Fabric, and Felt by Élodie Antoine

Belgian artist Élodie Antoine understands the behavior of fibers, controlling them in ways to produce textile designs that are organic, fungal, and oftentimes anatomical in nature. Her anatomies emerge from taut lycra, dense felt structures, and an impressive number of zippers. The pieces are as much a reflection of the numerous tissue types in the human body as the textiles themselves. 

Antoine shares with Colossal her view on the connection between textiles and anatomy. “Textile is a soft material, very sensual and transformable. Felt especially is very interesting for making sculptures because it allows to make forms without sewing, without suture, like the organs of the human body,” she writes.

From a young age, Antoine remembers a fondness for textiles, saying, “using it was obvious for me as both my parents were very interested in knitting and sewing—it was all around me.” She familiarized herself with classic sewing techniques, mastering them to create contemporary forms that transcend technique and fiber. Particularly interesting are her felt sculptures that take on the form of teeth, lower limbs, bones, and other peculiar organic forms. Antoine uses a kitchen knife to slice through the unassuming masses to reveal vibrant anatomical-like cross-sections.

She currently teaches textile design at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Brussels (ARBA-ESA) and is represented by Aeroplastics Gallery. Keep an eye on Antoine’s latest textile endeavors, including watching her cut through her felt sculptures, on Instagram.

 

Craft

Delicate Embroideries Feature Anatomically Accurate Lungs, Brain, and Facial Vessels

The key to a healthy heart is a diet full of fiber, and Emmi Khan is ensuring her heart—and lungs and brain—don’t miss out. The Cardiff-based artist embroiders anatomically accurate organs and systems, from a multicolored double helix to a profile view of facial vessels. The artist often weaves in floral and natural elements, bolstering the connection between beauty, anatomy, and the environment.

Khan tells Colossal she began the craft while studying biomedical sciences and has continued creating throughout her graduate study in medicine. The further she delves into her education, the more precise her brightly colored stitches become. The artist says allowing science and art to converge is natural, and she compares the two as “different approaches towards observing, processing and presenting the world around us.”

Science looks to understand the world in an objective and empirical manner, often stumbling upon beauty along the way, and presents it intellectually. Art takes the world and lets the human imagination run wild with it, presenting a product of feeling and often beauty with this. I wouldn’t say they are one and the same thing, but they do go hand in hand with respect to the goals they set out to achieve.

Check out Khan’s Instagram and Etsy shop to see more of her biologically focused embroideries, including one piece that even outlines the telomere effect.

Design Illustration

Multi-Part Graphics Reveal the Inner Workings of Systems in Vintage-Inspired Designs by Raymond Biesinger

Raymond Biesinger takes complex systems—economics, feline anatomy, computer programming—and breaks them down into visually captivating designs. Using design elements and color palettes inspired by mid-century aesthetics, Biesinger’s finished works combine the arts of illustration and infographics. Many of his designs were original editorial commissions for articles in publications including The New Yorker, GQ, and Fast Company, but the Canadian illustrator now makes these pieces available as archival prints on Etsy. Keep up with Biesinger’s latest projects on Instagram. (via Colossal Submissions)

Art

Human Anatomy and Oozing Black Glazes Cover Ceramics by Canopic Studio

Los Angeles-based ceramic artist Curran Wedner of Canopic Studio creates sculptures and tableware inspired by nature and the human body. Disembodied fingers, toes, and faces wrap around the outside of glazed porcelain cups and bowls to form unique and functional works of art.

After studying Illustration at ArtCenter College of Design in California, Wedner spent nine years fabricating art for other artists. He opened Canopic Studio in 2017 and decided to focus on ceramics as his full-time practice. “Clay has always been a friendly medium to me since I have worked with it my whole life,”the artist tells Colossal. Detailing his process, Wedner says that each sculpture begins with throwing and trimming on a wheel. He then makes castings and applies them to the leather-hard clay before bisque firing the work. Each sculpture is then glazed and fired a second time. “From start to finish this process takes weeks,” the artist says. “Each individual piece has at least a dozen hours in it before it’s up for sale.”

Wedner credits his drawing and painting experience for informing his sculptural compositions and his focus on human anatomy. He also cites life cycles in nature and ancient history as influences, namely the bog bodies of northwest Europe and Bell-Beaker culture.

Wedner’s unusual creations will be exhibited for the first time as a part of the upcoming Blood & Fire II show at The Raven & The Wolves gallery in Long Beach, CA. Those hoping to take home one of the pieces should check out the Canopic Studio Etsy shop and fans of ceramics can follow @canopicstudio on Instagram.

 

Art

Crystal Hearts and Translucent Tongues Shaped Into Sculptural Works by Debra Baxter

Santa Fe-based sculptor and jewelry designer Debra Baxter combines glass, bronze, crystal, wood, and found objects to create ghostly sculptures of human forms. In one piece titled “Cross My Heart” (2019), a purple heart sits on top of a rough cluster of geodes, while in ‘First Taste” (2017), a glass tongue protrudes from a slab of quartz crystal.

For many of her recent works Baxter, shares with Roq Larue Gallery that she drew inspiration from the phenomenon of the “Ghost Heart.” In this medical procedure, a heart is cleansed of all of its blood cells and then injected with hundreds of millions of new blood steam cells which cause the heart to begin beating again. Baxter is interested in how this concept explores the complexity of existence, walking the line between life and death.  You can see more of her sculpted hearts and wearable artworks on her website and Instagram.

Craft Illustration

Highways and Rivers Form Capillaries on Anatomical Paper Organs by Katrin Rodegast

Illustrator and paper artist Katrin Rodegast fused human anatomy and city maps in her editorial work for Globe, the magazine of ETH Zurich, a Swiss science, technology, engineering and mathematics university. Rodegast rolled, coiled, cut, and scored colorful maps to form a heart, brain, lungs, spine, and knee joint. Curving highways and waterways seem to mimic the intricate network of capillaries that surround our organs, while also highlighting the innovation that arises from different systems and organizations working together.

The anatomical creations were made to showcase “Zurich Heart,” a flagship project involving nearly 20 research groups, which aims to develop a fully implantable artificial heart. Rodegast works with a wide variety of brands with a focus on magazine covers and editorials, often in the realm of health and science. You can see more of the Berlin-based artist’s paper illustrations on Instagram and Behance.

Craft

Venus Fly Traps, Lotus Flowers, and Mushrooms Are Ovaries in Sarah Leonard’s Reproductive Embroideries

Manchester-based artist Sarah Leonard reimagines female reproductive systems with shimmering sequins and sparkling beadwork. Her embroidery pieces, which she creates under the name Atypical Stitch, are formed on hoops holding bamboo viscose, and they incorporate embellishments and visual puns including moon cycles, venus fly traps, and hourglasses. Leonard shares with Colossal:

Many of my followers and customers find the uterus designs empowering, particularly in a time where female reproductive rights and healthcare are under threat. However, I also try to create pieces which comment on the negative connotations of the uterus symbol—for example the overwhelming pressure that many women feel as a result of society’s expectation for women to be mothers.

The artist began her embroidery practice during the final year of her PhD program as a well-being activity that helped her relax and turn her focus away from her studies. Leonard’ works full-time as a research associate in the field of forensic psychiatry, but she continues to make time for her creative practice. Leonard shares her work on Instagram, where you can also contact her for commissions. In addition to her anatomically-themed pieces, Leonard also recently started “Atypical Kids” for wall decor and wearable designs that appeal to children. (via Juxtapoz)