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Art

Peaceful Portraits Shaped from Bunched and Layered Netting by Benjamin Shine

For his “flow” series, artist and designer Benjamin Shine crafts portraits of serene faces using lightweight tulle fabric. The fine netted material allows for dramatic differences in opacity depending on how densely it is is bunched or layered. In his artist statement, Shine explains that his work “centers on ideas of energy, impermanence and the relationship between the spiritual and the superficial.” With his most recent sculpture, “Quietude”, Shine scaled up his signature portraits and built an outdoor sculpture that measures over eight feet tall. The fuchsia-toned sculpture was made an 80 by 20 foot piece of recycled high density polyethylene shaped around a steel frame, and its color shifts as natural light changes throughout the day. Take a peek inside Shine’s studio in the video interview below, and see more of his work on Instagram.

Design

Hypnotic New Garments by Iris van Herpen Blur the Boundaries of Art, Science, and Fashion

Like many of her haute couture peers, fashion designer Iris van Herpen (previously) selects a theme that inspires and unites the designs in each of her collections. Van Herpen, who has interdisciplinary interests in fine art and science, is particularly known for her wide-reaching collaborations. For her latest body of work, titled ‘Hypnosis,’ the Dutch designer partnered with Anthony Howe (previously), an American sculptor who specializes in large-scale kinetic works.

The resulting collection is centered around Howe’s Omniverse sculpture. With rotating circles of varying sizes spiraling out from a central arc, Omniverse “explores our relationship with nature and intertwines with infinite expansion and contraction, expressing a universal life cycle,” according to a statement on van Herpen’s website. The designer used feathers, silk, aluminum, stainless steel, organza, ball bearings, and satin in labor-intensive processes to form the ethereal dresses worn by runway models who passed through and around Howe’e sculpture.

“The ‘Hypnosis’ collection is a hypnotic visualization of nature’s tapestry, the symbiotic cycles of our biosphere that interweave the air, land, and oceans. It also reflects the ongoing dissection of the rhythms of life and resonates with the fragility within these interwoven worlds” van Herpen explains.

You can read more about the intricate techniques used to create the garments—including one developed in collaboration with Canada-based Professor of Architecture Philip Beesley—on the designer’s website. Van Herpen also released a behind-the-scenes short documentary that takes viewers inside her atelier, which is embedded below. Explore more of van Herpen’s mesmerizing creations on Instagram. (via Hi-Fructose)

 

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A post shared by Iris van Herpen Official (@irisvanherpen) on Jul 7, 2019 at 5:25am PDT

Art

Layers of Crocheted Fabric Drape Across a Large-Scale Inflatable Installation Inside of Paris’s Le Bon Marché

“Simone” (2019), Handmade woolen crochet, fabrics, ornaments, LED, polyester, inflatable, fans, microcontrollers, power supply unit, steel cables. Image: Gabriel de la Chapelle/Courtesy Le Bon Marché

Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos (previously) recently installed a large site-specific inflatable installation covered with crocheted fabric and embellishments inside of Paris’ oldest department store, Le Bon Marché. The suspended two-part work, titled “Simone,” is the latest in the artist’s Valkyries series, and takes inspiration from the female figures in Norse mythology.

Named for French human rights activists Simone du Beauvoir and Simone Weil, the large piece features two orb-like structures that loom over visitors along the store’s perimeter, and is connected by tentacles that weave around the building’s iconic escalators. The inflatable is dressed in fabric with handmade crocheted details that dangle from its limbs to give it the appearance of an alien chandelier. Color-changing LEDs are also embedded throughout the work and pulse rhythmically, which gives the strange being the entrancing power of a bioluminescent deep sea organism.

Vasconcelos tells Colossal that like the winged-horse riders, the works in her Valkyries series “are both warrior and protective creatures, in the way they attack and contaminate yet adapt and engage with the spaces they inhabit.” To see more of the artist’s work, follow her on Instagram and Facebook.

Luís Vasconcelos/Courtesy Unidade Infinita Projectos

Luís Vasconcelos/Courtesy Unidade Infinita Projectos

Luís Vasconcelos/Courtesy Unidade Infinita Projectos

Gabriel de la Chapelle/Courtesy Le Bon Marché

Gabriel de la Chapelle/Courtesy Le Bon Marché

Gabriel de la Chapelle/Courtesy Le Bon Marché

Gabriel de la Chapelle/Courtesy Le Bon Marché

Art Craft

Colorful Quilts by Bisa Butler use African Fabrics to Form Nuanced Portraits

“Three Kings”, detail

Artist Bisa Butler draws from an array of vibrant patterned fabrics to create portraits of everyday people. She eschews representational colors, favoring layered jewel-toned hues to form the skin of her Black subjects, and often groups figures together into strong silhouettes.

“I have always been drawn to portraits,” Butler explains in a statement on her gallery’s website. “I was the little girl who would sit next to my grandmother and ask her to go through her old family photo albums. I was the one who wanted to hear the story behind every picture. This inquisitiveness has stayed with me to this day. I often start my pieces with a black and white photo and allow myself to tell the story.”

Butler studied fine art at Howard University. In a video interview by BRIC TV, the artist explains that she began using fabric in her paintings in college, and then converted to quilting as a way to continue her dedicated art practice while protecting her young daughter from toxic materials and fumes.

The artist was born in Orange, New Jersey, and now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She is represented by Claire Oliver Gallery. You can see more from Butler on Instagram. (via #WOMENSART)

“Three Kings” (2018), quilted and appliquéd cotton, wool and chiffon, 95 x 72 in / 241.3 x 182.9 cm

“The Mighty Gents” (2018), quilted and appliquéd cotton, wool and chiffon, 67 x 78 in / 170.2 x 198.1 cm

“The Mighty Gents”, detail

“The Mighty Gents”, detail

“Anaya with Oranges”

“The Safety Patrol” (2018), quilted and appliquéd cotton, wool and chiffon, 90 x 82 in / 228.6 x 208.3 cm

“The Safety Patrol”, detail

L: “The Unconquerable Lyric” R: “I Want To Smell The Flowers”

“Black Star Family, first class tickets to Liberia” (2018), cotton, silk chiffon, satin, silk and lace, 79 x 85 in / 200.7 x 215.9 cm

Art Photography

Camouflaged Self-Portraits Conceal Photographer Cecilia Paredes Against Bright Floral Patterns

“Both Worlds” (2009), all images provided by Cecilia Paredes

Peruvian artist Cecilia Paredes is the subject of her own richly patterned photographs, yet her figure is often difficult to locate at first. For each portrait she hangs boldly printed fabrics as the backdrop, which she then matches either with her painted skin, custom clothing, or both. Her torso, arms, and face fade into the background, as the curvature of her body and brown hair become some of the only indicators of her presence.

“I wrap, cover, or paint my body with the same pattern of the material and re-present myself as part of that landscape,” she explains. “Through this act, I am working on the theme of building my own identification with the entourage or part of the world where I live or where I feel I can call home. My bio has been described as nomadic so maybe this is also a need of addressing the process of constant relocation.”

Paredes was born in Lima, Peru and currently works between Philadelphia, Lima, and Costa Rica. Currently she has a solo exhibition at Museum of Latin America Art (MOLAA) in Los Angeles through December 30, 2018, and will open another solo exhibition at the Museum of the University of Navarra (MUN) in Spain on March 27, 2019. (via LensCulture)

‘Dreaming Rose”

“Mia Standing with Butterflies” (2015)

‘Paradise Hands” (2011)

“En tus alas” (2014)

“Lilly” (2014)

“Nocturne” (2009)

“Art Nouveau” (2011)

“Blue Landscape” (2007)

Art Craft History

A Peculiar Character From a Hieronymus Bosch Painting Comes to Life on the New York City Subway

Artist Rae Swon recently brought a fantastical creature from The Temptation of St. Anthony to life on the New York City subway. The triptych painting created by Hieronymus Bosch in the early 16th century includes a small, peculiar figure on the left-hand triptych (detail below). The character has bird-like facial features, and appears to be wearing wooden ice skates and a funnel as a hat. After creating the modern-day costume using needle felting and other found materials, Swon took her character for a subway ride through Manhattan. Although this particular costume is sold out, you can see more of Swon’s fantastical felted creations like a Starling Coin Purse and an Opposum Purse on Instagram and Etsy. (via Hyperallergic)

Detail of Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Temptation of St. Anthony”

Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Temptation of St. Anthony”