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Art Craft

Lively Botanicals and Organic Forms Cloak Juz Kitson’s Ceramic Vessels in Dense Topographies

Focused on movement and vitality, artist Juz Kitson sculpts supple vessels that harness the lively qualities of Earth’s landscapes. Densely packed with pieces mimicking flowers, fungi, moss, coral, and other organisms, the shapely works “feel like they are pulsating, giving inanimate material a spark of life,” Kitson tells Colossal. Medium and subject matter both nod to the natural process of regeneration and rebirth, with the “malleable, composite of Earth, water, and fire inherently (carrying) the imprint of memory.”

After many years of an itinerant practice that allowed her to travel frequently, Kitson settled in Milton, New South Wales, at the beginning of the pandemic. Given mass uncertainty and closed borders, she simultaneously had to shutter the studio she occupied for nearly a decade in Jingdezhen, China. Much of her work reflects a mélange of these two environments.

Often sculpted from Jingdezhen porcelain, the vessels are topographic and evoke the rugged coastlines and bush of the artist’s native Australia alongside the mountains and lush jungles of East Asia. “I have a deep fascination and attention to detail, constantly observing, exploring, walking through landscapes and creating visual mind maps of surfaces, layers, crevices, and abundant metamorphic forms that will later feed into the works I make,” she says.

 

Often monochromatic, many of the sculptures are glazed in a clear coat, blush, or black. The latter, especially on Kitson’s urn-like vessels, directly connects to the charred remains of Australia’s bush following the disastrous fires of 2019. At the time, the artist had just purchased her house and studio, which she refused to abandon despite mass evacuations. She shares:

I had just bought my first home, and here I was, standing protecting it by drenching it with a hose, watering my house and soon-to-be studio to protect it from the flames that were only three kilometers away…(I started) a series of funerary urns as a lament for the summer wildfires that devastated the landscape and has seen a region still mourning the loss of vegetation, homes, animals, and lives lost in which the pandemic overshadowed.

If you’re in Australia, there are several opportunities to view Kitson’s works in person, including a July solo exhibition at Sophie Gannon Gallery in Richmond, Victoria, and group shows at Craft Victoria opening in May, Hazelhurst Arts Centre in July, and Sydney Contemporary Art Fair in September. You can also find more on her site and Instagram.

 

Craft Design Photography

Brilliant Botanical Cyanotypes Adorn Kellie Swanson’s Upcycled Garments

Artist and photographer Kellie Swanson imprints jackets, jeans, and other garments with the rich blue of cyanotypes—an early form of photography that uses UV light to produce monochromatic prints—as part of her burgeoning clothing line KSX. With grainy textures that complement the weave of fabrics, the brilliantly hued wearables feature natural specimens like ferns and flowers found around Swanson’s home in Bozeman, Montana. All of the garments are secondhand, and the artist sources most from thrift stores and vintage shops, ensuring KSX takes a more sustainable approach in an industry infamous for its waste.

Swanson began the upcycling project in 2020 as a way to re-engage her creative practice, and it’s since yielded several collaborations and collections, which sell incredibly fast. The next shop update is set for later this month, so keep an eye on Instagram to snag a piece.

 

Illustration

Symmetric Flora and Fauna Converge in Kelly Louise Judd’s Dreamlike Paintings

Symmetry and mirroring inform many of Kelly Louise Judd’s paintings, which intertwine flora and fauna in delicate compositions. Ferns overlay the long tails of two cats, a lanky heron gracefully perches among bluebells and sunflowers, and human hands reach upward to reveal sprawling botanicals. Rendered on neutral-toned backdrops, the works evoke the patterns and organic recurrences found throughout the natural world.

Judd, who lives and works in the Midwest, generously shares glimpses into her process on Instagram, and you can shop prints of her pieces on Etsy.

 

Art

Leaves, Insects, and Human Anatomy Converge in Delicate Pencil Drawings by Amahi Mori

Through veins and hybridized beings, Japanese artist Amahi Mori connects life across the plant and animal kingdoms. Various circulatory systems blend together in seamless compositions with leafy greens emerging from a blue morpho or cloaking an elongated human hand. Rendered in graphite, colored pencil, and watercolor, Amahi’s delicate works center on the vibrancy of life conveyed through brilliantly patterned wings and supple leaves. Many of the drawings are also tinged with the otherworldly and surreal, particularly as human skin stretches to account for a growing stem.

Amahi has a solo exhibition slated for this May at Ginza Getsukoso Gallery. Until then, find an archive of her fused creatures on her site and Instagram.

 

Art

Textile Sculptures by Lauren Pruen Preserve Elegant Botanical Specimens Under Glass

Protected under tall glass cloches, Lauren Pruen’s botanical specimens sprout from root to bloom. The artist shapes thin strips of wire into tubers and stems that hold fabric florals, which she sometimes paints for variation in leaf color and added detail. Each delicate sculpture is an ode to natural life forms and the biological studies of centuries past, recreated as precious three-dimensional specimens worth preserving. Find more of Pruen’s ferns, lilies, and other works on her site and Instagram.

 

Art Craft

Metal Sculptor Shota Suzuki Crafts Exquisitely Detailed Blooms That Express the Passing of Time

Tender stems bear lush blooms and windswept leaves gather around new growth in artist Shota Suzuki’s delicate metal sculptures. Rendered in painstaking detail, the forms are inspired by flora around his home and studio in Kyoto, such as Japanese maple trees and dandelions that have gone to seed. “Recently, I have been adding rain and wind to my work,” he tells Colossal, sharing that he’s inspired by the way nature demonstrates the passing of time. He adds silvery water droplets to ginkgo leaves, ruffles the petals of flowers, or portrays a branch of cherry blossoms as if it has blown from a tree.

An early interest in jewelry led Suzuki to study metalworking, and the exquisite detail of florals and foliage suited his ability to work on a small scale. A wide range of patinas create a life-like appearance, achieved by combining an array of chemicals that produce specific hues and textures, including traditional Japanese copper coloration methods such as niiro. “I don’t want to create works in which time stands still,” he says. “I want to express a moment in time.”

Suzuki’s work is included in Natural Mastery: Lacquer and Silver Works from Japan at Stuart Lochhead Sculpture in London from December 1 to 9. You can find more work on his website and Instagram.