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Art Design

Global Architecture Rises from Resin Hermit Crab Shells in Aki Inomata’s Consideration of Home and Borders

When hermit crabs outgrow their shells, they participate in an encouraging act of resource sharing. The crustaceans line up by size and swap homes, and hopefully, each creature finds an appropriately sized shelter. Options tend to be limited to the shells washed up on shore, unless Tokyo-based artist Aki Inomata is involved.

Since 2009, Inomata has been designing tiny homes for hermit crabs topped with towering skyscrapers, windmills, and churches. Part of an ongoing series titled Why Not Hand Over a ‘Shelter’ to Hermit Crabs?, the 3D-printed resin works resemble urban landscapes and draw similarities between human and animal environments. Inomata’s designs, although not released into the wild, evoke the species’ organic exchanges as a way to consider the evolving nature of home.

 

The artist shares in a statement that the project was born out of her participation in the 2009 No Man’s Land exhibition at the French Embassy in Japan, the final show in the space before the building was demolished. She elaborates:

This work was inspired by the fact that the land of the former French Embassy in Japan had been French until October 2009, and then became Japanese for the following fifty years, after which it will be returned to France…A piece of land is peacefully exchanged between two countries. While it is the same piece of land, our definition of it changes. In the same way, the appearance of hermit crabs changes completely as they exchange shelters. The hermit crabs in my piece, who exchange shelters representing cities of the world, seem to be crossing over national borders.

Now more than a decade since Inomata began the series, the project takes on additional significance given the surge in migration and refugee crises around the world. The array of global architecture allows individuals to seamlessly swap Western streets for Eastern palaces or capacious spaces for dense cities, emphasizing the potential for more communal, cooperative living.

Head to Vimeo to watch the crustaceans scuttle along wearing Inomata’s works, and follow additions to the project on Instagram.

 

Art

Fantastical Hybrid Characters by Toco-Oco Imagine the Mysteries of Human Nature

Playfully curious, a troupe of hybrid characters dreamed up by the Brazil-based Toco-Oco (previously) has an inclination for the mythical. Figures sporting feathered suits and wolves cradling human heads are imbued with mystery, and together, the otherworldly cast becomes a metaphor for the varied, emotional, and sometimes bewildering nature of human existence. Toco-Oco, which is helmed by Lara Alcântara and Guilherme Neumann, sells prints and the small sculptures, which are made of wax, wood, and clay, in its shop, although the works sell out incredibly quickly, so be sure to keep an eye on Instagram for information about new releases.

 

Art

Globular Reliefs and Drippy Mounds Comprise a Technicolor Collection of Dan Lam’s Sculptures

Armed with polyurethane foam, epoxy resin, and acrylic, artist Dan Lam (previously) sculpts technicolor forms that ooze, bubble, and trickle in long drips. She layers materials into masses of neon color progressions and textured blobs, forming amorphous puddles and mounds with cavernous insides.

Lam’s solo show Personal Legend expands the artist’s repertoire to include perfectly round reliefs with concentric gradients. Created by pouring and spreading resin over the foundational shape—head to Lam’s Instagram to dive into the process—the wall-based works are coated in droplets that bead on the surface. Mesmerizing in dimension and vibrant color palette, the resulting sculptures are displayed as single circles or large, sprawling clusters.

Personal Legend is on view through May 7 at Stephanie Chefas Projects in Portland.

 

Art

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

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.

 

Art

Abstract Goldfish Swim Through Imitation Plastic Bags in Multi-Media Constructions by Riusuke Fukahori

Riusuke Fukahori (previously) has long admired the appearance of goldfish, immortalizing realistic depictions of the small creature in layers of acrylic and resin. Previously Fukahori has focused on paintings of goldfish moving inside of Japanese household objects such as bamboo hats, wooden sake cups, and handmade bowls. For his new Irobukuro series his inspiration has turned to imitating the vessels and scenery of Mong Kok’s Goldfish Market in Hong Kong, where rows of colorful fish line stall after stall. For the included works he molds resin to resemble plastic bags filled with water. Instead of realistically depicting the detailed scales, eyes, and fins of the fish Fukahori paints abstractly to capture how a goldfish glides through the water.

These works, along with some of his more traditionally painted pieces in memory-laden objects are included in his third solo exhibition with Joshua Liner Gallery  in New York City, titled Goldfish Blossoms. Fukahori will present realistic paintings in black bowls used at a Buddhist temple, paint cans from his studio, and a wooden oke tub previously used at a restaurant he frequented as a child. The exhibition opens on December 13, 2018 and runs through January 19, 2019.

Art

Swarovski Crystal Sculptures by Daniel Jacob Immortalize Popsicles, Sneakers, and Other Pop Culture Icons

Artist Daniel Jacob began making art in Chicago in the early 1990s, channeling his ideas into sculptures and works on paper. After spending most of his career in business, he has returned to his love of art. His current practice experiments with crystals and stones to create pop culture-inspired sculptures of dripping popsicles, Air Jordan sneakers, animals, and elements of city infrastructure, like sewer grates.

Each of Jacob’s works begin as three-dimensional scans which are then sculpted into cast resin and finally topped by hand with hundreds of thousands of multi-colored Swarovski crystals. A few of Jacob’s sculptures are currently on view at the recently opened Nonfinito Gallery in New York through May 31, 2018. You can see more of the artist’s work on his website and Instagram.