sculpture

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Art Design

Undulating Kinetic Sculpture by Julia Nizamutdinova Mimics Intertwined Infinity Signs

Artist and designer Julia Nizamutdinova has created a kinetic sculpture that rotates, twists, and turns in a mesmerizing and hypnotic fashion. Made of plastic, aluminum, and steel, INFI is modeled after the infinity sign in its form and movement, constantly crisscrossing and repeating. When illuminated with an LED light, the edges stand out against the sculpture’s fish-shaped body, and the rhythmic, undulating movements become more clear.

Nizamutdinova tells Colossal that her creation is part of a larger project she calls Cyberflora. “They contain a meditative therapeutic effect from the contemplation of smooth hypnotic movements and the beauty of futuristic forms,” she writes. To see more of Nizamutdinova’s work that falls at the intersection of technology, art, and design, head to YouTube and Instagram.

Art

A Hanging Mobile of Bronze Hand Sculptures Casts Playful Silhouettes of Animals

“Os Pássaros e o Lobo” (2017), bronze, steel cables, metal bars, and light projector, 200 x 200. Image © Casa Triângulo

A bronze piece by Brazilian artist Albano Afonso uses multiple sets of dangling hands that mimic shadow puppetry. Titled “Os Pássaros e o Lobo,” or “The Birds and the Wolf,” the sculpture is illuminated by a light projector, casting dark silhouettes on the wall behind it that resembles a mobile of active animals. In a statement, Afonso is described as being “interested in the anatomy of light: its intensity or softness, its ability to both illuminate and obscure, its sources, its symbolic and utilitarian uses, and its beauty.” You can follow his light-sensitive projects on Instagram.

Art

Upcoming Group Show at Beinart Gallery Celebrates the Intricate Art of Miniatures

All images © Beinart Gallery, shared with permission

Melbourne, Australia’s Beinart Gallery is gearing up for an exhibition of small scale paintings, scratch-built models, and tiny sculptures. Co-curated by artist Joshua Smith (previously), the Miniature Art Group Show features impressive works by a group of around 30 artists from around the world.

Close-up photos of the architectural models and other miniatures in the show highlight the level of detail that the artists pack into every square inch. Cardboard, plastic, and paper are painted to resemble weathered wood and metal, while breath mints become the canvas for portraits of The Beatles. Each piece reflects the dozens of hours that went into its meticulous production.

“Art in miniature is inherently impressive by virtue of the precision and patience demanded by its very creation, but that is not where its magic lies,” reads a statement from the gallery. “The magic is in the invitation extended to the viewer to reimagine the world on an entirely different scale[…] Miniature art delights the eye and teases the brain with possibility.”

Miniature Art Group Show opens with a reception on March 7 and the exhibition runs through March 29. For more information and to see the full list of contributing artists, head over to Beinart Gallery’s website.

Art Craft Science

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

“Zip thorax” (2014), zippers. All images © Élodie Antoine, shared with permission 

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.

Left: “Sliced blue felt” (2013), © Galerie Aeroplastics

“Quilted brain” (2014), lycra and padding, 33 x 25 centimeters

“Quilted heart” (2016), red lycra, padding

Art

Loose Knits Flow from Hands and Needles in Glass Sculptures by Carol Milne

“Sweet Spot,” kiln cast lead crystal and knitting needles, 16 x 21 x 11 inches. All images © Carol Milne, shared with permission

Carol Milne’s knit pieces might resemble your grandmother’s afghans but certainly aren’t as soft or pliable. The Seattle-based artist (previously) utilizes kiln cast lead crystal to create her loose weaves of translucent, color-coordinated glass. They often flow down from the hands and knitting needles they’re fashioned on, giving the feeling that the works could expand with just a few more stitches.

“I see my knitted work as metaphor for social structure. Individual strands are weak and brittle on their own, but deceptively strong when bound together,” Milne writes in a statement. “You can crack or break single threads without the whole structure falling apart. And even when the structure is broken, pieces remain bound together. The connections are what bring strength and integrity to the whole and what keep it intact.” Some of the artist’s knitted glass pieces will be on view from March 6 to May 1 at Blue Spiral 1 in Asheville, North Carolina. Until then, head to Instagram to see more of her delicate pieces.

“Day & Night” (2018), kiln cast lead crystal and knitting needles, 16 x 12 x 10 inches

“Day & Night” (2018), kiln cast lead crystal and knitting needles, 16 x 12 x 10 inches

“Handknit,” kiln cast lead crystal & knitting needles

“Handknit,” kiln cast lead crystal & knitting needles

“Warped (Warp Knitting)” (2019), kiln cast lead crystal, stainless steel wall mount, and knitting needles, 12.5 x 12 x 3 inches

“Sphere Delight,” kiln cast lead crystal, 19 x 19 x 19 inches

“Waterwings,” kiln cast lead crystal and knitting needles, 8 x 19 x 12 inches

“Cloak & Dagger,” kiln cast lead crystal and knitting needles, 15.5 x 20 x 10 inches

Art

Dense Ecosystems with Flowing Water Sources Packed in Vintage Luggage by Kathleen Vance

“Traveling Landscape, Grey Samsonite,” vintage train case, resin, artificial foliage, soil, water, water pump, and fluorescent light, 13 x 9 x 9 inches. All images © Kathleen Vance, shared with permission

New York City-based artist Kathleen Vance creates lush landscapes brimming with green mosses, foliage, and rocky surfaces all stored in an unusual carrier: vintage suitcases. Vance’s ongoing Traveling Landscapes series connects travel and natural resources, inclining her to incorporate active water components into many of her miniature ecosystems. The artist tells Colossal she hopes to convey that “water and our natural open landscapes are our legacy to the future generations and something that must be protected and cherished.”  Her more recent pieces, like “Traveling Landscape, Spelunker,” deviate from her previous work by including caverns replete with hanging stalactites and stalagmites, or icicle-like rock formations, that she sculpts by hand.

Utilizing found vessels, Vance says she wants to “relate to a time when travel was slower and the distances between us and our homelands and foreign landscapes were more difficult to access.” Each portable environment is designed and retrofit for specific steamer trunks and train cases.

The cases act to abstract the idea of travel and romanticize its idyllic qualities. I am always on the look out for cases that have some indication of travel, with notes and markers which give a feeling that they have really been used for used for transportation of someone’s special or personal items.

To keep up with Vance’s environmentally focused projects, follow her on Instagram.

“Traveling Landscape, Luce,” vintage train case, resin, artificial foliage, soil, water, water pump, and fluorescent light, 11 x 6.5 x 8 inches

“Traveling Landscape, Ornate Silver,” ornate metal and wooden chest, soil, stones, resin, artificial, foliage, and water, 12 x 12 x 17 inches

“Traveling Landscape, Golden Interior,” 12.5 x 5 x 8 inches

“Traveling Landscape, Spelunker,” found traveling case, hand sculpted stalactites and stalagmites, resin, paint, artificial foliage, and soil, 13 x 9 x 9 inches

“Traveling Landscape, Assembly,” antique case, hand sculpted landscape, resin, paint, artificial foliage and trees, and a bulb light

 

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A post shared by Kathleen Vance (@kathleenvanceart) on Jan 22, 2020 at 4:14pm PST

Art

Floorboards Burst in Destabilizing Wood Installations by Serra Victoria Bothwell Fels

2019, part of Beauty Surplus at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. All images © Serra Victoria Bothwell Fels and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center

Knoxville, Tennessee-born artist Serra Victoria Bothwell Fels ruptures long-held conceptions that human environments are stable⁠—literally. Part of two different projects at Catinca Tabacaru Gallery and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Bothwell Fels creates ridge- and mountain-like installations that split and burst through the floorboards, sometimes even spanning multiple rooms. With lighter pigmented tops, the wood pieces swell and expand, solidifying their resemblance to natural features.

The artist’s goal is to transform mundane spaces into areas of disruption, forcing her viewers to question how their environments inform their senses of reality. In a statement, Bothwell Fels said her “sculptural ecosystems pierce the architectural facade of banality with fantastical outcroppings of growths, pores, wrinkles, spills, fractalized structures, and rupture, inviting a reassessment (of) the norms that are established and reinforced through the physical materiality of our built environments.”

Her show Beauty Surplus is on view through May 24 at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Check out Instagram for more of Bothwell Fels’s destabilizing projects. (via Art Ruby)

2019, part of Beauty Surplus at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center

2019, part of Beauty Surplus at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center

“Untitled (Flooring)” (2016-2017), flooring, shims, plaster, at Catinca Tabacaru Gallery in New York City

“Untitled (Flooring)” (2016-2017), flooring, shims, plaster, at Catinca Tabacaru Gallery in New York City

“Untitled (Flooring)” (2016-2017), flooring, shims, plaster, at Catinca Tabacaru Gallery in New York City

“Untitled (Flooring)” (2016-2017), flooring, shims, plaster, at Catinca Tabacaru Gallery in New York City