sculpture

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Art

Detailed Portraits of Animals Combine Intricate Layers and Decorative Flourishes

The newest series by Manila-based paper artist Patrick Cabral (previously) features three white animals detailed with elements of black and gold. A pink nose serves as a stylistic outlier for a  whiskered tiger, while the long and narrow trunk of Cabral’s elephant is completed with a dazzling linear adornment in gold. The animal’s design is similar to a previous elephant iteration Cabral created out of paper in 2017. However, the newer piece’s radial patterns on its forehead and symmetrical ears provide a distinct contrast in composition. To support their more permanent display, the artist used MDF to form each intricate layer.

These works, in addition to a quetzal with wide-spread wings, were commissioned by Starbucks for a new Reserve location in Manilla, Philippines. You can learn more about how these sculptures came to fruition on Instagram.

Art

Vintage Glass Forged into Enchanted Leafy Worlds by Amber Cowan

Bridesmaid’s Forest

In the latest collection by Amber Cowan (previously), colorful vintage glass is sculpted into three fairytale stories: Bridesmaid’s Forest, Bridesmaid’s Search for the Desert Rose, and Grotto of the Chocolate Nymph. Cowan transforms discarded glass from the 1900s into sculptural “paintings” that burst with natural forms, and her latest collection of monochrome scenes effortlessly tempts viewers into their enchanted worlds.

Cowan first curates the color of each piece, collecting specific figurines and animals from vintage glass works. She then melts the rest of the glass through a methodical flameworking process to create the scenery that will surround the found figurines. Leaves, flowers, feathers, and tiny glistening pearls are carefully crafted to fill each dense, botanical world.

Bridesmaid’s Forest

The female figurine central to her mint-green Bridesmaid’s Forest  was originally part of a glass ornament called The Bridesmaid, which was pressed from the Ohio-based Fenton Art Glass Factory. Cowan built a fantastical world around the bridesmaid, sculpting a colorful leaf-filled forest which features a whale, snail, and duck nestled within the fragile glass shrubbery. “My story with this piece is that the bridesmaid got bored of the wedding and wandered off to make her own fun,” Cowan explains to Colossal. “It is kind of a fantasy landscape.”

Bridesmaid’s Forest

Bridesmaid’s Search for the Desert Rose is a spiritual adventure where the natural elements featured in the piece were chosen for their symbolism and how they relate to the bridesmaid’s story. “The figurine is standing in front of a pyramidal line pointed towards the sun; next to her is her feline companion and across from her is the totem animal of the giraffe symbolizing the ability to see into the future and obtain things that are normally out of reach,” she explains. At the base of the sculpture are two swans which fill the narrative with themes of intuition, self-actualization, and love. 

Cowan’s chocolate-colored Grotto of the Chocolate Nymph, is exhibited in the permanent collection of The Toledo Museum of Art and was inspired by Jan Brueghel the Elder’s painting A Fantastic Cave with Odysseus and Calypso in addition to the16th century Grotto Grande in the Boboli Gardens in Florence. “Chocolate Nymph” refers to “chocolate glass,” a popular glass color in the early 1900s that is no longer produced.

Cowan is currently constructing new work for a solo show opening at Heller Gallery in New York on May 3, 2019. To view more of her work, visit her website and her Instagram.

Bridesmaid’s Search for the Desert Rose

Bridesmaid’s Search for the Desert Rose

Bridesmaid’s Search for the Desert Rose

Grotto of the Chocolate Nymph

Grotto of the Chocolate Nymph

Grotto of the Chocolate Nymph

Art Design

Destination Art: A New Guide Looks at 500 Permanent Art Installations to Visit Around the World

Agnes Denes, Tree Mountain—A Living Time Capsule—11,000 Trees, 11,000 People, 400 Years, 1992–96, Pinsiönkankaantie 10, 39150 Pinsiö. © Agnes Denes. (project 70, page 86) All images courtesy of Phaidon.

When traveling, it is a given that I will visit at least one museum dedicated to art. Most often it is someplace new—either an institution that has previously escaped my radar, or one that belongs to a city I have not yet explored. Although I enjoy viewing institutional collections, I am perhaps most drawn to works installed outdoors, especially if they require a bit of extra effort to reach. Phaidon has taken the burden out of researching secluded works and well-known urban installations by compiling some of the best into a new compendium titled Destination Art.

The book is a follow-up to their publication Destination Architecture (2017), and includes 500 artworks installed around the globe in 60 countries and 300 cities. The guide is a great resource for planning your next art pilgrimage to a far off corner of the Earth, or simply narrowing down a piece or two that have been hiding in your own backyard. The global guide is focused on site-specific modern and contemporary works from 340 artists ranging from Yayoi Kusama’s city-based collaboration with Coca-Cola in Matsumoto, Nagano in Japan to Louise Bourgeois’s “Crouching Spider” (2003) situated on a reflective pool outside the Château La Coste in Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade, France. You can buy the book, which includes a wide range of murals, sculptures, sound installations, land art, and more, on Amazon and Phaidon.

A spread from Destination Art: 500 Artworks Worth the Trip, published by Phaidon.

Yayoi Kusama, Dots Obsession, 2012, Matsumoto City Museum of Art, 4-2-22 Chuo, Matsumoto, Nagano 390-0811, Japan. © Yayoi Kusama (project 45, page 60)

Nathan Coley, There Will Be No Miracles Here, 2006, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, 75 Belford Road, Edinburgh EH4 3DR, Scotland. Collection of the National Galleries of Scotland. © Studio Nathan Coley (project 81, page 98)

A spread from Destination Art: 500 Artworks Worth the Trip, published by Phaidon.

Grayson Perry and FAT Architecture For Living Architecture, A House for Essex, 2015, Black Boy Lane, Manningtree, Essex CO11 2TP, England. Photo: Jack Hobhouse (project 100, page 117)

Gianni Motti, Success Failure, 2014, Domaine du Muy, 83 chemin des Leonards, 83490 Le Muy, France. Courtesy Ardeis Genève et Domaine du Muy. © Gianni Motti. Photo: JC Lett (project 172, page 192)

Louise Bourgeois, Crouching Spider, 2003, Château La Coste, 2750 route de la Cride, 13610 Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade, France. Courtesy Château la Coste. © The Easton Foundation/DACS, London/VAFA, NY 2018 (project 173, page 193)

A spread from Destination Art: 500 Artworks Worth the Trip, published by Phaidon.

Cildo Meireles, Inmensa [Immense], 1982–2002, Instituto de Arte Contemporânea e Jardim Botânico Inhotim, Rua B 20, Brumadinho, Brazil. Courtesy the artist and Galeria Luisa Strina, São Paulo. Photo: Tiberio França (project 492, page 535)

Janet Echelman, Her Secret is Patience, 2009, Civic Space Park, 424 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004, United States. Photo: Christina O’Haver (project 428, page 468)

A spread from Destination Art: 500 Artworks Worth the Trip, published by Phaidon.

Art

Mixed Media Sculptures by Michael Alm Convey the Sinuous Nature of Animal Muscles

“Jack Rabbit (Lepus Californicus)”, 2014, wood and glass eyes, 20 x 23 x 7 inches

Seattle-based sculptor Michael Alm forms lifelike animal sculptures from carved and shaved wood, often adding realistic features such as glass eyes to complete the anatomical studies. The works imitate the natural gestures of the animals he sculpts, such as “Jack Rabbit (Lepus Californicus),” which captures the animal mid-stride.

By presenting the animal in movement we are better able to see the tension explored through thin wood strips that gracefully cross over and under each other like muscular fibers. “The gaps in the veneer accentuate the tension in the form while lightening the visual weight of the creature,” he tells Colossal. “In this piece (Jack Rabbit), I’ve highlighted the elements which contribute directly to the animal’s movement and eliminated any excess. As a result, the form looks both strong and delicate much like the animal itself.”

Alm is also a furniture maker by trade, and the byproducts of this work serves as the bulk of the material for his sculptures. After milling wood he has plentiful strips to reuse in his sculptures. “These strips are extremely flexible and when layered up they remind me of muscle and sinew,” he continues. “The more I played with this material, the more I realized the amazing number of ways it could be used.”

You can view more of his work on his website and Instagram and get a behind-the-scenes look at how he constructs his sculptures on Youtube.

“Jack Rabbit (Lepus Californicus)”

“Jack Rabbit (Lepus Californicus)”

Creation of “Jack Rabbit (Lepus Californicus)”

Creation of “Jack Rabbit (Lepus Californicus)”

“Anatomical Bird Wing”, 2014, wood, 16 x 6 x 2 inches

“Burrow”, 2016, wood, 20 x 24 x 9 inches

Art

Elongated Wooden Sculptures by Kiko Miyares Bring a Surreal Perspective to Figural Forms

Artist Kiko Miyares carves and colors stretched, distorted sculptures of the human figure. The Spanish sculptor often focuses on the head and shoulders of his subjects, with each bust combining realistic renderings of facial feature with a dramatically narrowed shape that makes the works appear to be squeezed or warped. In some works, elements of the elongated sculptures are fractured, creating surreal doubling of torsos, heads, and arms. Miyares often shows his busts in groups, to create striking and perception-altering vignettes. Although the skewed works are best viewed in the round (like in the video below), each photographed angle provides a new and fascinating look into the the artist’s boundary-pushing portraits. You can see more of Miyares’ figural sculptures on his website and Instagram. (via Hi-Fructose)

 

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Nanana. #sculpture #contemporaryart #galleryart #artcurator #artcollectors #art #swabartfair #efectodopler #woodsculpture #kikomiyares

A post shared by Kiko Miyares (@kikomiyares) on Sep 13, 2018 at 10:15am PDT

 

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A post shared by Kiko Miyares (@kikomiyares) on May 29, 2018 at 5:25am PDT

Art Photography

Wire Sculptures of Hands and Faces Come to Life When Overlaid with Digital Elements by Yuichi Ikehata

Yuichi Ikehata combines photography, sculpture, and digital editing to create hybrid works that meld together reality and his own fictionalized interpretation. The eerie humanoid forms are pierced with holes that reveal rudimentary structures below their plaster-like skin, making each appear to be in varying states of decay. To create these digital manipulations, Ikehata first photographs his own body in different poses. Using wire, he then three-dimensionally recreates its form in simple structures. Finally, the artist adds parts of his original image onto the sculpture through digital editing, reintroducing a fractured reality to the wire imitation. You can see more of his work on his website, Instagram, and Tumblr. (via Hi Fructose)

Art

A 3D-Printed Human Skull Created from a Pixelated Watercolor Painting by Adam Lister

Adam Lister (previously) is known for his watercolor renditions that transform famous artworks and pop culture icons into the style of retro video games. His most recent project is a sculptural object inspired by the form and color of one of his previous paintings. The limited edition work is an “8-bit” version of a human skull formed from 3D-printed plaster. The piece is a collaboration between Lister and Unique Board, a company that creates limited edition 3D-printed sculptures with artists from around the world.

Lister also recently collaborated with Budmen Industries to create another 3D-printed edition of two birds in black and white. You can see more of Lister’s paintings and sculptures on his website and Instagram, and purchase “Skull” on Unique Board’s online store. (via Colossal Submissions)