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Art

Intricate Sculptures by Zheng Lu Suspend Splashes of Water in Stainless Steel

Harnessing the energy of water in motion, Zheng Lu’s metallic sculptures appear frozen in time. The Beijing-based artist defies utilitarian or industrial associations with steel, creating tension between the material and the fluid forms. Challenging our expectations and understanding of physics, smooth, chrome-like surfaces reflect the surroundings and change in the light as the viewer moves around them, further adding to the perception that the sculpture itself is in motion. In some of the works, Zheng composes surfaces of thousands of Chinese characters derived from historical texts and poems, nodding to early Chinese philosophers who studied physical principles of the natural world to better understand cosmological mysteries.

Zheng’s exhibition Liquid Narratives runs March 16 to 29 at HOFA Gallery in London, marking the artist’s first show in the U.K., and you can find more of his work on his website.

 

Photography

In Tom Hegen’s Aerial Photos, Swimmers and Loungers Texture Two Florida Beaches with Colorful Patterns

As much of the northern hemisphere braces for gray, wintery weather, photographer Tom Hegen (previously) highlights the warm, vibrant oceanside of Florida’s Siesta Key and Miami beaches. Swimmers and sunbathers escaping the rays under colorful umbrellas line the coast and appear as textured, geometric shapes dotting the water and white sandy expanses. The Beach Series juxtaposes the haphazard with the organized, documenting both neat rows of uniform loungers and clusters of people as they congregate along the shoreline.

See all of the sun-soaked photos in Hegen’s collection on Behance, and find prints, posters, and books of his aerial works on his site.

 

Art

The Denizens of ‘Submersia’ Breathe New Life into Ancient Artifacts in Oil Portraits by Kajahl

From his studio overlooking Monterey Bay, California, Kajahl has created a new series of paintings that draw inspiration from the sea and ancient heritage, continuing a practice that employs portraiture to subvert white, European historical narratives. The artist merges classical motifs and mythical realms in Submersia, a fictional underwater world where artifacts take on new life.

Greek and Roman vessels like glass balsamarii, wine jugs known as oinochoes, and conical rhyton vases often depicted figures or were fashioned in the shape of human or animal heads. Kajahl reimagines artifacts like these as mystical seaborne figures, redefining the historical portrayal of “aethiops,” an archaic term for dark-skinned people. On household containers, these often showed “individuals possessing phenotypes typically associated with Sub-Saharan Africa,” he explains in a statement. “Harkening back over two millennia, I interrogate these fascinating and controversial subjects, probing our relationship to these objects that confront us from an alien world.”

Kajahl’s “Iceberg Entities” are human-iceberg fusions that are starting to thaw, isolated in deep water. The figures gaze intentionally at the viewer, who is given a simultaneous view from above and below the surface that separates “the visible from the invisible world, emphasizing water’s ability to obscure, conceal, or reveal what was once beneath,” he says. On the sea floor, the “Oceandwellers” and “Coral Kids” inhabit a realm brimming with colorful rocks, coral, and shellfish. Air bubbles escape from their mouths, and their gaze also meets the viewer, represented not as inanimate artifacts but as living, breathing figures who are capable of emotion and perception.

Submersia is on view at moniquemeloche in Chicago through January 7, 2023, and you can follow more of Kajahl’s work on Instagram.

 

Photography

Tiers of Dyed Water Burst into Perfectly Concentric Circles in Jack Long’s Energetic Photos

For at least a decade, Jack Long has paired his day job in advertising photography with a growing archive of personal projects that explore the energetic, dynamic qualities of liquid. His latest series centers on circular pools of water that splash outward, creating colorfully tiered layers that build up the dimension of a typically gravity-bound material. Although the liquid appears to be spraying outward after being punctured by an object dropped from above, it is actually gurgling upward from a custom-designed fountain. Long shares with Colossal that the machine took about two years to build and produces pools that reach about 30 inches in diameter, which he has to photograph within a fraction of a second to capture the perfectly concentric effect.

You can find more of Long’s hypnotic works on Behance, Instagram, and his site.

 

Art

Diverse Ecosystems Merge in Hyperrealistic Paintings of Flora and Fauna by Lisa Ericson

Ecosystems intermingle and mammals find themselves immersed in an increasingly watery world in Lisa Ericson’s hyperrealistic acrylic paintings. A hare and a mountain goat, which would typically be found in dry climates or high elevations, stand atop a small island of cacti or rock in an ongoing series of works that view the climate crisis—especially the impending rise of sea levels—through a lens of magical realism.

Drawing on the artistic legacy of chiaroscuro, or contrast between the bright figures and deep background, Ericson’s compositions appear as if a spotlight has been directed on the scene to highlight unusual interactions, such as a fox ferrying bluebirds across a waterway or a mountain goat stranded on a submerged rocky peak. Furthering the notion that environmental change cannot be ignored, the titles speak to witnessing immense change, experiencing a sense of foreboding, and heeding warnings.

You can see some of Ericson’s recent works on view at Antler Gallery in Portland, Oregon, through November 20, and find more on her website and Instagram.

 

Photography

Forceful Waves Rip Across Lake Erie in Tempestuous Photos by Trevor Pottelberg

When fall and winter storms send turbulent waves across Lake Erie, Canadian photographer Trevor Pottelberg documents the volatile eruptions that burst from the water’s surface. Facing winds up to 60 miles per hour, he frames massive waves as they emerge in dramatic outbursts, leaving sprays of icy mist and ripples in their wake. The monumental swells are energetic and immensely strong, showcasing the formidable power of nature.

Based in Brownsville, Ontario, Pottelberg teaches photography at Fanshawe College and will have a variety of landscape and animal images on view at Elm Hurst Inn & Spa in Ingersoll starting in December. Shop prints on his site, and find more of his works on Instagram and Facebook, some of which were recently recognized in the Professional Photographers of Canada Ontario Provincial Competition.