wax

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Design Food

Savor These Decadent Cakes, Pastries, and Other Sweet Treats in the Soft Glow of Candlelight

Just like recipes are passed from one generation to the next, so are the methods behind the decadent cakes and pastries of Cereria Introna. Piped with thick pink frosting or dusted with sugar, the confections are handmade in Italy by a family that’s been whipping up creations since the mid-1800s. What differentiates their sweets from the bakery down the street, though, is how they’re consumed: rather than melt in your mouth, Cereria Introna’s desserts are candles made of paraffin wax. In addition to slices of cake and banana splits drizzled with chocolate, the company also crafts fruits, loaves of bread, and even garnished plates of spaghetti for savoring at home.

If you’re in Chicago, stop by the Center of Order and Experimentation to find an impeccably curated selection of the candles. Otherwise, check out the company’s site.

 

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.

 

Craft Design

Sculptural Candles by Greentree Shape Dyed Beeswax into Organic Designs

From its Catskills studio, Greentree creates sculptural candles in hues from sage and celadon to terra cotta and lilac. The company, helmed by artist Jennifer Green, hand-pours and finishes collections of feathery partridges, pinecones, clean-cut gemstones, and sets of vintage bottles that are equally design objects as they are functional goods. Each unscented candle is made of pure beeswax, meaning it burns cleanly and emits a naturally sweet smell as melts. In addition to the whimsical creations shown here, Greentree also sells angular pillars, tapers with spiraling edges, and other elegant designs in its shop. (via INHABITAT)

 

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

A Collection of Wax Sculptures by Artist Urs Fischer Is Burning in the Bourse de Commerce in Paris

A diverse collection of life-size candles occupies the renovated rotunda of Bourse de Commerce in Paris, where it will spend the fall and winter slowly melting into pools of wax. The realistic sculptures are part of Untitled (2011), a redesigned installation by Swiss artist Urs Fischer (previously)—see some of the original works on Artsy—and were lit on the first day of the exhibition. Now partially melted, the ephemeral works are a “monument to impermanence, transformation, the passage of time, metamorphosis, and creative destruction,” a statement says.

At the center of the installation is an exacting replica of Giambologna’s marble “The Abduction of the Sabine Women” (1579-1582), with an effigy of Fischer’s friend and fellow artist Rudolf Stingel nearby. The figurative works are surrounded by seven chairs, four of which are modeled after seats from Mali, Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Ethiopia that are part of the collection at Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac. Paired with an airline bench, rolling office chair, and mass-produced garden seat, the eclectic array speaks to the ongoing effects of colonization and globalization.

Untitled (2011) will burn daily through December 31, 2021, or until the wicks disintegrate. (via Ignant)

 

Art Craft Illustration

Whimsical Illustrations and Motifs Dyed with a Traditional Wax-Resist Method Cover Caroline Södergren’s Eggshells

Formally trained in glassblowing, Stockholm-based artist Caroline Södergren transfers her experience working with a delicate, fragile material to an ornately illustrated collection of eggshells. She adapts the traditional Ukrainian craft called pysanka, a wax-resist method that involves drawing a design on a clean, empty chicken, turkey, goose, or ostrich egg with hot beeswax. The shell is then dipped in multiple baths of dye and the seal washed away with oil to reveal the colorful, layered design—you can watch the entire process in the video below.

The technique often is combined with folk art, although Södergren illustrates her own botanical motifs, beetles, and mythical creatures that stray from traditional designs. “You have to think before you start a pattern as the different color layers must come in the right order,” she says. “If you make a mistake with the wax, it is not possible to change, and a written line is where it is. A constant challenge that makes it so fun to work with!”

Konsthantverkets Vänner, an organization dedicated to supporting Swedish arts and crafts, just awarded Södergren a scholarship for her batik designs. Browse available eggs in her shop, and find a larger collection on Instagram. (via Lustik)