In vivid pinks, blues, and greens, radiant landscapes emerge in Erin Hanson’s impressionistic oil paintings. The artist is based in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, where the rolling hills and surrounding mountain ranges cradle miles of vineyards. She draws on the textures and shapes of grapevines, trees, paths, and rugged horizons to create glowing scenes.

Hanson is influenced by the rich tradition of Impressionism, a movement that developed in France in the 19th century and focused primarily on spontaneous en plein air—in the open air—landscapes and portraits. Its seminal practitioners, like Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, and Vincent Van Gogh, broke with tradition by employing visible brush strokes that captured the fleeting nature of light.

Adopting a similar language of expression, Hanson uses thick paint in carefully-mixed colors that she applies in loose dabs to the canvas, evoking bright sunrises and luminous reflections. “I love the consistency of oil paint—it is like painting in smooth frosting,” she says. “I love how each paint color has a different thickness and texture, and how pure the colors are.”

The artist recently visited Japan to take in the cherry blossom season, where she made “Philosopher’s Path” and “Sakura.” She will embark on a trip to France this summer to retrace some of the places that Van Gogh and Monet lived or visited during their lifetimes.

Hanson’s work will be on view in a solo exhibition titled Landscapes of the West at the Sears Art Museum in St. George, Utah, from June 14 to August 23. And if you’re in Oregon, you can visit the artist’s gallery in McMinnville, which features a constantly rotating presentation of original works and prints. Find more information on her website.

“Water Lilies” (2016), oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches

“Floral Lace” (2021), oil on canvas

“Petals Falling” (2018), oil on canvas

“Water Lilies in Bloom” (2023), oil on canvas

“Philosopher’s Path” (2024), oil on canvas

“Sakura” (2024)

“Spring Vines” (2023), oil on canvas

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French artist Juliette Minchin appreciates wax for its ambivalence. Activated by heat, the modest material can be smooth or crinkled, firm or pliable, and molded into a distinct shape or pooled into a puddle of liquid. No matter its current form, though, wax can quickly morph from one state to another, and this impermanence is partially what inspired Minchin to incorporate the sticky compound into her practice about five years ago.

Today, the artist creates large-scale installations and sculptures often embedded with candles. “The cross, vigil with thorns,” for example” arranges 33 wax-dipped panels in an enormous T-shape centered in a stark 13th-century Cistercian abbey. Each day, 363 wicks burned and melted away the dried substance to slowly reveal a botanical motif in steel.

Alternatively, architectural works like “Vitrail soufflé” are static for longer periods. The stained-glass window rendition features sheer, curtain-like panels bulging and falling around an arched metal frame based on the original construction. Appearing caught in the wind, the billowing sheets are made by pouring liquid wax on flat surfaces to create a thin layer, which Minchin peels off while warm. “I place them on the metal structures, and I have about two minutes to sculpt them. It’s a dialogue between what the material offers me and where I want to take it. I have to let myself be guided by the accident and instantaneity,” she tells Colossal.

“Vitrail soufflé” for ‘RIVELAZION’ at Museo Sant’Orsola Florence

While the physical properties are endlessly appealing, Minchin is also intrigued by wax’s cultural and spiritual connotations, particularly superstitions and funerary rites. Romans would sculpt lifelike masks to immortalize the deceased, and the ancient embalming method of mummifying shares an etymological root with the Persian word for wax. Candles, though, also signify light and hope for the future, and the contrast between life and death adds to the material’s ambiguity.

Minchin sees her work in this same vein, “as much a destruction as a rebirth” because she re-melts and molds the materials from one piece into subsequent projects. “Paradoxically, the process of destruction makes the work very much alive, since it evolves without the artist’s hand and generates forms autonomously,” she adds, likening wax to human flesh for its protective and vulnerable qualities. This bodily metaphor returns again and again in her practice, particularly as it relates to life’s cycles and time passing. The melting process, she explains:

…is like a soul leaving one body for another… I am inspired by the classical concept of memento mori when two opposite states, two contradictory times cohabit in the same object: stability and fall, presence and absence, birth and (disappearance). Is it disappearing or being born?  I want to produce an image of a ruin where some parts were saved and partially reconstructed and that we have the feeling of a day after a party.

Minchin’s work will be on view in June at Art Basel with Anne-Sarah Bénichou Gallery and later that month for a solo exhibition at Museo Sant’Orsola in Florence. Until then, find an archive of her projects on her website and Instagram.

Installation view at Beaulieu Abbey in Rouergue of “The Cross, vigil with thorns,” wax and steel, 28 meters x 11 meters x 2.25 centimeters. Photo by Damien Aspe

“Solstice” (2021), wax, steel, and ceramic beads, 100 x 200 x 240 centimeters. Image ©ABAD

“Lustre” (2024), wax and steel, 200 x 120 centimeters. Installation view of ‘Rivelazioni’ in Florence. Photo by Cinestudio

“Veillée aux racines (Vigil with roots),” installation view for ‘RIVELAZIONI’ at Museo Sant’Orsola, Florence. Photo by Cinestudio

“Oculus” (2023), wax and brass, 80 x 20 centimeters

Juliette Minchin with “Cascade” (2023), 5 x 3.4 meters, wax and steel, at Patinoire de Saint-Ouen. Photo by Romain Darnaud

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Collaborative artists Yelena Filipchuk and Serge Beaulieu, who work as HYBYCOZO, explore light, geometry, and pattern in a new large-scale, immersive installation at Sensorio. The culmination of three years of research and development, DIMENSIONS invites visitors to wander around an “interstellar village” of striking metallic structures. During the day, sunlight glints off the gem-like facets, and at night, colorful lights illuminate each piece from within, casting elaborate shadows.

HYBYCOZO is known for creating remarkable, larger-than-life works that often incorporate textures and patterns derived from mathematics, science, and nature. For this installation, the duo also drew on their guiding interest in interconnectedness and fostering a sense of close-knit community.

Featuring 44 polyhedra, each piece in DIMENSIONS is characterized by a unique combination of pattern and form. Four shapes invite visitors to walk inside, a tall centerpiece doubles as a shelter that can accommodate more than 20 people, and a soundtrack composed by Allen Hulsey synchronizes the rhythmic changes in colorful light. Whether standing inside one of the sculptures or wandering between them, viewers are invited into a communal space for connection and reflection.

DIMENSIONS opens on May 24 in Paso Robles, California. Find more on HYBYCOZO’s website and Instagram.

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Escif (previously) gained a foothold in street art by portraying playful scenes that tap into themes of capitalism, politics, and society, often relying on humor to convey messages related current events and activism. Now, the prolific Valencia-based artist is producing his first-ever book, a whopping 600-page tome titled The Foundations of Harmony and Invention, with help from a fully-backed crowdfunding campaign.

For this project, Escif leans into a sense of jocular absurdity present throughout his work, delving into his archive of paintings, photographs, murals, journeys, reflections, and more, which he describes as an “encyclopedic archive of images, poetry, and resistance.” He maintains an element of serious fun, as he plumbs the creative process and reminds us to interrogate hustle culture. Among many suggested uses—as a small step, a companion, or a wedge to hold open a door—the artist acknowledges its role also “as a book, claiming pause, silence, and timelessness against the dominant paradigm of productivity.”

Order your copy and support the project on Kickstarter until June 1, and follow updates on the artist’s Instagram.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article At 600 Pages, Escif’s First-Ever Book Takes an Ambitious and Playfully Irreverent Approach to Street Art appeared first on Colossal.

Merging organic forms with timeless craft, Susanna Bauer emphasizes incredible details in her intimate leaf sculptures. Working with a range of foraged species, from ginkgo to magnolia to oak, the artist (previously) meticulously stitches around the edges or fills in tiny incisions, creating intricate lacework compositions.

A new monograph Susanna Bauer: IN LEAF, published by 5 Continents Editions, celebrates her use of natural ephemera to create elegant pieces exploring the relationship between strength and fragility. “Nature becomes a metaphor for humanity: the artfully interwoven threads remind us that we are all part of a vaster network and therefore generators of connections,” Valentina de Pasca writes in an introductory essay.

Bauer created a limited edition that includes a magnolia leaf circle crocheted into the opening page. She is releasing these in batches, which have previously sold quickly, so keep an eye on her website for the next update. You can also preorder a standard copy of IN LEAF on Bookshop.

If you’re near Austin, stop by the Affordable Art Fair, which runs May 16 to 19 at the Palmer Events Center, where Bauer is showing work with Muriel Guépin Gallery. Follow more updates on the artist’s Instagram.

“Holding Memories” (2024), magnolia leaf and cotton thread

“Three ll” (2017), magnolia leaves and cotton thread, 18 x 18 centimeters. Photo by art-photographers.co.uk

“All I Need” (2023), magnolia leaves and cotton thread

“Seven” (2022), fatsia leaf and cotton thread, 29 x 22.5 centimeters. Photo by art-photographers.co.uk

Left: “Adornment XVlll” (2024), magnolia leaf and cotton thread, 19.2 x 10.6 centimeters. Photo by art-photographers.co.uk. Right: “Whisper ll” (2023), oak leaf and cotton thread

“Side by Side” (2022), magnolia leaves and cotton thread, 14.5 x 12.5 x 4 centimeters. Photo by art-photographers.co.uk

Left: “Ginkgo Pair lll” (2022), ginkgo leaves and cotton thread. Right: “Shine” (2023), magnolia leaf and cotton thread, 11.7 x 16.4 centimeters. Photo by art-photographers.co.uk

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Susanna Bauer’s Intricately Crocheted Leaves Celebrate the Elegance and Ephemerality of Nature appeared first on Colossal.

School might be out for summer, but for those of us needing extra credit in the world of aesthetics, objects, and their meaning, the team at Crash Course is offering bite-sized lessons in art history.

A new video series hosted by curator and educator Sarah Urist Green dives into the vast realm of visual culture to explore the techniques, people, and movements that have transformed how we see the world. Filmed at Newfields, the first four episodes tackle topics about common parlance, the role of museums, and the individual artists who’ve ascended to cultural icons. The brief lessons are based on curricula for AP and first-year university courses, making them the perfect introduction or a way to brush up on the basics.

Crash Course plans to release 22 episodes in total, so keep an eye on the channel for more.

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In the mid-20th century, during reconstruction following World War II, an architectural style emerged in the U.K. and Europe that favored bare, industrial building materials, a monochrome palette, and angular geometry. Both iconic and divisive, the hulking, concrete facades can be seen in the likes of London’s Barbican Centre or the National Theatre. In the U.S., think of Boston City Hall or Met Breuer. These stalwart structures represented modernity, resilience, and strength, serving as civic hubs and governmental centers—the opposite of “soft around the edges.”

That’s where Olivia Broome’s project Brutalist Plants comes in, a repository of photographs featuring gardens and greenery around these iconic buildings, which she has collected on her Instagram since 2018. An eponymous forthcoming book, published by Hoxton Mini Press, showcases some of the most impressive examples that she has collected over time, focusing on incredible pairings and contrasts between architecture and foliage.

“I find it fascinating how much any space can be improved by some plants or greenery,” Broome tells Colossal. “There’s something so pleasing about grey and green, as anyone with some houseplants in their flat can agree with! For me, brutalism gives off such a strong presence when you’re near it, and nature softens that right down.”

Brutalist Plants emerged from a community-led collaboration, as Broome collects and showcases other photographers’ images. She enlisted her father, who is also a fan of photography, to help whittle down the more than 300 images in the project’s Instagram feed to create a selection for the book—ten of which made the final cut. “Something I’m proud of is that images from 41 different countries feature in the book,” she says. “I really wanted to make it as international as possible, so I hope there’s something for everyone.”

Brutalist Plants is out in the U.K. this month, and you can preorder your copy on Hoxton Mini Press’s website. The book’s U.S. release is scheduled for September.

Reinforced hillside, Aogashima, Tokyo, Japan. Photo © Yasushi Okano

Artwork and photo by Karsten Födinger in La Vallée, Basse-Normandie, France

Left: Monument to the Revolution, Kozara National Park, Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Architect: Dušan Džamonja. Photo © Alexey Bokov.

Jurong Bird Park, Jurong, Singapore. Architect: John Yealland and J. Toovey. Photo © James Wong

Evangelische Friedenskirche (Peace Church), Monheim-Baumberg, Germany. Architect: Walter Maria Förderer. Photo © Bildarchiv Monheim GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

Left: Bucharest, Romania. Photo © Bogdan Anghel. Right: Casa Alférez, Cañada De Alferes, Mexico. Architect: Ludwig Godefroy. Photo © Rory Gardiner

Les Étoiles d’Ivry, Paris, France. Architect: Jean Renaudie. Photo © pp1 / Shutterstock

The abandoned Haludovo Palace Hotel, Krk Island, Croatia. Architect: Boris Magaš. Photo © Maciek Leszczelowski

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Photos from 41 Countries Juxtapose Blocky Architecture and Verdant Gardens in ‘Brutalist Plants’ appeared first on Colossal.

Despite claims that CDs are raring back into the zeitgeist, only a small number of people today consume media through the slim, shiny discs. In an exhibition at Pace, artist Tara Donovan presents an ode to the outmoded, if not beloved objects through 11 towering works.

The artist is known for her large-scale sculptures and installations of common, mass-produced objects like pencils, styrofoam cups, and Slinkys that consider accumulation and aggregation. For Stratagems, she bought about 500,000 CDs from eBay, sorted them by color, and glued two together so just the reflective areas were visible. She then layered the doubled components into undulating patterns and twisting helices reaching up to ten feet tall.

Because of their mirrored surfaces, the monumental sculptures catch and reflect light depending on the time of day and confront the viewer with the stunning weight of information. Donovan described the material in a recent interview:

The silver CDs are commercial discs with music, movies, audiobooks, porn, Jesus, Celine Dion. Everything. The green are CDRs, so they’re recordable. They contain whatever people valued enough to put on them, whether it’s a Grateful Dead concert or a mix. The CD is the last quantifiable object of data that exists in the world. We moved from filing cabinets to clouds. These are relics of a very recent past. I remember when the CD became a thing, it was marketed as the future. They made “forever discs” which were gold. When you think about the amount of information that is in this room is staggering.

Stratagems is on view through August 16 in New York, and you can find more from the artist at Pace.

Installation view of ‘Tara Donovan: Stratagems’

“Stratagem X” (2024), CDs, 88 × 17 × 17 inches

“Stratagem I” (2024), CDs, 88 × 14 × 14 inches

“Stratagem VI” (2024), CDs, 88 × 11.5 × 11.5 inches

“Stratagem VII” (2024), CDs, 88 × 16 × 16 inches

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Marisa Adesman unsettles domestic stability by twisting common sights into the surreal. From her studio in St. Louis, the artist infuses still lifes evocative of the Dutch Golden Age with a strange animism: forks coil around lit taper candles, an upside-down terracotta pot appears to levitate, and an illustrated kitchen tile seamlessly morphs into the feathered flesh of a duck. The luminous oil paintings use food and dining to explore issues of gender, culture, and politics, including the invisible labor women historically have undertaken.

A seemingly simple tool, the fork becomes a loaded metaphor in Adesman’s works. The sleek metal cutlery is buoyant and feisty as it shape-shifts and writhes, transforming a static instrument into a lively actor. “As a symbol of both nurturance and control, the fork’s pliability questions the hierarchies of value that we’ve placed on the ideas of ‘civilized’ and ‘uncivilized,’ ‘domestic’ and ‘wild’…By using various cutlery to feed ourselves, we dine rather than eat, believing we are somehow more refined, more civilized than other species,” she shares.

Whereas the fork paintings imply a human presence, Adesman’s newer works translate the body into phantasmic forms. “By a Thread,” for example, witnesses shiny, translucent fingers grasping at a pulley rope, while lace-gloved hands in “Out From Under” emerge from the floorboards alongside a bouquet.

“I aim to create tension between contrasting sensations: sensual yet horrifying, nourishing yet violent, familiar yet surreal, alluring yet deceptive,” the artist adds. “These dichotomies serve as a metaphor for the paradoxes of human life and especially the feminine experience.” Enchanted by a mysterious force, the paintings call attention to the immense labor of maintaining domestic life that, to those who have traditionally benefitted from it, may have seemed like magic all along.

Explore more of Adesman’s paintings on her site and Instagram.

“Midnight Snack” (2021), oil on canvas, 20 x 14 inches

“All’s Fair…” (2021), oil on canvas, 18 x 25.25 inches

“Chasing Tail” (2022), oil on canvas, 16 x 12 inches

“All the Trappings” (2020), oil on panel, 10 x 8 inches

“By a Thread” (2023), oil on canvas, 24 x 22 inches

“Out From Under” (2023), oil on canvas, 62 x 42 inches

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Uncanny Phenomena Derail Domestic Bliss in Marisa Adesman’s Luminous Paintings appeared first on Colossal.

Inspired by Dada and Surrealism, Anja Brunt’s instinctive paper medleys evoke a sense of whimsy, spontaneity, and randomness. The Amsterdam-based graphic designer has been creating assemblages for six years as a way to relax. After falling in love with the many possibilities of the medium, she began to work intuitively, cutting and arranging vintage ephemera into iterations of bodies, buildings, and bold text.

Brunt collects materials from every place imaginable. From papers she finds in chocolate boxes and antique playing cards to instruction leaflets and train tickets, the artist sources both aged pieces and contemporary media gathered from her daily life. As she accumulates promising morsels over time, she organizes each fragment into boxes and old stamp albums, where they await their addition into a montage.

At the moment, Brunt is exploring collage animation. Keep up with her newest projects on her website and Instagram.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Anja Brunt’s Clever Collages Give Ephemeral Articles a Second Life appeared first on Colossal.