Air-Mountain: A Translucent Inflatable Structure Blurs the Boundary Between Interior and Exterior Spaces

   15 May 01:00:01   |  ThisIsColossal

Visitors to this year’s OCT Phoenix Flower Festival in Shenzhen, China encountered an unusual inflatable pavilion by Aether Architects. The translucent structure, called “air-mountain,” served dual functions as a protective exhibition space and a surface for people to climb up and over. Inflated hemispheres with a range of dimensions and textures were grouped together via a ribbed topography, and included air holes to allow visitors (and plants) room to breathe.
Aether was founded by architect Zelin Huang, who also has a background in fine art. More

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Head-Turning Historical Portraits by Ewa Juszkiewicz

   14 May 01:00:02   |  ThisIsColossal

Ewa Juszkiewicz subverts the traditional notion of female portrait sitters as passive, simple subjects in her subtly unusual oil paintings. The artist constructs each painted portrait using familiar tropes from European art history, sometimes even citing specific paintings as inspiration. Female subjects with smooth, pale skin and luxurious apparel are placed in front of abstract or generically bucolic settings, sometimes with a “gender-appropriate” item in hand, like a paint brush, small book, or feather. More

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Beaded Images of Disease Explore the Impact of Colonial Trade

   14 May 01:00:02   |  ThisIsColossal

In her series Trading, Saskatchewan-based artist Ruth Cuthand creates a visual metaphor that outlines how early settler/Native relationships influenced First Nation people’s living conditions and wellbeing in Canada. The colorful works are created from beads which were traded by European settlers for furs in the Americas. Although dazzling aesthetically, the work’s content reveals images of deadly viruses passed on by settlers as a result of this trade, such as influenza, bubonic plague, measles, smallpox, typhus, cholera, and scarlet fever. More

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Human Anatomy Baked Into Polymer Desserts by QimmyShimmy

   13 May 01:00:02   |  ThisIsColossal

Singapore-based mixed media artist QimmyShimmy uses polymer clay to craft baby figures and sugary treats that blend fantasy and reality in interesting and often disturbing ways. From tiny anatomical heart pies to baby head lollipops, the surreal sculptures are a trick and a treat wrapped in one confusing but attractive package.
Formally trained in graphic design, QimmyShimmy tells Colossal that sculpting was a self-taught skill inspired by the desire to do something different. “It is a mix of wanting to do something really whacky apart from my design work, and also a little voice in my head that just wants to make strange, surprising things.” The oven-baked clay is formed and painted by hand and sometimes placed on common dessert settings, which makes the stark contrast of the imagery more apparent. More

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Bold Paper Quilled Artworks by JUDiTH + ROLFE Burst With Color and Character

   13 May 01:00:02   |  ThisIsColossal

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Radiant Flowers Overlook Lyon, France in New Mural by INTI

   12 May 01:00:01   |  ThisIsColossal

For the Peinture Fraiche Festival, Chilean street artist INTI recently painted a large-scale mural on a building in Lyon, France. Titled “SOLEIL” (Blinded by the Light), the piece features a sun-shaped bouquet of flowers framing, obstructing, and fusing with the face of a cosmic figure that stands several stories tall.
The wall art uses INTI’s signature violet and orange-gold hues to draw the eye to the top of the building. Varied shades of orange give the flowers depth as they become the figure’s face and shirt. More

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The Rhysonic Wheel Bridges Programmed Percussion with Acoustic Guitar for a Captivating One-Man Ensemble

   12 May 01:00:01   |  ThisIsColossal

Wellington, New Zealand-based musician Pete O?Connell has previously used his Rhysonic Wheel, a self-made instrument that combines power tools with a self-spinning wheel, to create steady, melodic strumming on his acoustic guitar. Recently he has built another iteration of the device that spins several wheels at once, producing harmony between a drum, djembe, and any other percussive or stringed instrument he chooses to place in the path of the machine’s spinning wheels.
The invention was inspired by the rhythm that would rattle from the hockey cards attached to his childhood bicycle. More

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Imaginative Botanical Ceramics Invent New Fruits and Flowers

   11 May 01:00:02   |  ThisIsColossal

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Crumbling Buildings and Graffiti-Covered Walls Are Meticulously Documented in Oil Paintings by Jessica Hess

   11 May 01:00:02   |  ThisIsColossal

Oakland-based painter Jessica Hess documents landscapes and built environments in moments of transition. Combining open skies and lush plant life with crumbling walls and frayed rebar, Hess finds equivalency in growth and decay. The artist, who works in oil paint, shoots photos while exploring abandoned locales, and uses these real life references to build her carefully framed worlds on canvas.
Hess graduated from Rhode Island School of Design and has been exhibiting nationally for over 15 years. More

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