WV & ND
Articles by Grace Ebert
Under Glass Cloches, Amber Cowan Nests Enchanting Flameworked Scenes
Known for her lush assemblages of flameworked glass, Amber Cowan reimagines a ubiquitous yet fragile medium. Flowers, filigree, and colorful baubles cluster into dense compositions that invoke fairytale narratives and whimsical nature scenes. Cowan typically works with industrial scraps, antiques, and other offcasts, which allows her to draw on products and colorways that are no longer in production.
Tiny Faces Surface Amid Sweeping Lines in En Iwamura’s Expressive Sculptures
In the voluptuous ceramics of En Iwamura, sweeping lines of clay frame minuscule eyes and noses that just barely emerge from the earthen material. The artist is based in the iconic pottery town of Shigaraki in Japan’s Shiga Prefecture and is known for his expressive yet abstract sculptures. Evoking playful depictions of masks and busts, the works are often vibrant in color, featuring bold gradients or two-toned combinations.
Nature or Culture? Europeans Can Vote on the New Banknote Design
What best represents European life? The eternal dichotomy of nature vs. culture structures the Central Bank’s quest for a new banknote design, and now, the public can vote and offer feedback on ten proposals. A panel of jurors selected the designs, which follow one of two themes: European places and ideas or birds and rivers, the latter of which is meant to symbolize freedom and unity.
‘Colorstruck!’ Examines the Connection Between Race and Chromatic Expression
A nude Black woman lies on a stark white chaise, her head propped up by her thin arm. She’s surrounded by flat, abstracted color in the form of fruits and fabrics, and a glass coupe and bottle on a nearby table offer a clear, rather than refracted, view of the vibrant scene. Rendered in oil on burlap, the painting by William H. Johnson is commanding in its palette and subject matter and an exemplary work in a new book by art historian Richard J. Powell.
Dynamic Scenes Emerge from Fumiaki Aono’s Wooden Assemblages
Since 1998, Fumiaki Aono has been interested in how objects circulate and what happens when they appear in new contexts. Questions of restoration and regeneration naturally followed, and wood became a prime medium for exploring these themes. Today, Aono continues to revitalize found objects, particularly discarded furniture. Dressers, chests, and cabinets stack into towering assemblages and become the imaginative backdrop for the artist’s constructed scenes.
Damien Aubin Documents a Former Soviet Mining Settlement Suspended in Time
The small settlement of Pyramiden on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard is literally frozen in time. A former mining outpost for the Soviet Union, industrial operations ceased in 1998, and residents relocated. It wasn’t until 2007 that a handful of new inhabitants made the settlement home. Because Pyramiden was abandoned in a cold climate, it remains impeccably preserved, with remnants of its once-thriving settlement still visible.
Felicia Chiao’s Domestic Scenes Reflect the Emotional Structures of Daily Life
“When I was really little, I wanted to be one of those stackable chairs you’d see in like a school auditorium,” Felicia Chiao says. “I thought they looked cozy.” This childhood memory is the basis for a playful drawing in which Chiao’s signature characters mound atop one another. Layering reigns in this imagined world as calendars and clocks emerge from the wall in dense piles, while stacks of books and dishes rest on the floor.
Saman and Sasan Oskouei’s Sculptures Puncture the Weight of Everyday Objects
What good is a ladder without structural integrity? Artist brothers Saman and Sasan Oskouei consider this question in The Weight of Less, an ongoing series of pocked wooden sculptures. From a school desk to a door to an industrial pallet, each humble item is punctured with irregular yet cohesive holes, rendering their former functions impractical. “As layers are removed, the objects lose their original purpose while gaining a new presence,” the artists tell Colossal.
The Era of Contradiction Materializes in Genesis Belanger’s Uncanny Sculptures
How do we distinguish between the artificial and the real? And perhaps more importantly, why should we? Genesis Belanger makes the tension and anxiety that arise from these questions tangible as she lures viewers into an unsettling world. Known for her ceramic works depicting an uncanny vision of domestic life, Belanger often teases out the dynamic relationships between discomfort, consumption, and capitalism.
Trompe-L’œil Paintings by Jason Limon Reveal a Hidden Skeletal World
If you were to rip open a tattered matchbox, what might you find hidden in its confines? And what’s lurking behind biological renderings and advertisements? Jason Limon imagines a playful world in which vintage illustrations are the colorful veneer concealing a vast, three-dimensional universe populated by skeletons.
Divine Sculptures Revere a Yorùbá Goddess in Nigeria’s Ọṣun-Òṣogbo Sacred Grove
In Yorùbá culture, it’s said that more than 600 years ago, a hunter discovered a lush grove in southwestern Nigeria carved by a rushing river. His community had experienced drought and eagerly moved to the region, which they quickly learned was under the rule of the goddess of rivers and fertility, Ọ̀ṣun. In exchange for protection and prosperity, the people promised to celebrate the deity, and this pact grounds what’s now known as the Ọṣun-Òṣogbo Sacred Grove.
Korea’s Coastal Folklore Surfaces in Jeongmin Lee’s Ink Illustrations
Jeongmin Lee is interested in the ways “memory is carried through craft and repetition.” On traditional Korean mulberry paper, or hanji, Lee draws delicate lines in ink and pigments known as bunchae, rendering rippling textures that whirl across the page. Steeped in local folklore and mythology, the Busan-based artist creates surreal scenes that conjure fantastical tales of life by the sea.
Andrew Salgado’s Gestural Still Lifes Pulse with Energy
A largely figurative painter with a penchant for literary citation, Andrew Salgado turns his attention to the still life in a new body of work. Wanting to depart from his narrative-driven process in favor of subject matter allowing for greater intuition and spontaneity, the artist began to render vibrant bouquets in his signature gestural marks. Color ripples across each canvas, presenting the stylized florals in various states of blossom and decay.
The Longtail of Incarceration Unfolds in Gil Batle’s Surreal Narratives
The lively flora and fauna of a tiny Filipino island commingle with harrowing memories of California prisons in the surreal works of Gil Batle. Entirely self-taught, Batle honed his skills while incarcerated over the course of 25 years, drawing and eventually tattooing in a clandestine practice. Today, he’s immigrated to his parents’ native country, where he continues to reflect on the decades he spent in confinement. Batle’s Double Life is a new body of work that explores these dual experiences.
Ana Elisa Egreja Takes a Magical Realist Approach to Migration in Her Rich Still Lifes
“Improbable but not impossible” is how Brazilian artist Ana Elisa Egreja describes the unexpected companions in her vibrant still lifes. Combining the architectural motifs, animals, and fare common in her native São Paulo with elements from abroad, Egreja positions domestic spaces as sites of change, where migration and cross-cultural pollination come to bear.
Amelia Cross Blends Bespoke Tailoring and Trompe-L’œil Painting in Her Sartorial Studies
Although Amelia Cross subscribes to the belief that our sartorial choices are a way to signal who we are and what we care about, she also knows there are more subliminal details hiding in personal style. A nametag curling at the edges or a pen bleeding through a shirt pocket stand in stark contrast to a perfectly pressed collar or shiny brogues, but each also has the potential to conceal or obscure. These covert elements are what the London-born artist is most interested in unpacking.
James Turrell’s 100th ‘Skyscape’ Opens in Aarhus
The pioneering perceptual artist James Turrell marked a career milestone this month with the opening of his 100th Skyscape, a site-specific architectural installation with a simple construction: a domed structure with an oculus pointed toward the sky. Now permanently on view at ARoS in Aarhus, Denmark, “As Seen Below” is the latest iteration of the iconic series, which has been installed in 26 countries.
In a New 223-Megapixel Image, NASA Captures 16.5 Million Stars of the Cigar Galaxy
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is back with another stunner: a new 223-megapixel composite featuring about 16.5 million stars that have been evolving over several million years. Captured by Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) across 65 hours, the enormous image features Messier 82, also known as the Cigar galaxy, which is located 12 million light-years away. “M82 is a mess, but it’s a beautiful mess,” said NASA fellow Adam Smercina.
‘PLEASE’ Is Anna Mantzaris’ Unhinged Comedy About Desperately Wanting Love
Sure, we all want love, but what lengths would you go to find it? Swedish animator Anna Mantzaris once again captures the gamut of human emotion in a stop-motion film that plunges headfirst into the pitiful and cringy. As its title suggests, “PLEASE” is about wanting and attempting to find love through increasingly unhinged acts of desperation and neediness. Mantzaris’ signature felt characters light fires for marriage proposals, sob in the chip aisle, and hug puppies while waiting for the train.
Lenka Clayton Reflects on Motherhood and Finding Connection in Everyday Objects
To open a new film from Art21, artist Lenka Clayton encapsulates her way of thinking and making: “Looking at things that are supposed to behave a certain way and purposefully misunderstanding how they should be used, it’s really important to me,” she says. The Cornwall-born artist works across media, creating both meditative animations via typewriter and immersive installations of gathered artifacts.
In Guadalajara, a Ceramic Tile Mural Mimics a Sun-Drenched Ecosystem
Thousands of handmade ceramic tiles nest together like a puzzle on the facade of the Torre San Luis hotel in Guadalajara, Mexico. Abstract shapes evocative of a lush garden ecosystem burst across the outdoor wall in a collaboration between Alex Proba and the artisans of Cerámica Suro. Titled “Shape of Movement,” the large-scale public work melds Proba’s organic visual language with a color palette that reflects the local environment.
Delcy Morelos Tends to Sepulchral Installations in a Divine Connection to the Land
The Colombian artist Delcy Morelos describes her hometown of Tierralta as “a paradise full of butterflies and unpaved streets.” In the late 1960s and early ’70s, Morelos spent her days in her grandmother’s garden, running barefoot and gleaning what it meant to live in connection with the land. When paramilitary and guerrilla troops moved in, though, the region was plunged into a chaotic state of grief and fear.
Domestic Arrangements Unfold in Kristof Santy’s Vivid Paintings
Known for his vibrant palettes and flattened perspectives, Belgian artist Kristof Santy translates common sights and everyday objects into vivid tableaux. His paintings often highlight fruit and vegetables, tabletops, and modes of transportation, particularly those involved in industrial labor. A new body of work continues Santy’s inquiries into the mundane, this time extending into fashions and furnishings.
Cacti and Clouds Glitch in Alexis Mata’s Fantastical Landscapes
“There was a moment when I was walking between forests and mountains in Tepoztlán, Mexico, while dandelions floated across my face,” Alexis Mata says. “In that instant, I experienced a strange sensation, as if I were standing on another planet, in another time, confronted with an entirely new landscape.” As the dainty seeds drifted through the air, Mata began to think about the ways life forms travel and embed themselves in new ecosystems.
A Poetic Short Film Animates the Counterproductive Forces of Incarceration
What is prison for? Touted as both a means of punishment and correction, the U.S. carceral system rarely succeeds at the latter. According to the Department of Justice, more than 650,000 people are released from prison annually, with two-thirds being arrested again within three years. Rehabilitation is the purported justification for locking away more of our residents than most other nations, but clearly, the punitive system seldom accomplishes this goal.
Tavares Strachan’s First Monograph Surveys an Encyclopedic Practice
Tavares Strachan is an artist whose interests, references, and approaches to making stretch so broadly, it’s not surprising that one of his more well-known works is an encyclopedia. Created in 2018, the 2,400-page volume contains 15,000 entries on individuals, events, places, and more that are critical to understanding our shared history, and yet were omitted from the Encyclopedia Britannica.
In Los Angeles, 70 Artists Transform a Vacant Hospital into a Sprawling Art Experience
A few miles northwest of Downtown Los Angeles and Skid Row, St. Vincent Medical Center is considered one of the city’s most historical hospitals, having supported Angelenos since the 19th century. Vacant since 2020, the center is slated to become a full-service campus aimed at supporting people with addiction, mental health concerns, housing insecurity, and more. This transformation will begin in the next few months with a final target opening date in 2028 and a wholesale takeover in the meantime.
Don’t Feed the Ducks! A Zany Animation Predicts the Absurd Outcomes of Ignoring the Rules
How many people actually heed the warnings about not feeding ducks waddling around public parks? If you’ve taken a flippant approach to these guidelines in the past, we recommend you watch AJ Jeffries’ new animation, “DUCKS.” What opens as an innocuous jaunt around a pond quickly turns into a dark comedy full of strange contortions and feathered villains sure to pop into your head the next time you throw a chunk of bread.
Wildfires and War Rage in Shawn Huckins’ Theatrical Paintings
In Slow Burn, Shawn Huckins puts the cognitive dissonance that defines our current era in stark relief. The New Hampshire-based painter has long challenged American mythology and collective aggrandizing by reinterpreting canonical artworks and visual languages. His series have commented on the U.S.’s proclivity for erasing history and the ways our garments convey social status and class.
Jongjin Park Layers Slip-Soaked Paper into Patchwork Sculptures
Given the heat generated during firing, it’s rare to see paper incorporated into a ceramics practice. For Seoul-based artist Jongjin Park, though, the two go hand-in-hand. Park recently won the 2026 Loewe Craft Prize, a prestigious annual award celebrating innovative makers, for his striking sculpture “Strata of Illusion.” A rectangular shape with an open top and slouching side, the piece features countless folded layers made from paper towels dipped in watered-down ceramic slip.
An Interactive Sculpture by Wade and Leta Celebrates the Sun-Bleached Australian Landscape
In Sydney’s Circular Quay, a 6.5-meter-tall installation spins, twirls, and totters amid a public thoroughfare. Titled “There, Now, Here,” the kinetic artwork is by the Brooklyn-based duo Wade and Leta and is in almost constant motion, thanks to wind, motors, and willing participants hopping on a see-saw.
This Wood-Fiber Dress Was Made from a 17th-Century Shipwreck
Some of the most exciting designs emerging from the world of sustainable fashion are those utilizing uncommon materials. There are gowns sculpted with grass roots, sequins made from algae, and electrical wires woven into lace. Now, researchers and designers at Aalto University can add another unusual substance to that list: the remains of a 300-year-old wooden shipwreck.
Matte Marble Dust Glimmers Across Marin Majic’s Enigmatic Scenes
Layers of colored pencil and marble dust worked into an oil-like substance flood the linen planes on which Marin Majic works. The Brooklyn-based artist builds upon a foundational drawing, blending various media into a richly textured surface resembling fabric or plaster. Matte finishes radiate across the scenes, appearing like magical glimmers under a night sky. Steeped in mystery, Majic’s works gravitate toward questions of power, impermanence, and the slippery nature of reality.
Christina Mrozik Illustrates an ‘Emotional Ecosystem’ Oracle Deck with Fantastical Forms
Six years in the making, Christina Mrozik’s new project tackles “the feelings of all things.” Fifty cards comprise the richly illustrated oracle deck, which delves into a vast emotional terrain through the artist’s distinctive visual metaphors of flora and fauna.
A Leonora Carrington Biopic Traces the Surrealist Icon’s Life and Work
“Don’t you think it’s dangerous to blur the distinction between abstraction and reality?” asks actress Olivia Vinall in her role as the Surrealist artist and writer Leonora Carrington (1917-2011). The heady line is one of the standout statements in the new biopic documenting Carrington’s life and work.
Anthony Gallery founder Easy Otabor on his cross-genre approach to collecting artwork
Art Chicago June 2026 issue 3 Min Read For the Chicago-based gallerist and collector, collecting is an act of ‘building bridges’ between creative disciplines – as well as artists and communities. Writer Photographer For Easy Otabor, acquiring an artwork is often an extension of an existing relationship.
Queer Figures Commune with Nature in J Carino’s Dynamic Paintings
“Color, for me, is a heightened reality,” says J Carino. Through palettes rooted in a dynamic dance between earth and jewel tones, the artist renders lush scenes in which nude figures commune with nature. A sturdy back buttresses a fallen tree, chests and limbs peek through a summer meadow, and a muscular grip cradles a small mule amid a raging flood. Blocks of color and gestural brushstrokes characterize each composition, which question what we deem natural and innate.
The Photographs that Shaped the Black Arts Movement in the Mid-20th Century
Photography is often touted as the most democratic and accessible medium in the visual arts. Today, the majority of us carry phones equipped with powerful, easy-to-use cameras that capture our lives and the world around us, transforming each of us into a documentarian at a moment’s notice. This omnipresence shapes our understanding of art and culture and often serves as a critical tool for political and social change. The same is true for a forthcoming exhibition at the Mississippi Museum of Art.
130+ Artists Illuminate the Vast Creative Possibilities of the Nightlight
Artists iterating on a seemingly mundane object is one of our favorite exhibition concepts. Vintage envelopes, coasters, and matchboxes are just a fraction of the items galleries have offered as unique canvases for small works, and now, we can add nighlights to that list. On view through June 26, DUDD LITE is a collaboration between the design collective Dudd Haus and the gallery The Future Perfect.
Play ‘Liminal Bingo,’ Pat Perry’s Participatory Photo Treasure Hunt
If you want to participate in Pat Perry’s new photo project, you’ll have to get comfortable heading outside, grabbing a few friends, and preparing to hunt low and high for obscure spots in your neighborhood.
From Two Tons of Celadon, Jean Shin Sculpts a Metaphor for the Korean Diaspora
Incorporating nearly two tons of porcelain fragments, a monumental pair of vessels spills out into a pool of lustrous green. Shards of broken cups and saucers, pots, and other voluptuous forms blanket the gallery of the Green-House at Green-Wood for a new installation by Jean Shin. Celadon Landscape is one of the latest projects in which the artist transforms a singular material into a sprawling sculpture.
Arghavan Khosravi Breaks Through Gendered Restrictions in Her Architectural Portraits
Fusing elements of Persian architecture with Christian altarpieces, Arghavan Khosravi grapples with the structures and ideological strictures that shape our lives. The Iranian artist has long reckoned with women’s fight for equality, particularly amid censorship and religious dogma in her native country. Through vibrant gradients that radiate across her sculptural paintings, Khosravi entices the viewer into urgent, ongoing conversations about resistance and control.
Blood-Red Landscapes by Andrew McIntosh Conjure the Terrifying Unknown
Typically gravitating toward dreamy palettes of soft blues, grays, and oranges, Scottish artist Andrew McIntosh opts for a sanguine red in a new body of work. The crimson paintings continue McIntosh’s otherworldly landscapes that cast familiar forms like mountains and valleys in a strange, uncanny light. Glowing orbs float among the craggy terrain and veil the scenes in mystery.
Hilary Pecis Paints Saturated Snapshots of West Coast Life
In Love Letters, Hilary Pecis captures the mundane moments and under-appreciated views of daily life. The Los Angeles-based artist presents a suite of new acrylic paintings in her signature saturated style, focusing on snippets of a backyard pool, the corner of a studio worktop, and a friendly picnic complete with a radiant strawberry cake. Pecis prefers to work from photos and translates singular moments onto linen.
Collaged Denim Sculptures by Nick Doyle Unravel American Mythology
Despite its name, the Canadian Tuxedo is a distinctly American look. The denim-on-denim getup dates back to the 1950s, when Bing Crosby sported a full Levi’s ensemble while in Vancouver, setting a sartorial trend that continues today. The national mythology woven into this utilitarian material is also the focus of Brooklyn-based Nick Doyle, who layers denim atop denim into large wall sculptures.
Luscious Hair Sculptures Sprout Like Branches in a Symbiotic Exhibition
A visit to Lincoln Park or the Garfield Park Conservatory is one of the outings Chicagoans rarely pass up, particularly when we need some reprieve from all the concrete and steel. Two beloved green spaces in the city, these spots boast oases blanketed in verdant foliage even in the depths of winter and house an array of specimens not native to the Midwest.
How Fatinha Ramos Channels ‘Visual Activism’ in Her Richly Layered Illustrations
“To me, being a visual activist means I only illustrate stories that resonate with me deeply, by giving voice to minorities or social situations that need to be addressed,” says Fatinha Ramos. “It is the only way I can truly connect with others.” Based in Antwerp, the Portuguese artist and illustrator is well-known for blending analog and digital techniques to create rich, emotive compositions.
Maxwell Mustardo Sculpts Ancient Ornamentation in Brilliant Glazed Forms
The shapes of Maxwell Mustardo’s ceramic works evoke ancient amphorae, kraters, and, most recently, kylix—a wide Greek cup with handles—although their surfaces feel distinctly organic. Textured growths cloak the vessels with fungal or lichen-esque forms, albeit in color palettes that are bold and otherworldly. Fluorescent oranges, pinks, and greens appear to glow in even the most mundane settings, firmly planting the pieces at the intersection of historic craft, nature, and the uncanny.
We Spent a Week Quarantined on an Uninhabited Island with 80 Artists
A muscular Englishman in a khaki kilt and black beret hops atop the edge of an old well clad in traditional Spanish tile, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows in what can only be called an act of bravery. High winds and rain pelt a group of visitors from all directions, and yet, this charismatic performer stands tall above the cobblestone to announce that he’s been living on this vacant island for nearly two centuries. He’s here to give us a tour.
Kim Dacres Revitalizes Sleek Tires, Chains, and Gears in Defiant Sculptures
Kim Dacres gravitates toward renewal and care, transforming worn rubber into expressive sculptural portraits. The New York-based artist twists and braids tired treads into sleek buns and rows typical of Black hairstyles, which she embellishes with gear-like crowns and jewelry made of metal bike chains. Spray painting the material to mask marks, Dacres utilizes what might otherwise be deemed worthless to create bold visages.
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