Homiens Summer 2024
Monika Malewska, Dragon Fruit And Green Marbles Swirl Composition No. 1 (detail), 2023, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 20” x 30” (508 mm x 762 mm).
Haoran Bie
Assembly: Ceramics & Glass 2023
Porcelain and borosilicate glass
Various
Artist’s Statement: Assembly, assembly, assembly. In my eyes, assembly is gorgeous . It’s not just the function, it’s the piston that brings a product to life. Imagine a diamond ring. Elegant legs grow out of the ring, like the delicate forelimbs of a spider, gently clamping down on a sparkling gemstone. Everything is as if it were made in heaven. And like a fruit ripening between the branches, firmly clamped by the seemingly slender branches, swaying gracefully in the wind. Ceramics, ceramics, ceramics. The fruit of human civilisation. A puddle of clay in the hands of our ancestors before you and me, it can come to life. Time seems to stand still in it. It was born from mud and water, and rose in flames. Glass, glass, glass. Picked up from the sand, it is as clear as water and as fragile as ice. It seems absent but real, strong but fragile. Throwing, glazing, firing. Ceramics are born. With the roar of the torch, in my blowing, glass stretching the sinews, rounded belly; be with ceramics in the flames. From then on, never separate.
As an artist with a background in industrial design and jewellery design, Haoran Bie is fascinated by the exploration of the ways in which different materials can be assembled. During his postgraduate studies, he focused on ceramics and glass. He hopes to show the different possibilities of materials through the innovative use of traditional craftsmanship. In the series of works ASSEMBLY, Bie draws on the shape and ideology of the traditional Chinese handicrafts of the Multi-layer Ivory Ball, and tries to reinterpret this traditional cultural heritage in the current social and humanistic environment through the glass blowing process, so as to make it more suitable for the needs of the public at present. Bie’s works are ostensibly to explore the innovative ways of assembling ceramics and glass, but in fact, to stimulate the people’s understanding of the traditional handicrafts in the current social development environment. Many of the crafts that were created in the context of ancient feudal societies are fading from view; as treasures of human civilisation, Bie hopes that they can be preserved in a way that is more relevant to the needs of contemporary society.
Heimir Björgúlfsson
I have nothing to say 2024
Pearls on tapestry
48” x 36” (1219 mm x 914 mm)
Artist’s Statement: I create collages and assemblage-based works that introduce questions rather than offer solutions. I am interested in mankind’s clash with nature, however subtle or absurd, and its unpredictable consequences, examining how animal species adapt to changing habitats and endure the effects of urbanization and climate change. I seek the awkwardness within those situations and their coincidental narratives formed by the viewer’s cultural identities. I wanted to be an ornithologist from a young age. After I moved to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, to study art, I found myself in surroundings where practically every square foot is altered. This contrasting environment from the largely unaltered Iceland molded my artistic direction as I navigated my new controlled habitat, becoming self-conscious of my Icelandic background. The environment I work in versus the environment I am from continues to inspire me today, with Los Angeles and Southern California now being the protagonists for the last decade and a half; its clash of artificial and natural environments, complex history, and layered cultures. My interest in recent years has also become more anecdotal, like specific changes in animal behaviors or species’ extinction due to climate change. I am intrigued by how animals mimic human behavior, enduring minor to catastrophic changes in their surroundings and co-existing with them. Everything from Monkey burglary gangs stealing food from private homes in the suburbs of cities in South Africa, caused by habitat loss, to Manatees eating lawn grass in flooded backyards in Florida, caused by climate change. Through such examples of unpredictable consequences, what do we know and think about the so-called laws of nature and species adaptation?
Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1975, Heimir Björgúlfsson lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He received his MFA from the Sandberg Institute in 2003 and his BFA from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in 2001, both in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In 1998, he graduated from the Sonology program at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, The Netherlands. His work has been exhibited widely in Europe and the United States in solo and group exhibitions at venues such as The Museum of Fine Art, Houston; Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, Los Angeles; Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik; National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik; Gemeente Museum, The Hague; and the Biennale for Light Art, Ruhr, Germany. His work has been featured in publications such as The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Epoch Times, Houston Chronicle, De Volkskrant, Culturetrip, dArt International Magazine, KUNSTforum, and New American Paintings. In 2012, he was nominated for the Carnegie Art Award in Stockholm, Sweden; in 2006, he was nominated for the De Volkskrant Visual Art Prize in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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Ben Lovell
Vatununu Traffic 2023
Metal print
Artist’s Statement: Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Solomon Islands, this black and white photograph captures a moment of profound solitude and resilience. A lone dugout canoe, guided by an indigenous local, navigates the misty, unforgiving waters, a tiny yet determined presence in the face of nature’s vastness. The image serves as a powerful reminder of mankind’s enduring connection to the sea and the ancient traditions that have helped us navigate its dangers for centuries, even as the modern world continues to evolve around us.
As a photographer, I have been lucky to journey all over the world from the ancient landscapes of Jordan and Turkey to the untouched natural beauty of the Solomon Islands and the expansive vistas of Utah. My tool of choice is the Sony A7R5 with a set of G-Master lenses, along with an underwater rig. My work is more than a collection of images; it’s a portfolio of adventures, documenting the pulse of exploration and the spirit of the intrepid. At the heart of my photography lies a deep passion for expedition imagery. I’ve not only had the opportunity to witness but also participate in the thrill of discovery, capturing the essence of human resilience and the joy of exploration. My lens focuses on those bold enough to tread new paths, revealing stories of human endeavor against the backdrop of the planet’s most awe-inspiring landscapes. This journey has not just shaped my career; it’s sculpted my view of the world, one frame at a time.
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Nyx Mir
Grief from Illmarks 2024
Ink on paper
Artist’s Statement: Illmarks is a project I’ve been working on, creating body maps & symptom visualizations of what Long Covid feels like. While I’m still sick, disability justice art has helped heal my soul.
Why Illmarks?
- People who know more about Long Covid tend to take more precautions to help protect others.
- Many people with Long Covid struggle to articulate our symptoms (or to be heard when we do).
This is why I have been using my very limited energy for Illmarks.
I have one of the milder reckonings of Long Covid: I can leave the house (sometimes), and I can draw (sometimes). I make this art for those of us who cannot. Post-viral illness is not new, and I am thankful to those who have held lights in the darkness for decades. Be curious, and please, be even more kind.
Gail Ritchie
The Shape of Mourning 2022
from The im/material monument
Hand-formed bio-plastic petals attached to circular wire frame (on wall)
15.7” x 15.7” (400 mm x 400 mm)
Hand-formed bio-plastic pebbles placed into copper bowl (on floor)
2” x 3.2” x 3.2” (50 mm x 80 mm x 80 mm)
Artist’s Statement: The Troubles were a thirty-year sectarian conflict which began in 1968. During this time almost four-thousand people were killed due to violence enacted by State and non-State actors. Commemoration of the Troubles is contested. Existing memorials are sectarian and there is no single memorial that commemorates all the of dead due to the tensions that exist between naming them. For one person, someone was a victim; for another, a perpetrator. The use of colour and symbolic emblems are similarly contested in Ireland, denoting allegiance to a particular side of the sectarian divide. In The Shape of Mourning, I wanted to remember all of the dead inclusively without naming anyone and without recourse to recognisable sectarian symbolism or colours. I wanted to show, in material form, how the Troubles could be remembered, without suggesting how they should be. Much of the work made in this series was experimental, ambiguous and deliberately unfinished. Just as the Troubles are not conclusively over, so I did not want my work to suggest foreclosure. I also wanted to enfold the NI Troubles into a wider political domain to acknowledge the wider “trouble” we are in with reference to other conflicts and the climate emergency. The materials I used to produce this work included studio scrap, children’s plasticine, found and recycled objects as well as materials more formally associated with commemoration and monuments, like granite. This body of work thus reconfigures notions of time, the memorial wreath, and the conventional text found on headstones. It is a meditation on mourning, memory, time, and how to remember the dead inclusively, always including what is perceived as Other.
Gail is a professional visual artist and researcher based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She was born in Newtownards, County Down. She studied Art and Design at Ulster University (BA Hons. 1991) and at Queen’s University Belfast (MA Arts Management, 2013). In 2022 she was awarded a PhD in International Relations from Queen’s University for practice-based research into how the Northern Ireland Troubles might be commemorated in material form. She has been a studio holder at QSS (Queen Street Studios) Belfast since 2003 and served both as a Board member and Chair. During this time she co-led projects that enabaled the group to relocate twice to improved premises. From 1995- 2003 Gail lived in the Republic of Ireland where she was a member of Backwater Artists Group. She has received awards from the Arts Council Ireland, Arts Council Northern Ireland, Cultural Relations Committee, the British Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Currently, she is developing new work on the core themes of time, memory and memorials from her studio in East Belfast.
Lee Welch
Boredom is an emptiness filled with insistence 2024
Acrylic on canvas
10” x 8.1” (255 mm x 205 mm)
Artist’s Statement: Lee Welch’s homage to Picasso’s Portrait of Leo Stein exudes a quiet yet profound resonance, inviting viewers into a realm of introspection and contemplation. Through a masterful blend of technique and emotion, Welch captures the essence of the human psyche, offering a glimpse into the inner workings of the mind. During the transformative years spanning 1905 to 1907, Alfred Barr Jr., visionary pioneer of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, heralded Leo Stein as perhaps the foremost connoisseur and collector of 20th-century painting worldwide. Picasso, ever astute to the potential of the Stein siblings, sought to cultivate their acquaintance, recognising their significance within the art world. With meticulous attention to detail, Picasso crafted gouache portraits of Leo Stein, imbuing each stroke with a sense of reverence and admiration, capturing his subject’s earnest and contemplative expression.
Lee Welch creates gestural, atmospheric paintings that attest to the psychical and emotional depths of his chosen subjects and map out delicate negotiations between beauty, desire, and the painted image. Depicting figures from his own milieu, as well as from history, literature, music, and tennis, Welch finds feeling in that which he depicts, always rendered with the intensity of his particular humanism; a close looking akin to love. In each subject’s specificity, the artist reveals the universal feelings that connect us to each other, and that stretch from our present moment back through time. Welch received his BFA from the National College of Art and Design in 2009 and his MFA from Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam in 2011. He has since been widely exhibited internationally and received numerous awards. Recent exhibitions have taken place at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University; Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León (MUSAC), León, Spain; Glucksman Gallery, Cork; Objectif Exhibitions, Antwerp and Kerlin Gallery, Dublin. His paintings are in private and public collections such as the Arts Council, Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane and the OPW – State Art Collection.
Ciaran Bowen
Neon Cloud 2024
Oil and acrylic paint skins, spray paint, silicone, and canvas on expanding foam
34″ x 49″ x 4” (870 mm x 1250 mm x 100 mm)
Artist’s Statement: This piece is an amalgamation of different processes of expanded painting that I have developed over the last nine years as working as an artist. The main concept is the discovery of how to apply paint onto a surface, and how to manipulate it into a new motif.
Ciaran Bowen (b. 1990) is an artist based in Wexford, Ireland. He achieved his BA (Hons) in Fine Art from SETU Wexford in 2015. His work predominantly focuses on the materiality of paint and how it can be manipulated and push through a variety of processes. By combining the paint with industrial materials, it allows the surface of the work to be moved outside the constraints of traditional painting. By drying sheets of paint, he manipulates them by cutting, collaging, printing and flooding the surface of the work. It is not only about the surface of the work but the interplay of materials/ forms and how they intersect. Recent shows include: (2023) The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, London, (2023/2022) RHA Annual Exhibition, Dublin, (2023) Cape Sacred, West Wales Art Center and (2022) A Slight Hiccup, La Grange Gallery, France. He was a recipient of the “Making and Momentum: In Conversation with Eileen Gray” Artist Prize (2022) awarded by Fashion designer Richard Malone as well as the Artlinks Bursary Award (2022). His work is also held in public and private collections including Carlow IT (2015), Wexford County Council (2019) and Wexford Arts Centre (2018 & 2021). As well as private collections in Ireland, United Kingdom and USA.
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Matéo Crémades
Sunrise Over Haku Mountain 2023
Goatskin parchment, tinted goatskin parchment, boxwood, ebony, curly maple, silver, silver leaf, cooper leaf, 23.7 carat “Gomoshoku” gold leaf, 14.3 carat “Mizu-iro” gold leaf, 12 carat white gold leaf
2.7” (70 mm) diameter
Artist’s Statement: Sunrise over Haku Mountain is a hybrid work. Its reading can be multiple and understood both from a temporal and spatial point of view. It embodies the reinterpretation of an ancient know-how and generates a mixed space between Orient and Occident. The structure of the work was inspired by the prayer nuts made at the beginning of the 16th century by the master miniaturists of northern Europe. These small boxwood spheres entirely carved with rosettes and which contain very detailed miniature religious scenes were used at the beginning of the Renaissance as an aid to personal devotion. Their owners, letting their minds wander among the profusion of ornaments and narrative scenes, used them as a support for religious meditation. With Sunrise over Haku Mountain, I wanted to create a similar object that invites the viewer to recenter and find calm by letting their gaze wander through the parchment’s landscapes that make up my work. He will be able to travel in thought and admire the sunrise on Mount Haku, one of the three sacred mountains of Japan, and admire the carps in Komatsu City’s Rojo Park. The outer structure of the work is made up of two half-spheres made from several sheets of molded goatskin parchment and hemstitched with a scalpel and leather punches. They come to rest on two turned boxwood rings decorated with ebony and curly maple fillets. In echo to the interior decoration of the work, we can make out through the openwork cupolas a golden sun, which prefigures the central element of the sculpted landscape. On opening this globe, we discover two scenes entirely made of tinted goatskin parchment, enhanced with gold, copper and silver leaves. Both a tribute to the know-how of European master miniaturists of the early 16th century and an ode to the beauty of Mount Haku and the Koi carps in Rojo Park, this work invites meditation and introspection.
Matéo Crémades, artist, musician and musicologist, specializes in the creation of parchment rosettes that adorn the soundboards of 16th and 17th century instruments such as the lute, the baroque guitar or the harpsichord. Self-taught, he is one of the rare craftsmen in the world to master this ancient know-how. Using a scalpel and leather punches, he sculpts sheets of goatskin parchment which he superimposes, creating complex and intricate designs inspired by Gothic baroque or Arab-Andalusian art. His research about parchment sculpture led him to reinterpret this ancient know-how and to create a series of contemporary pieces that question our relationship to ornament and miniature as intermediaries between spectator and work of art. Through his creations, Matéo Crémades seeks to convey a part of this meditative state that inhabits him during the creative process. Thus, the parchment rosettes and landscapes that make up his works become an invitation to introspection and escape.
Stephen Johnston
Flowers in Jar No. 8 2024
Oil on canvas
39.3” x 31.5” (1000 mm x 800 mm)
Artist’s Statement: This painting delves into the theme of life and death, exploring the impermanence of beauty and the ephemeral nature of existence. Flowers, stripped down to their essence, transcend their natural beauty, becoming metaphorical portraits that encapsulate the very core of our being. The delicate interplay between the floral transience of beauty and the dark bleak void of inevitable decay is an ancient metaphor. The fleeting beauty of human life and the destinies of our environments are Irrevocably entwined. Each impacting the other. The floral fragility and resilience of our planet’s ecosystems. It pays homage to the long-standing tradition of the still life genre while incorporating a contemporary sensibility. The composition aims to evoke contemplation and shed light on the enduring relevance of these themes. In my artistic pursuits, I embark on a subtle surreal exploration, delving into the profound interplay between flowers in a jar and human existence. Flowers, stripped down to their essence, transcend their natural beauty, becoming metaphorical portraits. They go beyond being mere objects, transforming into extensions of our identities, bearing the indelible marks of our presence. This body of work serves as a profound inquiry, unraveling the intricate relationship between flowers in a jar, potent symbols of human presence, and the nuances of individualism.
Stephen Johnston was born in 1987 in Co.Antrim, Ireland. In 2010 he graduated with a BA in Fine and Applied Arts from University of Ulster in Belfast. Just after graduating Johnston had his first major solo show Perceptions, Art Tank. Belfast, Northern Ireland (2011). Johnston has enjoyed early success in his career winning various awards including; The De Veres Art Award, The Towry Award- best from Northern Ireland at the NOAC and The KPMG Young Artist Award and the RUA Perpetual Silver Medal. Johnston paints full time from his studio in Ireland. He has exhibited work in Belfast, Dublin, London, including the Saatchi Gallery. He exhibits in Paris and in Brisbane, Australia. Johnston also often exhibits at various international open Academy exhibitions, competition, and group shows. Johnston’s work is held in numerous private art collections around the world. He has been awarded the SIAP Award and had work acquired publicly by the Northern Ireland Arts Council. Johnston has also completed a portrait commission for Queens University that is currently hanging as part of their esteemed collection in The Great Hall.
Jon Konkol
Reinforcement of Scarcity 2024
Digital painting
Artist’s Statement: Jon Konkol’s paintings are a vivid exploration of the human experience through a surreal and often unsettling lens. His work combines elements of dreamlike fantasy with raw, emotive realism, creating a unique narrative that challenges the viewer’s perceptions. Konkol’s use of bold colors, intricate details, and dynamic compositions draws the audience into a world where the boundaries between reality and imagination blur. Each piece invites introspection and evokes a range of emotions, from wonder to discomfort, reflecting the complexities and contradictions inherent in life. Through his art, Konkol seeks to confront the unconscious mind, reveal hidden truths, and encourage a deeper understanding of the self and the world around us.
Jon Konkol was born and raised in Cincinnati Ohio where he received his BFA from the University of Cincinnati. In New York he participated in many group exhibitions but focused mainly on developing his performance art and installation work for a decade. He attended the Masters program at Weissensee Kunsthochschule in Berlin, and now lives and works in Halle an der Saale Germany, where he makes paintings, animations, music, and literature. His work has always had a fixation on humanity’s mutation post agricultural revolution, the loss of wisdom, and the cost of capitalism on our souls and future prosperity as a planet.
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Graham Lister
The Push and Pull 2024
Oil on wooden panel
31.9” x 24” (810 mm x 610 mm)
Artist’s Statement: It is always really interesting to describe a painting. Each time an artist tries to describe a work they have made, something new or slightly different emerges in the process. This work is, essentially, about just that. It’s an iterative version of a drawing that I made some years ago, and have been working with, engaging with it in numerous ways, for a prolonged period of time. What I mean by this is that I initially wrote something in my sketchbook, which turned into a drawing or a portion of the cursive script I’d used. This was then focused in on to really see the movement that the pen had made, before making paintings of this motion with a flathead brush. From paintings that focused on pushing and pulling viscus, thick paint, I worked with zooming in on the sections or the parts of the gestures that I felt captured the essence of what I often like about painting – those moments in a small work that you want to strive to replicate (in terms of their energy) when you scale up. And so, The Push and Pull is the result of a kind of visual narrative of making and remaking, of focusing in and replicating gestures, particularly the flicking motion of my wrist when I naturally hold a paintbrush. I’ve looked to develop something that appears simple, deceptively simple perhaps, but which is about the idea of making a painting about painting processes. For me, the desire to try and pause, to pin down the visual intuition, the gambles and frustrations of making, reside at the core of my practice and this painting is an attempt to showcase where I am with this endeavour at the present moment.
Graham Lister (b.1982) is a painter and researcher based in Glasgow, Scotland. He holds a PhD (Practice-based) from The Glasgow School of Art and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), holds an MFA from Gray’s School of Art, and an MA (Art History) from The University of Glasgow. My ongoing painting practice focuses on breaking down physical forms, surfaces and textures. My work also focuses on foregrounding the highs and lows of studio practices – inviting consideration of periods of working/ not working. I’m interested in thinking about how artists make, exhibit, re-work, love and hate what they do. Recent solo exhibitions in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester and Berlin have made use of painting and drawing processes as well as ambitious, large-scale, expanded installations. I have also exhibited work very widely in recent group shows in New York, London, Swansea and Sheffield. Ongoing research relates to consideration of what the artist studio represents; what it means to operate in a painting / creative studio and how the very idea of the studio offers positive possibilities for making, but equally can also represent a barrier to creative creation.
Monika Malewska
Dragon Fruit And Green Marbles Swirl Composition No. 1 2023
Oil and acrylic on canvas
20” x 30” (508 mm x 762 mm)
Artist’s Statement: My most recent paintings are predominantly oil and acrylic on canvas with vibrant gradient backgrounds. The subject matter of my work is playful, banal, and sometimes ambiguous, frequently focusing on representations of food and other objects of consumption as a reflection on late stage of capitalism. My paintings manipulate the representation of objects to deconstruct the aesthetics of commercial ads and the politics of a world constituted by material desire. On a formal level, I am interested in creating a visually dynamic configuration of shapes and objects that signal a departure from traditionally static still-life material. These works offer a series of illusionistic passageways, or portals, to other visual dimensions. The fragmented still-life elements in my paintings exist inside a multiverse of delineated shapes, like layers, seeming to conceal more than reveal. Overall, there is a sense of multistability, an ambiguous perceptual experience that shifts between two or more spatial interpretations, providing new visual experiences. I design most of my paintings in Photoshop, frequently experimenting with gradients and software-generated paintbrushes before bringing my compositions to the realm of physical paint on canvas. All elements in the composition are carefully composed and shift between the representation of three-dimensional space and a sense of flatness imposed by the background. The perceptual field in the composition occasionally shifts between figure and ground organization, providing a space for the viewer to focus on the abstract shapes visible against the flat background or dive into the fragmented, illusionistic spaces perceived inside those shapes.
Monika Malewska was born in Warsaw, Poland. She received her BFA from the University of Manitoba in Canada and her MFA degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is currently a Professor of Art at Juniata College. Malewska works in several art media, particularly painting, drawing, and photography. Her work has been shown in various galleries and museums, including Phoenix Gallery, NYC, Blank Space Gallery, NYC, Denise Bibro Fine Art Gallery, NYC, Camel Art Space, Brooklyn, NY, the Blue Star Complex in San Antonio, Texas, the Benton Museum in Storrs, Connecticut, the New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain, Connecticut, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA, to name a few. Her work has been featured in Huff Post (Arts and Culture section), Direct Art Magazine, Hi-Fructose, Fresh Paint Magazine, Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture and other publications.
Eline Melissen
Darkness Enlightened 2021
Ceramics, paraffin wax, match stick
Artist’s Statement: Darkness Enlightened is a sculpture depicting a figure burning its sinister reflection. It conveys the theme of personal transformation and the process of letting go of a dark part of oneself — a bad habit, a shadow in one’s personality, or a troubling thought. The artwork symbolizes the struggle and liberation that comes with confronting these inner demons, rising up to face them, and allowing them to burn away. The piece invites viewers to reflect on their own struggles and the cathartic journey toward personal enlightenment and self-improvement.
Eline Melissen is an artist and designer based in the Netherlands, who recently graduated in Crossmedia Design. She focuses on exploring problems and emotions through a surrealistic lens. Primarily working with ceramics, she visualizes feelings that are hard to put into words, creating pieces that evoke a sense of curiosity. Her fascination with ceramics lies in its three-dimensional properties, allowing her to craft works that integrate into their surroundings. She aims to create art that prompts viewers to pause and reflect, offering a strong visual experience without the need for extensive backstory, leaving room for personal interpretation and connection.
Juan Carlos Nava Contreras
Self Portrait 2024
Oil on canvas
Artist’s Statement: This painting plays with an idea that I have been exploring for a while: facial deformations. I’ve always been mesmerized by them and how abstract they can become and this last painting plays with that idea: The extremes of expressions. The human face has an incredible range of motion that we rarely use and the muscles and skin move in a particular way for every single one of us, something like a live faceprint, creating beautiful shapes and shadows that sometimes become abstract.
I’m an artist living in Barcelona, Spain. My work has been evolving technically and creatively for a few years even though I stopped painting for a long while. This painting marks the return to my roots and my love for painting and portraiture.
Fan Pan
Dumdum Punk 2021
3D silver roll-over mold, fluorescent paint
Various: 0.8” x 0.5” x 0.7” (20 mm x 12 mm x 17 mm) to 1.4” x 0.7” x 0.7” (35 mm x 17 mm x 18 mm)
Photographer: Zhou Lan
Artist’s Statement: Dumdum Punk, a jewelry piece involving voice interaction, is aimed at redefining the boundaries of future fashion and methods of music creation by adopting the nail tip as the carrier. With a focus on fashion wearable nail tip design, this project is based on digital aesthetics, condensing music creation at the fingertips. This design work allows everyone to have the opportunity to capture sound and create music, record, and share those beautiful fleeting moments. With a fashionable and artistic appearance, Dumdum Punk can also be used for music socializing and playing. The jewelry, designed with a cyberpunk style, displays various artistic elements on the appearance of nail tips, aiming to display the “cold” and “rigid” features of existing wearable devices and convey new, current thoughts about replicable aesthetic status. By reflecting on the new linking relationships between humans and machinery, the virtual and reality, technology and art, Dumdum Punk explores new boundaries of fashion, new forms of technology, and new ways of emotion expression.
Fan Pan was born (1998) in Anhui, China, and currently studies and lives between Hangzhou, China, and London, UK: I specialize in creating contemporary jewelry and fashion accessories using mixed media, exploring how wearable art forms can bridge the innovation of traditional materials with modern design languages. My work examines the multifaceted connections between humans and the external world, sparking reflections and discussions on these relationships. A key focus is on the application and reinvention of Chinese traditional culture within the context of today’s rapidly changing era. With a distinct artistic style, my creations embody a sharp sensitivity to materials and a deep exploration of their intrinsic qualities and creative potential. My practice not only aims to captivate visually but also seeks to empower the wearer as an individual, bringing strength and meaning to their experience, while inspiring audiences to engage with deeper, thought-provoking questions. Recently, my research has centered on “Reflections on Human Identity in the Age of AI.” Using traditional paper crafts as a starting point, I investigate how this time-honored technique can be innovatively reimagined in an era where humanity and artificial intelligence increasingly intertwine. Through metaphor and dialogue, I explore the dynamic relationship between technology and human essence in redefining identity.
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Maryia Virshych
Terra Cognita. Grasslands. 2023
Ceramic low-relief sculpture high-fired at 1250 degrees celsius, 100% water resistant. Made by hand with high quality stoneware locally sourced around Barcelona.
Artist’s Statement: Terra Cognita. Grasslands. is made of khaki coloured stoneware that was formed by hand and given a slightly porous texture. Then several layers of pigments are pulverised at different angles, with the last layer being a classic dark red Tenmoku glaze. The layering of shades and combinations of matte and glossy give a somewhat holographic effect to the piece. While the tones stay grounded and earthy, with lush green overtones. The primary source for the Terra Cognita series is aerial footage of isolated lands. From the distance of a space satellite and without any context it’s impossible to distinguish a mining quarry from a desert valley, an extraction site from a salt flat — both look desolate and mesmerising. I’m not interested in building hierarchies. Rather, I want to document these phenomena side by side, regardless of their origin, as parts of a new and ever-changing ecosystem, and explore how the landscape genre can evolve to reflect all the complexities of the modern interplay between humanity and nature. Reproducing these images in clay gives a materiality and a sense of closeness to the terrains that are so completely out of reach for most of us, to the point of illegality. Framed and hung on the wall, within touching distance, these works evoke complex feelings related to landscape: longing, nostalgia and unease. They seem to claim: “I was here”, allowing the viewer to get familiar with the unknowable.
Maryia Virshych (b. 1989, Minsk, BY) received her Design Research MA from the Bau Design College in Barcelona, Spain (2016) and a BA in Architecture from Belarusian National Technical University (2012). Maryia has a background in architecture, space and product design, and craft, all of which reflect on her current work. She held positions as a creative at several design and art studios in Barcelona. In 2019, she started her own artistic practice — virmary, working primarily with clay. Maryia received numerous awards, such as the Design Award from the Royal Society of Art and the Residency Award from Domaine de Boisbuchet. She showed her work at various collective exhibitions: Ceramics Museum (Grottaglie. IT), Malta Society of Art (Valetta, MT), CICA Museum (Gimpo, KR), Thrown Gallery (London, UK), Site Brooklyn (New York City, USA), Palais Galerie (Neuchatel, CH), Hangar (Barcelona, ES), Sala d’Art Jove (Barcelona, ES), Cluster Crafts (London, UK), etc.
Amanda Yoder
Welcome Home Chair 2022
Cherry, cotton, linen, cattail seed
28.5” x 20.25” x 20.25” (724 mm x 514 mm x 514 mm)
Artist’s Statement: This chair is made of cherry cut into a chunky, brutalist grid of panels evoking the old paneled doors in my 1903 farmhouse home. Exposed bridle joints emphasize the muscle of the form. To contrast, the inner seat and upholstery soften the feeling of sitting in such confinement. I took this piece as a challenge to build wholly with natural materials. In the summer of 2022, invasive cattails arrived on the wind to our backyard pond. To deter them from completely taking over, the seed pods were harvested in the fall. Using a mixture of old upholstery techniques such as webbing, stuffover, and bridle ties, the fluffy cattail seed was tamed into the shape of slipseat cushions and wrapped in a cotton-linen blend fabric that perfectly mirrors the seed fluff’s oatmeal color. Made to be repaired as needed, the upholstered cushions are secured with brass screws and velcro.
Originally from a small town outside of Raleigh, Amanda approached the woodworking craft after a brief NYC career in the performing arts. She put down roots in Waynesville, NC where she studied woodworking at Haywood Community College and began investing in the local small business community. Amanda’s work has won awards at Artfields (Lake City, SC), the International Woodworking Festival (Atlanta, GA), and ISFD’s Innovation and Design (High Point, NC). For me, crafting home furnishings is both a practice of embodied living – expressing myself in a way that unifies the physical and spiritual – and a study of people now and before. We have so much in common with our collective ancestors, as much as we may protest our differences with them. Perhaps everyday objects and furniture in the home can show us how much our stories intertwine. I often use design, sometimes playfully, to explore this bridge between past and present, interpreting traditional American furniture motifs using modern forms, then bringing the designs to life with practices and materials that honor the wisdom of old.