Evoking Fire and Air, Intricate Paper Masks by Artist Patrick Cabral Honor Filipino Culture
Encircled by oversized crowns of paper, two new masks by Patrick Cabral celebrate Filipino culture through elaborately fashioned works defined by their colors. Titled Mananayaw ng Langit at Lupa, or Dancers of Heaven and Earth, the ongoing series was commissioned by the Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Art for the Dinagyang Festival. The cultural celebration is held annually the last week in January with the Ati Tribe competition, which involves warrior dancers performing to loud chants and drum beats, as the main event.
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2021/03/patrick-cabral-dinagyang-masks/
The ancient fabric that no one knows how to make
Nearly 200 years ago, Dhaka muslin was the most valuable fabric on the planet. Then it was lost altogether. How did this happen? And can we bring it back?
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210316-the-legendary-fabric-that-no-one-knows-how-to-make
Meet the Swedish artist who hooked British rock royalty on her revolutionary crochet
Don’t miss this story of a fascinating life!
“Today, at 80, Bjerke continues to divide her time between Pecos, New Mexico, and Gotland, Sweden, and is making some of the best crochet of her career, including a stunning tour-de-force completed during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown called Heart of Gold, which features handmade sterling-silver buttons by late local artist Bob Erickson. “I’m just a little nobody in the Pecos wilderness,” she says of her motivation to make new work. “I’m not ambitious for fame and fortune; I’m ambitious to see what else the good Lord has put in me that hasn’t materialized yet. That’s what I’m doing right now—trying to finish up.”
Subversively Embroidered Money and Penny Sculptures Question Historical Narratives
Throughout 2020, Stacey Lee Webber developed Insurrection Bills, a revisionary collection of United States currency overlaid with subversive stitches: flames envelop monuments, a wall is left unfinished, and an eclectic array of face masks disguise Abraham Lincoln’s portrait. Contrasting the muted tones of the paper, the vibrant embroideries stand in stark contrast and as amended narratives to those depicted on the various denominations.
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2021/03/stacey-lee-webber-money/
Faith Ringgold: ‘I’m not going to see riots and not paint them’
In a 70-year career, Ringgold has shown the US its bloody, brutal side. And yet the artist started out wanting to paint landscapes … She talks about growing up during the Harlem Renaissance and her battles with the establishment.
Fantastical Plants and Hybrid Characters Form a Strange Menagerie Crafted by Cat Johnston
A moth-human hybrid, striped coral, and a smoking frog sporting a tracksuit inhabit Cat Johnston’s fantastical ecosystem crafted from paper, textiles, and sculpy or epoxy clay. The playfully bizarre creatures are inspired by monsters, mythology, and folklore, evoking deities and magnifying the strange qualities of plants and animals. Johnston created many of the lifeforms shown here shortly after moving to San Francisco and exploring the environment.
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2021/03/cat-johnston-creatures/
Emily Notman: The textile florist
Inspired by the beauty of weathered old walls, overgrown buildings and surfaces encrusted with paint, lichen or barnacles, Emily Notman’s focus is on texture. This tactile detail in her pieces is the key to her signature style.
https://www.textileartist.org/emily-notman-the-textile-florist/
A Monumental Bas-Relief Sculpture by Nick Cave Connects Senegalese and U.S. Cultures in a Web of Beadwork
Innumerable pony beads, pipe cleaners, sequins, and objects gathered from two continents overlay a web of rainbow mesh that’s suspended in the U.S. Embassy atrium in Dakar.
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2021/03/nick-cave-dakar-senegal/
Interview: Ýr Jóhannsdóttir Explains Her Playful Approach to Design and How Mending Will Shape the Future of Sustainable Fashion
“Knit your own sweater, and you are going to care more about it than if you buy one of 1,000. That’s the idea. I want to make things that people respect rather than just making some product. It’s all coming together. That’s one of the solutions of slow fashion is getting people to mend their things also and have respect for what they buy.”
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2021/03/interview-yr-johannsdottir/