2025-10-09 03:00:00
Across a range of genres, from portraits to landscapes to wildlife, the work of 40 contemporary photographers features in a brand new book. Exposure: Contemporary Photographers in Australia and New Zealand, authored by Amber Creswell-Bell, highlights an array of practices that explore fashion, Indigenous culture, nature, and more.
Published by Thames & Hudson Australia, Exposure “captures the essence of modern photography, showcasing bold perspectives, striking landscapes, and intimate portraits that reflect the region’s cultural richness and natural beauty,” says a statement.
Photography that may be familiar to Colossal readers include the bird portraits of Leila Jeffreys and Joseph McGlennon, along with the artistic self-portraits of Atong Atem.
The title is currently out in Australia and New Zealand and is slated for release in the U.S. in mid-January. Pre-order your copy on Bookshop.
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2025-10-09 01:00:00
With a penchant for kaleidoscopic colors and whimsy, Yen Yen Chou renders a dainty, dreamlike environment in which pastel hues and subtle gradients rule. The artist, who lives between Taipei and Brooklyn, is drawn to dualities, particularly the relationships that emerge from “the ephemeral and the physical, the micro and the macro,” she says. At Kishka Gallery & Library, Yen Yen’s presentation of two modes of working—watercolors on paper and epoxy clay reliefs—conjures the magic of polarities.
An Ever Changing View, as its name suggests, takes transformation as its root. Water droplets recur throughout the works, descending from a long, thin line into a swirling pool in “Rippling,” for example, and appearing as anthropomorphic, dozing characters in “Leaves of Becoming.” While suspended on panel or paper, these forms connote movement, as they’ll eventually evaporate or combine with a larger body.
For now, though, Yen Yen depicts a whimsical world on the verge of possibility. “This new body of work continues my exploration of transformation and interconnectedness in everyday life. I’ve been thinking about dualities…and how these relationships shape the way we experience life, through our thoughts, perceptions, and emotions,” she writes.
An Ever Changing View is open through November 22 in White River Junction, Vermont. Find more from Yen Yen 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 $7 per month. The article Yen Yen Chou Embraces Change in a Whimsical Realm Brimming with Water Droplets appeared first on Colossal.
2025-10-08 22:39:16
In Paolo Puck’s imaginary realm of Fliffmellington, surreal characters come to life through elaborate costumes. Often weathered and tumbled-looking, a series of handbags, purses, and helmets glimpse a wonderfully weird world.
“I’m in the long process of faithfully recreating various artefacts from the world of Fliffmellington,” Puck tells Colossal. “Long-term, I will be making a book and short film, as well as an anthropological exhibition of the artefacts.”
The artist aims to highlight the world of Fliffmellington through its material culture, which often features motifs of expressive or abstracted animals and absurdly large vegetables. The overall costumes reference personalities like the “Gherkin God” or an enigmatic, fantastical character named Celeste, who is associated with an organization called Jezilwik Grindlewax.
Puck’s approach to making detailed, wearable pieces is through the lens of archaeologist and conservator, as if the objects have been carefully excavated or recovered from a forgotten place, shedding light on an unknown culture.
Enter Puck’s uncanny world via the artist’s website and Instagram, and find tutorials and making-of insights via Substack. You might also enjoy Nikolas Bentel’s hyper-bespoke accessories.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Paolo Puck Imagines a World Called Fliffmellington and Its Uncanny Artifacts appeared first on Colossal.
2025-10-08 03:36:00
In 2022, twenty-one-year-old Tanya choked back tears as she held her boyfriend’s hand for what could be the last time. Crouching down to reach her, the military fatigue-clad Volodimir stands on a train headed for the city of Kramatorsk in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. He’s on his way to the battlefield to fight Russia’s invasion.
Taken by Ilvy Nijokiktijen, the photo capturing this heartwrenching moment is one of nearly 200 included in a book and large-scale exhibition at Fenix, a new art museum in Rotterdam that focuses entirely on migration. The Family of Migrants takes a broad look at human movement from 1905 to the present day, citing a wide array of reasons someone might relocate from war and economic crises to exile and internment to a search for opportunities abroad.
Spanning documentary, portraits, and photojournalism, the included images emerge from 136 photographers in 55 countries across 120 years. Providing such an expansive perspective of movement connects myriad experiences—from a Ukrainian soldier off to war to a young Afghan refugee to a poverty-stricken mother and her children—and is an attempt to broaden how we think of migration.
“In every era, there has been movement of people, be it out of free will, out of necessity, or under pressure. Migration shapes the world, separating and connecting people, but when we talk about migration, the focus all too quickly shifts to figures or politics,” curator Hanneke Mantel says.
The title references the 1955 Museum of Modern Art exhibition, The Family of Man. Curated by Edward Steichen, the bold exhibition included hundreds of photos that presented a narrative of global solidarity after World War II. Steichan wanted to depict “the gamut of life from birth to death,” a task Mantel seems to take on at Fenix by sharing a fuller story of migration today.
The Family of Migrants, published by Hannibal Books, includes photos by icons like Dorothea Lange and Ernest Cole, along with those working today like Alejandro Cegarra. Find your copy on Bookshop.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Spanning 120 Years and 55 Countries, ‘The Family of Migrants’ Portrays a Broad Story of Human Movement appeared first on Colossal.
2025-10-08 01:00:00
When it comes to knitting complex motifs, a pattern is a needleworker’s best friend. But what if you want to customize one yourself? What about text? Fortunately, Zurich-based designer Rüdiger Schlömer wondered the same thing, resulting in a series of typefaces for knitting. Under the project umbrella of Typeknitting, his new font is called Knit Hello, which works by typing the digital letters into a word processing program like you would with any other font. As you go, a knitting pattern develops at the same time, making it easy to create a beginner-friendly design that you can endlessly customize.
Download free trial fonts on the Typeknitting website, or purchase a style that meets the kind of knitting you do, whether on a machine or by hand. And say “hey” to two patterns for full fan scarves, available via Ravelry, on the Knit Hello website.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article From the Creator of Typeknitting, ‘Knit Hello’ Is a Font and a Knitting Pattern in One appeared first on Colossal.
2025-10-07 23:05:22
At the end of September, the NFL’s announcement that Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny would be headlining the Super Bowl LX halftime show generated an uproar. He’s one of the most-streamed musical artists in the world, and while many fans rejoiced, the news made waves with conservatives, who take issue with the fact that he predominantly performs in Spanish and has been critical of the current administration. Bad Bunny has since clapped back in an appearance on Saturday Night Live, illuminating the culture war within the polarized U.S. political climate.
It seems fitting, with Puerto Rican Heritage Month just around the corner, that a group exhibition honoring the island commonwealth and its diasporic community opens soon at Claire Oliver Gallery in New York City. We AmeRícans, curated by Ruben Natal-San Miguel, brings together the work of 10 artists whose practices reflect “the history, resilience, and cultural contributions of the Puerto Rican community in New York City and beyond,” the gallery says.
Through photography, painting, sculpture, printmaking, textiles, and mixed-media compositions, the exhibition highlights Puerto Rican community and identity. The title is drawn from a poem by Tato Laviera titled “AmeRícan,” penned in 1985, a rhythmic and joyous celebration cultural hybridity.
We AmeRícans highlights an intergenerational group of artists, from the acclaimed and established practices of the likes of Carlos Rolón, Carlos Betancourt, and Danielle de Jesus to the fresh perspectives of young and emerging artists like Felix Plaza, Erica Morales, and Elsa María Meléndez.
Natal-San Miguel’s vibrant photographs, for example, draw from his series Puerto Rico: Paradise Ruined, Its Aftermath, in which he documents houses and businesses heavily damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Following the storm, thousands of people were forced to abandon their homes. “Between 114,000 and 213,000 Puerto Ricans are estimated to have relocated annually to the U.S. mainland since the hurricane,” the artist says in a statement.
A range of mediums lend themselves to cross-cultural experience. De Jesus meticulously renders a house facade with a Puerto Rican flag onto two U.S. one-dollar bills. Meléndez turns to textiles, on which she embroiders portraits and creates sculptural elements from an array of patterned fabrics. And Betancourt uses a range of found objects to create assemblages, sculptures, and large-scale print installations.
“This exhibition is a celebration and an act of preservation, documenting the creativity, strength, and ongoing impact of Puerto Rican artists across generations,” Natal-San Miguel says. “Through their work, we see not just personal narratives, but the collective story of migration, labor, resilience, and cultural pride.”
We AmeRícans opens in Harlem on November 5 and continues through January 3. See more on Claire Oliver Gallery’s website. You might also enjoy artist Adrián Viajero Román’s portraits that reflect on Puerto Rican diasporic experience.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article ‘We AmeRícans’ Celebrates Puerto Rican Community, Pride, and Cultural Hybridity appeared first on Colossal.