Art

March 22, 2018

Gigantic Crocheted Doilies Take Over Gallery Walls Like Beautiful Spider Webs

Since 2011, Californian artist Ashley V. Blalock has been creating site-specific installations filled with gigantic, hand-crocheted doilies. Back in 2014, Blalock’s ongoing Keeping Up Appearances installation series was sprawling across gallery walls, stairwells, ceilings, and floors. Today, the red cotton crochet doilies continue to grow in size, as they spread across indoor and outdoor locations. Resembling giant spider webs, Blalock’s textile installations sometimes reach as high as 15 feet.

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March 20, 2018

Felted Fungus Art “Growing” in Petri Dishes Shows the Unexpectedly Cute Side of Mold

Most people balk at mold, like the type that appears as spores on old loaves of bread. But not artist Elin Thomas; she pays homages to fuzzy fungus through her felt fiber art. Using techniques including crochet, needle felting, and embroidery, she creates one-of-a-kind petri dishes that really look like mold. The shallow vessels are filled to the brim with exquisite textures—including fuzzy, hair-like spores that invite you to touch, making them unexpectedly cute.

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March 18, 2018

Interview: “Maximalist” Painter Plays With Pattern and Texture to Create Feminist Art

Proving that “pretty can be powerful,”Australian artist Jessica Watts produces floral paintings with a feminist focus. In her series, Wallflower, Watts employs playful patterns and brightly-colored blooms to accentuate the strength and beauty of the self-possessed woman. Each expressive painting in this series features an anonymous female figure standing before a backdrop inspired by a real-life wallpaper pattern. In most depictions, the subject's nudity is concealed by bouquets bursting with textured blossoms.

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March 16, 2018

Interview: Painter Visualizes Powerful Women as Goddesses of the Sea

Philadelphia-based artist Lindsay Rapp creates ethereal mixed media art featuring mythical sea goddesses. Exuding enchanting qualities, Rapp’s stunning artworks are expressions of female empowerment. Her mermaid and Venus-like subjects seem perfectly at home with their surrounding ocean environment, and pose proudly while powerful waves crash around them. Describing her style as “magical impressionism,” Rapp’s pieces are rendered with expressive brush strokes in vibrant and metallic hues.

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