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  • ✇Colossal
  • Anarchic Cats Are Ensnared in Chaos in Léo Forest’s Dynamic Drawings Kate Mothes
    Feline antics are notoriously chaotic. “The cat is, above all things, a dramatist,” author and Egyptologist Margaret Benson is to have said. Sacred to ancient Egyptians, domestic cats share more than 95% of their genetic makeup with tigers, and they can leap five times their height and turn into veritable spring mechanisms when startled. Also, would the Internet be the same without cat memes? For Léo Forest, these lovable, independent, wily, and territorial creatures provide an endless source
     

Anarchic Cats Are Ensnared in Chaos in Léo Forest’s Dynamic Drawings

17 April 2026 at 17:00
Anarchic Cats Are Ensnared in Chaos in Léo Forest’s Dynamic Drawings

Feline antics are notoriously chaotic. “The cat is, above all things, a dramatist,” author and Egyptologist Margaret Benson is to have said. Sacred to ancient Egyptians, domestic cats share more than 95% of their genetic makeup with tigers, and they can leap five times their height and turn into veritable spring mechanisms when startled. Also, would the Internet be the same without cat memes? For Léo Forest, these lovable, independent, wily, and territorial creatures provide an endless source of inspiration for dynamic pencil drawings.

The Paris-based artist’s playful works tap into the physical and emotional quirks of cats, from brawling pairs to individuals in the midst of grooming, scratching, or attacking. Flailing limbs and blurred motion evoke Italian Futurist painter Giacomo Balla’s seminal painting, “Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash” (1912) in which a Dachsund and its owner’s feet are fuzzily multiplied to imply very quick movement.

a pencil drawing of a dynamic, chaotic cat

Forest is currently working toward a project with Moosey in London, where prints are available. Follow him on Instagram for updates.

a pencil drawing of a dynamic, chaotic cat
a pencil drawing of a dynamic, chaotic cat
a pencil drawing of a dynamic, chaotic cat
a pencil drawing of a dynamic, chaotic cat
a pencil drawing of a dynamic, chaotic cat
a pencil drawing of a dynamic, chaotic cat
a pencil drawing of a dynamic, chaotic cat
a pencil drawing of a dynamic, chaotic cat

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 Anarchic Cats Are Ensnared in Chaos in Léo Forest’s Dynamic Drawings appeared first on Colossal.

  • ✇Colossal
  • A Giant Wool Form by Nicola Turner Heaves and Skitters Through an 18th-Century Chapel Kate Mothes
    In a converted 18th-century chapel on the grounds of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, a strange form creeps through openings in the architecture. One can imagine its clipper- and knife-footed tendrils scurrying across the floor as it spills from an upper aperture and even slithers around part of the building’s exterior. Its otherworldly genesis is at the hands of Nicola Turner, known for her monumental, contorted textile installations that often surge from structures and public spaces. Turner’s s
     

A Giant Wool Form by Nicola Turner Heaves and Skitters Through an 18th-Century Chapel

17 April 2026 at 13:02
A Giant Wool Form by Nicola Turner Heaves and Skitters Through an 18th-Century Chapel

In a converted 18th-century chapel on the grounds of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, a strange form creeps through openings in the architecture. One can imagine its clipper- and knife-footed tendrils scurrying across the floor as it spills from an upper aperture and even slithers around part of the building’s exterior. Its otherworldly genesis is at the hands of Nicola Turner, known for her monumental, contorted textile installations that often surge from structures and public spaces.

Turner’s solo exhibition, Time’s Scythe, comprises forms made of recycled wool and horsehair, which she hand-stitches inside of mesh to create the bulging, knotted forms. “This is Turner’s first large-scale installation to use pale wool and creates a different energy to her dark sculptures, moving away from their more melancholic character,” the gallery says.

a large-scale installation by Nicola Turner inside of Yorkshire Sculpture Park's 18th-century chapel gallery space of a textile form that appears to be crawling or expanding across the room, out of an opening toward the ceiling, with sharp clippers and scythes for "feet"

Time’s Scythe continues through September 27 in Wakefield. If you go, check out LR Vandy’s provocative exhibition, Rise, which also continues into September. See more on Turner’s Instagram, and for more twisting, creature-like forms, might also enjoy the work of Kate MccGwire.

a detail of a large-scale textile installation by Nicola Turner with undulating, twisted details
a detail of a large-scale textile installation by Nicola Turner with undulating, twisted details and metal blades for "feet"
a detail of a large-scale textile installation by Nicola Turner with undulating, twisted details
a detail of a large-scale textile installation by Nicola Turner with undulating, twisted details and metal blades for "feet"
a detail of a large-scale textile installation by Nicola Turner with undulating, twisted details that interact with architecture
an installation view of a large-scale textile installation by Nicola Turner with undulating, twisted details that interact with a historic interior
an installation view of a large-scale textile installation by Nicola Turner with undulating, twisted details that interact with a historic chapel exterior

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 A Giant Wool Form by Nicola Turner Heaves and Skitters Through an 18th-Century Chapel appeared first on Colossal.

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