“There was a moment when I was walking between forests and mountains in Tepoztlán, Mexico, while dandelions floated across my face,” Alexis Mata says. “In that instant, I experienced a strange sensation, as if I were standing on another planet, in another time, confronted with an entirely new landscape.”

As the dainty seeds drifted through the air, Mata began to think about the ways life forms travel and embed themselves in new ecosystems. He was drawn to the idea of landing, of rooting and growing, which quickly became the basis for a poetic exhibition at Thinkspace in Los Angeles.

Titled Lost Landing, the show features Mata’s glitched landscapes in which familiar terrain appears otherworldly. Plants, skies, and stones slide into a sort of visual glissando, overlapping and converging in abstracted forms. “Landing functions as a metaphor for discovery, but also for reconnecting with the creative impulse and with the capacity for wonder,” the artist adds.

Dandelions gone to seed appear in several works, alongside cacti of various sizes and shapes. Thriving succulents that can live for centuries are contrasted with the dying flowers, collapsing time in an already surreal and fantastical geographic plane.

The exhibition “ultimately proposes a space where forms seem to mutate, drift, and slowly colonize their surroundings,” the artist says. “Each piece functions as the trace of an unknown landscape, a fragment of an expanding world where ideas disperse, float, and find new ways to grow.”

Lost Landing is on view through June 27. Explore more of Mata’s works on Instagram.

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Chicago-based artist Laura Berger continues her explorations of communion in a suite of staggering paintings that place her signature minimal figures in intimate fellowship with one another and the earth. Spanning six feet wide, the monumental works layer limbs and landscapes, as nude bodies merge with waves, flowers, and sun-strewn clouds.

Berger frequently gestures toward past experiences and the spiritual realm, particularly focusing on the ways time fogs the clarity of memory and how transformation emerges from myriad circumstances. This body of work expands on the themes of interdependence, too, as she renders her figures in varying states of translucence as they swim through a cresting wave or lounge atop pink petals.

These pieces will be on view from April 17 to May 23 at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery in West Palm Beach. Until then, explore more of the artist’s work on Instagram.

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Inside the cavernous former train station that now houses Hamburger Bahnhof, 400,000 wooden cubes stack and topple into piles. Conceived by Lithuanian artist Lina Lapelytė and commissioned by Chanel, “We Make Years Out of Hours” is a large-scale installation that invites the public to remake structures from these 10-centimeter blocks made of pine and spruce.

Lapelytė often combines sound and performance and collaborates with both professionals and novices. This participatory work continues the artist’s interest in collective making and caretaking, particularly as it relates to shared authorship and how we might amend and reshape what currently exists.

A trio of weekly performances on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays will feature a libretto with the words of 15 writers, including Vietnamese-American poet Ocean Vuong, Lebanese-American painter Etel Adnan, Iranian filmmaker
Forugh Farrokhzad, and Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. Centered around community, love, and loss, these songs create another dimension in the space to consider agency and hope.

“We Make Years Out of Hours” opens on May 1 and is on view through January 10, 2027, in Berlin. Explore more of Lapelytė’s multi-disciplinary works on her website and Instagram.

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Given the heat generated during firing, it’s rare to see paper incorporated into a ceramics practice. For Seoul-based artist Jongjin Park, though, the two go hand-in-hand.

Park recently won the 2026 Loewe Craft Prize, a prestigious annual award celebrating innovative makers, for his striking sculpture “Strata of Illusion.” A rectangular shape with an open top and slouching side, the piece features countless folded layers made from paper towels dipped in watered-down ceramic slip.

Inspired by the distinctive, rippled textures and minuscule lines within stacks of paper, Park “wanted to break through the traditional boundaries and stereotypes inherent in ceramics as a medium,” he tells Colossal. “To do this, I began experimenting with alternative materials other than clay, searching for a meaningful intersection.”

Standard paper towels were a natural fit, but they didn’t come without challenges. “Because the process required firing massive amounts of paper, I had to overcome both technical and ethical hurdles regarding the combustion and disappearance of the paper,” he says. “I strictly use recycled paper made from repurposed milk cartons, and technically, I utilize specialized kilns equipped with high chimneys to manage the exhaust.”

There were also conceptual challenges that Park addressed through reframing how he thought about the material, particularly its malleability when drenched and slippery. “In my practice, this pre-fired state is not viewed as ‘fragile’—the way traditional unfired ceramics are commonly perceived—but rather redefined as a ‘flexible’ state where patterns, forms, and colors can be actively manipulated,” he shares, adding that finding the balance between strength and elasticity was the most difficult part of the experimental process.

Layers, for Park, are both apt metaphors for the passage of time and a material illusion. “When hundreds or thousands of these sheets are stacked together, they withstand the intense heat of the kiln and acquire a solid, monumental permanence, akin to natural rock formations or geological strata,” he says. “I am deeply drawn to this visual and conceptual tension, where seemingly opposing values—thinness and density, flexibility and rigidity—coexist harmoniously within a single structure.”

In addition to his studio practice, Park is a professor in Craft & Collectible Design at Seoul Women’s University. Peek into his process in this video, and find more of his work on Instagram.

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In Sydney’s Circular Quay, a 6.5-meter-tall installation spins, twirls, and totters amid a public thoroughfare. Titled “There, Now, Here,” the kinetic artwork is by the Brooklyn-based duo Wade and Leta and is in almost constant motion, thanks to wind, motors, and willing participants hopping on a see-saw.

With black and white stripes alongside a more muted palette, the colors of the playground-style project reference Dorothea Mackellar’s beloved poem “My Country,” which professes her devotion to the Australian landscape and what she dubs the “sunburnt country.” Harnessing the washed-out tones of a sun-bleached environment, the artists present their signature bold works in more subtle hues, as if the pieces have been baking under the light for years.

A sonic component created by Josh Burgess accompanies the sculpture and can be manipulated by the public through accessible controls. “If one were to listen closely, they can hear the rush of water on the rocks, the dings of the light rail, the crosswalk signal, and most importantly, the local wildlife,” the artists say. “Our favorite piece is a nod to the ‘bush doof’ using the sounds of a lyrebird as the structure.”

“There, Now, Here” is the pair’s first public work in Australia and part of the annual light and music festival Vivid Sydney. Find more on Wade and Leta’s Instagram.

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“I started doing photography as a way to express things I don’t understand or to convey a message I’m having a hard time explaining,” Austn Fischer says. “I often work in quite a backwards way, knowing exactly what I want to arrange in front of the camera but struggling to understand the significance in my life until I am able to reflect on it after.”

The Wisconsin-born, London-based photographer taps into fashion as performance, considering how our garments, style, and gestures convey parts of our identities. Contrast is key in Fischer’s work, and it emerges through unusual pairings like lace ruffs atop athletic garb or an angular, black gown with a dainty, horse-shaped wire armature. Whether a portrait or a more conceptual composition, each work harnesses an exuberant sense of play and homes in on our ability to remake ourselves anew.

“Growing up, I had a lot of questions around my sexuality and my own experience as a man. I naturally gravitated towards fashion because of the story clothing can convey in an image,” he adds. “The colours, shape, fabric, and the way clothing wraps around a model create a unique conversation around identity and the body.”

Fischer has collaborated with a range of editorial and commercial clients, shooting Ai Weiwei with a milkshake for The New Statesman, for example, and David Byrne seemingly under oath for Crack Magazine. Whether working on a personal project or a commissioned series, the photographer transforms a largely black-and-white palette that could appear harsh into scenes exuding warmth and softness.

Better understanding his own emotions is Fischer’s priority at the moment, following a series of painful experiences, both personal and professional, that have influenced what and how he’s creating. “Recently, I spent two weeks from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. painting a wall in a church white over and over to understand patience and reflect on myself. I’m working a lot on understanding emotion and myself through putting my body through different tasks or challenges,” he tells Colossal.

Explore more of Fischer’s portfolio on his website and Instagram.

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Home might be a mutable concept, but some objects retain the aura of belonging and comfort even outside the walls we reside in. For Monica Rohan, those items are patterned fabrics and bentwood dining chairs, which venture outdoors in her vibrant oil paintings.

The Brisbane-based artist has long depicted the supple folds and bright motifs of textiles, which tended to swaddle her characters or hide their faces among natural landscapes. Upholstered loungers and carved wood seats have similarly appeared in unusual spots, precariously holding a figure while nested in a slim hedge or slumping down a small hill.

In recent years, though, Rohan’s characters have slowly disappeared. Arms that once pulled back a curtain or reached out for stabilization are no longer present, leaving just the domestic objects in place. “I’ve found this quite freeing, allowing me to explore new ideas about the relationship between people and the landscape,” the artist tells Colossal, noting that bentwood chairs have become human stand-ins. “I love their elegant yet rickety construction, and I grew up with them around my kitchen table, so they’re a strong reminder of home for me.”

Many of the works shown here are part of this transition and will be shown this June at Sophie Gannon Gallery in Melbourne for Rohan’s solo exhibition, Invitations. Against dramatic alpine summits, fast-moving streams, and lush, springtime meadows—scenes derived from the artist’s hiking trip through Tasmania—plaid tablecloths and crocheted blankets float above the earth as if hung on an imperceptible line strung between two invisible poles.

“With their exaggerated patterns and strange billowing forms, they appear more ambiguous, wavering between unassuming decoration and smothering intrusion,” the artist adds. “From their precarious vantage points, the bentwood chairs no longer offer safe and restful repose. They invite the viewer to join their predicament.”

Explore more of Rohan’s paintings on Instagram.

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The shapes of Maxwell Mustardo’s ceramic works evoke ancient amphorae, kraters, and, most recently, kylix—a wide Greek cup with handles—although their surfaces feel distinctly organic. Textured growths cloak the vessels with fungal or lichen-esque forms, albeit in color palettes that are bold and otherworldly. Fluorescent oranges, pinks, and greens appear to glow in even the most mundane settings, firmly planting the pieces at the intersection of historic craft, nature, and the uncanny.

“I am always tweaking chemistry and application methods to push certain surface effects that I like, that feel organic and grown,” Mustardo tells Colossal. “More recent series of work have tried to blur the boundaries of cultural and natural forms (the amphora becomes anthropomorphic, gadrooning reduced to its fruity lineage, and so forth).”

An ornamental design with curved bands, gadrooning is typically relegated to surface decoration. As the artist mentions, though, he prefers to cast these tapered adornments as the central focus, “promptly pushing classical ornament back into their origins in the natural world, from the kingdom of fruits and vegetables.”

Mustardo is based in New Jersey, where he’s the studio manager of the former residence of artist Toshiko Takaezu (1922-2011). Find more of his work on Instagram.

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Kim Dacres gravitates toward renewal and care, transforming worn rubber into expressive sculptural portraits. The New York-based artist twists and braids tired treads into sleek buns and rows typical of Black hairstyles, which she embellishes with gear-like crowns and jewelry made of metal bike chains. Spray painting the material to mask marks, Dacres utilizes what might otherwise be deemed worthless to create bold visages.

A new body of work extends a series of celebratory busts the artist made to honor those who’ve inspired and influenced her. On view this month at Charles Moffett, Lost on a Two Way Street follows this trajectory, while adding flatter wall works evocative of Victorian-era cameos. “The emphasis on the subjects’ buns and braiding underscores the extreme efforts required to ‘keep up’ appearances in the harshest of environments—an acknowledgment of the vital role played by Dacres’ community in uplifting her spirit and maintaining her mental health,” the gallery says.

In an explicit reference to the current political climate, the artist has also interpreted the U.S. flag, replacing the stars with Black and brown figures. The stripes fray at the edges, while binding these anonymous faces to the fabric in a way that constricts movement. These works “flash in distress and cry out to helpless void—their condition betraying the truth of a symbol that has long failed to live up to its promise,” a statement says.

Lost on a Two Way Street runs from May 7 to June 20 in New York. Until then, explore more of the artist’s work on Instagram.

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Censorship and book bans are on the rise worldwide, prompting growing concerns about access to information and free expression. Although this trajectory is increasingly worrisome, it isn’t new, as artist Xiaoze Xie reflects on his exhibition In the Name of the Book.

Comprising paintings and life-sized porcelain sculptures, the show encompasses works made in the early 1990s through the present day, all of which reflect on the vital role books play in cultural, political, and social life. Xie’s practice is largely informed by his upbringing in China—he was born in Guangdong the same year as the Cultural Revolution— and in 1989, he witnessed the deadly Tiananmen Square protests. After moving to the U.S. in 1993, he began to incorporate this history and concerns about such restrictions into his works as a form of protest.

Book banning, particularly in the U.S., can sometimes be framed as a novel issue, and part of Xie’s effectiveness is that he connects the rise in modern-day censorship to what occurred centuries before. The Forbidden Books Series interprets classic novels, plays, and more that were prohibited largely throughout the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912). Fiction like The Golden Lotus and Water Margin, for example, were charged with being sexually explicit and obscene, while the Chinese government barred the theatrical production The Peony Pavilion from leaving Shanghai for a New York performance in 1998 because of its “feudal, superstitious, and pornographic” qualities.

While these works are well-known cases of censorship, Xie points out that they’re just a sampling of a much larger problem. He writes:

Over the last 2,000 years, the books that have disappeared in China because of prohibition are countless. There is no trace of them anymore; all I have found is a small fraction. All of these old paper stacks, these silent books, consist of thoughts and discourses. These invisible and shapeless things and the stories behind them—the complicated contexts of philosophical, religious, political, historical, social, ethical, and racial issues—are gone. The history of banning books is a process of challenging repeated oppression and control, and challenging it again. It is alongside this back-and-forth repetition, I think, that history slowly marches on.

Preserving their likeness in porcelain with pages splayed out flat is an act of defiance for the artist, as he presents these otherwise concealed texts as permanently open for public consumption.

In the Name of the Book is on view through April 17 at Sapar Contemporary. Find more from the artist on Instagram.

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The expression “wherever you go, there you are” is often wielded to describe futile attempts to escape hangups, anxieties, and a variety of unwanted emotions. Although this truism is typically offered as a negative, it can also be read as a positive that provides comfort and stability amid new environments.

In I Bring Home with Me, Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo recreates his Accra studio in an architectural reproduction within Roberts Projects’ Los Angeles gallery. Boafo is known for his stylized portraiture of Black people, whose skin the artist renders in swirling gestures made with his fingers. This exhibition presents a collection of paintings embedded within the life-sized replica, created in collaboration with architect and designer Glenn DeRoche.

According to a statement from the gallery, Boafo wanted to reflect both the “images, sounds, people, stories, and events that shape his sense of place” and how community gatherings in his studio are essential to his process. While some portraits depict imagined subjects, many portray friends, family, and public figures.

Monstera wallpaper, porous wall dividers, and floral seat covers add color and texture to the largely black, wooden structure and echo Boafo’s use of paper transfers, embroidered details, and thick impasto. Paired with his portraiture, these architectural details guide viewers through the space and capture how presence and memories shape our inner and outer environments.

I Bring Home with Me is on view through March 21. Find more on the artist’s Instagram.

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“Color, for me, is a heightened reality,” says J Carino. Through palettes rooted in a dynamic dance between earth and jewel tones, the artist renders lush scenes in which nude figures commune with nature. A sturdy back buttresses a fallen tree, chests and limbs peek through a summer meadow, and a muscular grip cradles a small mule amid a raging flood. Blocks of color and gestural brushstrokes characterize each composition, which question what we deem natural and innate.

The intimacies of queer life figure prominently in Carino’s work, which layers bodies and organic motifs into dense expanses. He employs a variety of source materials that range from renderings of live models and videos of himself to nature studies and plein air drawings in pastels, the latter of which often inform his color palettes. “Typically, my work begins with observation of nature. It might be a fallen tree, a particular animal or plant that I then make drawings of,” he adds.

Researching the historical and cultural symbols associated with these organic forms follows, while allowing connections between objects and motifs to emerge spontaneously as he works. “I see patterns as a kind of personal language to symbolize larger concepts and themes that I can then weave together into different narratives,” the artist tells Colossal. “There is a collage-like aesthetic to my work that reflects these different pieces coming together.”

From biblical floods to determined donkeys to autumnal leaves, the elements that comprise Carino’s paintings touch on questions of desire, paradise, and queerness through human connection to the natural world. Even when disaster strikes, there’s an overwhelming sense of beauty and resilience, bolstered by both physical strength and deep bonds with one another.

Carino recently relocated to London, and he will start a master’s program at the Royal College of Art this fall. If you’re in Los Angeles, his work will be part of a group exhibition opening in early June at Albertz Benda. Otherwise, find more on his website and Instagram.

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