From factories and barrel-roofed buildings to gabled churches and towers, Charles Young’s sprawling yet diminutive city of paper models continues to grow. Known for his miniature constructions and animations that often double as three-dimensional color studies, the sculptor and animator highlights a wide range of architectural styles with an emphasis on color pairings.

Since 2020, Young has been making hundreds of miniature structures inspired by A Dictionary of Color Combinations by Japanese costume designer and painter Sanzo Wada (1883-1967). (There’s even a fun, interactive website based on the book.) So far, Young has completed 258 buildings from the first volume, which focuses on two-color combinations, and there are 90 to go. But he’s created a wide array of examples featuring multiple color combinations, too.

In June, Young will display 120 three-color paper sculptures at Galerie Handwerk in Munich. And in addition to the paper models, he also creates architecturally inspired sculptures from wood and woven cane, some of which are currently on display in Scotland at Kirkcudbright Galleries and MacLaurin Gallery. See more on Young’s Instagram and Tumblr.

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 Explore a Growing City of Meticulously Crafted Miniature Paper Buildings by Charles Young appeared first on Colossal.

As Brendon Burton continues to pursue the strange corners of rural North America, the Portland-based photographer has discovered a newfound interest in the people who once inhabited them.

No longer entirely devoid of human figures, his isolated landscapes step into the walls of abandoned homes and provide a setting for enigmatic narratives. Burton’s quiet introduction to life through the presence of domestic, intimate objects allows the viewer to piece together a speculative story about their previous owners.

From a pair of worn boots and aged portraits to a patterned quilt resting upon a bed that was once made for the last time, photography introduces an element of permanence, preserving existence while original context has long faded away.

Burton has turned to direction and video of late, working on five music videos slated to release within the next few months. He has also published a second edition of his book, Epitaph, which you can pick up on his website. Follow Burton on Instagram to tag along on his travels and adventures.

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 Brendon Burton’s Enigmatic Photographs Preserve Traces of North American Life appeared first on Colossal.

Neil. Moralee posted a photo:

Founded in 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley in Cricklewood, London, the Bentley motor company quickly established a reputation for exceptional performance and engineering, famously dominating the 24 Hours of Le Mans throughout the 1920s with the help of the legendary 'Bentley Boys'. Following financial difficulties during the Great Depression, the company was acquired by Rolls-Royce in 1931, moving production to Derby and later to its iconic factory in Crewe, Cheshire, in 1946. After decades of being closely associated with Rolls-Royce, Bentley was purchased by the Volkswagen Group in 1998, a transition that sparked a significant revitalisation of the brand's identity as a manufacturer of luxury, high-performance grand tourers that continues to define its legacy today.


Beer, Devon, UK.

den4us posted a photo:

In folklore, twilight is often interpreted as a liminal, even magical time during which spirits emerge in the transition between light and dark. It’s sometimes even seen as a period when extra caution is advised, as will-o’-the-wisps, shapeshifters, and fae may try to influence people in their path. For artist Nicholas Moegly, nightfall sets the scene for neighborhoods and quiet streets in which curious creatures roam, and lights flicker on in houses, signaling the end of the day.

Many of Moegly’s works possess a dreamy realism along the lines of photographer Todd Hido’s Houses at Night or the illustrations of children’s book author Chris Van Allsburg. There is both a timelessness and a sense that these locations could represent virtually anywhere around the U.S. Sometimes, deer and foxes meander through yards or down alleyways, glancing backward as if responding to a sound. In other compositions, lights shine from upper windows of a house or shop on a hazy street corner, although people are nowhere to be seen.

Moegly is currently in the midst of the largest oil painting he’s made thus far, experimenting with the relationship between scale and realism in a way that’s challenging his artistic direction. He’s also working toward future exhibitions, transitioning from online releases to more in-person shows. See more on his 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 Animals Wander through Neighborhood Streets at Twilight in Nicholas Moegly’s Illustrations appeared first on Colossal.

In Amy Casey’s meticulous acrylic paintings, houses and main street buildings whirl through the air amid debris, teeter in huge piles in the sea, or balance precariously on giant clusters of fungi. Our perception is tested: are the houses really tiny or are their surroundings exceedingly big? That slippage is at the heart of her practice, which confronts our current, often overwhelming information era and its politics, war, the climate crisis, population displacement, and more. “It is hard to process the world and the constant flow of information about it without feeling powerless and paralyzed,” the artist says. “Sometimes life just feels like a neverending shriek.”

In her paintings, which are often as small as six inches wide but can range in size up to several feet, Casey renders actual houses and buildings she has observed mostly around her home in Cleveland. They’re often catapulting through space and losing bits of themselves, which mirrors what Casey describes as witnessing a world “that seems to become a stranger on a daily basis.” She adds, “As I watch a world on the brink, painting it literally falling apart allows me to process life and function on a daily basis,” she says. “Envisioning towns in worse-case scenarios serves as an acknowledgment and a hope that there is still time to change; it isn’t that bad yet.”

Recently, Casey has begun to focus on nature, incorporating houses into surreal scenes filled with delicate ink caps or overgrown tree stumps. Even here, the emphasis is on decay, but she tugs on a more hopeful cord to reveal a sense of flourishing and renewal, too. These small paintings revisit houses that have spun away from their previous turmoil and landed in a new resting place, although not without challenges. After all, how does one live on top of an oyster mushroom?

“We have all experienced our own versions of the world turning upside down and trying to find our footing and start over while feeling small, alone, and overwhelmed by unsettling change,” the artist says in a statement. “These paintings meditate on these feelings and what it’s like to be alive in this overwhelming time and place. These are not gnome or fairy houses in a magical forest. They are the surviving remnants of a world on the precipice, but they are like nature, like us: nothing if not resilient.”

Casey’s work is currently on view in a group show at Brassworks Gallery through June 6 in Portland and Zg Gallery in Chicago. She’s also preparing for a show at Maria Neil Art Project this September in Cleveland. Follow updates on Casey’s 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 From Apocalypse to Renewal, Amy Casey Paints a Surreal World in Distress appeared first on Colossal.