Well, she could not be more correct about that … this shit IS bananas. Ah, gorgeous work featuring a lot of bananas, punched paper circles, french knots as far as the eye can see – not to mention all of those smiley faces – all with an underlying message about the current state of the world. The hanging, for example, is titled “Was Happy Cancelled?”  This is the most recent work of Philadelphia based artist Kelly Kozma, and is currently part of a group show {with Sarah Detweiler and Han Cao} at Paradigm Gallery. Here are Kelly’s honest and beautiful words about this body of work, titled “Yesterday, Ten Years Ago”:

“Since the beginning of quarantine I felt the need to create bright and happy work. It seemed like that was the ticket to successfully convince myself that things would be ok. It would work for a while, and then another news cycle would unfold and the sparkle would dull. So I’d throw more color and shiny bits at it; think a superhero with glitter lasers coming out of the fingers. It got a little harder to get knocked down, and a little easier to get back up. This work became a shelter when I needed a place to hide and a shield when I felt strong enough to fight.

Even though my process is about adding on and building, conceptually it was more equivalent to chiseling. I slowly removed layers of loss, uncertainty, and anxiety to try and find some nugget of truth, comfort and stability. I never found those things, or at least not in a concrete way. However, I discovered that the search itself (ie: the process of making) was the most helpful way to alleviate the pain I was feeling. The slow nature of stitching and knotting thread is my way of marking time and I often found myself thinking “Things will be better when I’m done with this piece, things will have changed.” Sometimes they did, sometimes they had gotten worse, and other times I noticed I had just gotten better at adapting. But regardless, there was a physical object where there once was not; a record of that moment in time.

The radiant palette and light hearted imagery are a reflection of both my deep sadness and my highest hopes. On one hand, this work is about the facades we put up to protect ourselves and the faces we wear to create an idealized version of how we want to be perceived. However, there is also an intention to simply create a lightness and allow time and space to gaze upon something joyful and whimsical. I made bright and happy work from a dark place. My goal is not to disguise our experiences but rather channel their energy into something beautiful.” 

Love, love, love. Happy Monday. {These original pieces are currently available through Paradigm Gallery.}

What on earth are these gorgeous circles that seem to emit some kind of magic? I’m not sure to be totally honest, but the person responsible, French artist Lyès, refers to his work as “celestial wall sculpture”. LOVE! Speaking of love, the message behind his work is a fine blend of “The Energy of Life is in You / Love Will Conquer”. Beautiful! Now, as far as materials go? I believe we’re looking at C-Prints, plexi face-mounted on aluminum panels… with a dash of light-filled magic. Obviously.

Big, beautiful, woven CERAMICS. Oh my word. This is the absolutely stunning work of Dutch artist Cecil Kemperink. Elegant ceramic rings, in quiet colors, interconnecting to create a little bit of poetry…

“Her sculptures are connections between her varied passions: textile, clay, dance, fashion and sculpture. Kemperink works intuitively. The sculpture grows in her hands. The manual process of connecting the circles gives rise to an attentive, and labor-intensive process. Her sculptures have many appearances. They are more than 3 dimensional;  you can also change the form, hear the sound and experience the feeling when you touch the work.”

I want to touch them, pick them up, and carry them around just like Cecil! Happy Monday.

Curtains, kind of. Delicately balanced and made from polyurethane foam, latex and plastic… but if one of those brightly colored foam circles is removed, so is the tension and everything falls apart. Beautiful. This is the work of New York based artist Eva LeWitt {images from Oslo at VI, VII, Spring 2018}. She did an interview with Artsy a few years ago, and I love this answer about her material choices:

“I work the most freely when I limit my materials and techniques. I have the luxury of choosing this, but the greatest crafts and primitive arts are made only out of the materials at hand. For me this is the most exciting part of making sculpture—what are the inherent limits I can push this material to, how beautiful and interesting is it capable of becoming? What is that sack of sponges and that roll of tape concealing, and how can I reveal it?” 

YES! Oh, and if her last name sounds familiar, Eva’s father is Sol LeWitt. I love that she followed his artistic footsteps, but that she is absolutely forging her own path, pushing her work in new and exciting ways. {I wonder if she was named after her father’s friend, the fabulous artist Eva Hesse?}

{via DesignCrush}

December 1st calls for a list of art stuff, because that’s all I want this every year! Here are just a few of my favorite things from 2017 … {ps. scroll to the bottom for links}

BAGS: from one of NIAD‘s artists, Sarah Malpass… love! / BOOKS: A Glorious Freedom by Lisa Congdon; Your Inner Critic Is A Big Jerk by me; If You Can Cut You Can Collage by Hollie Chastain; On the Loom by Maryanne Moodie / ART SUPPLIES: Weaving Starter Kits by Maryanne Moodie; ArtSnacks monthly supply subscription (ps. if you enter ‘thejealouscurator’ you’ll get 10% off at checkout) ; Stand alone supplies from the ArtSnacks shop / CERAMICS: Bowls & more by Mariko Paterson; Mugs by Molly Hatch via Anthropologie; Incense holders by Kinska / ‘RANDOM CRAP’: Tote Bag by Martha Rich; Cat T-Shirt by Martha Rich; Socks by Martha Rich; Bob Ross Board Game {not by Martha Rich}.

And of course, if you’re looking for ART, type “shop” in my search bar and you’ll find the posts with links to artists who have shops. If you want to do a bit of art browsing, I’d suggest visiting Saatchi Art for prints & originals, and Limited by Saatchi Art for limited edition prints….

*Portrait by János Huszti ; Circles by Slavomir Zombek; Abstract by HyunRyoung Kim

Oh my circles! Colors bleeding into each other while contained in perfect circles. This is the work of Paris based painter Eleni Pratsi. I love her work – oil and acrylic on canvas – and I love her reasons for obsessing over circles just as much:

“… Beyond doubt, the circle plays a favourable role in my paintings. Treating the circular form as if it were the unique letter of my plastic alphabet is based on a personal choice and backed up by a childhood memory: when asked by my instructor, at the age of eleven, as I took my first art lesson to draw a circle, this turned out to be perfect, to Eliza’s taste. Consciously or unconsciously I recall her overflowing enthusiasm but also my feeling so proud for having traced a circle, my first circle, a perfect circle. With this childhood experience recorded undoubtedly in my subconscious, ten years later I initiated a series of artistic studies through which I’ve been pursuing, ever since, the perfect circle.”

Mission accomplished. Happy Friday.

{via Saatchi Art}

Oooh, juicy! I just wrote about Belarus-born, US-based artist Marina Dunbar’s “Horizon” series a few months ago, but earlier this week she sent me an update … those horizons have now found themselves on wooden circles! I love the rectangles but, I have to say, these circular pieces truly flow! Layers of multicolored resin overlapping to create ocean-like depth… dreamy.

Today is about starting from square one, AFTER you’ve done all of the things you were supposed to do to get the life you wanted. It’s also about jellyfish alien creatures. Yes, Rhode Island based collage artist Jenny Brown in my guest today. She wrote a really heartfelt story on Facebook the other day, and I just had to get the inside scoop.  You can listen under that flowering jellyfish, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

Let’s begin with a few of her recent pieces that I’m currently obsessing over:

I would happily swim with these elegant creatures. Look at those thin beautiful lines, those perfectly cut bits ‘n pieces. LOVE.

And now, stepping back in time. A dark time. These were the large, very black, incredibly dense (and sad) pieces that Jenny transitioned to during her MFA:

So different than her now very effervescent work. But, she pushed through and found the light again. Here are the first few pieces as Jenny began finding her way back to her “creatures”:

Ah, that’s more like it. Although those charcoal pieces were beautiful in their own right, these are just Jenny… and she knew it.

I asked about the kind of paper she uses for her lovely colorful backgrounds, which seems like a perfect excuse for me to show a few more of my favorite “Jenny Brown” collages:

Yep, love them all… So. Much. Color! I’m totally going to give pink card stock a shot. Beautiful.

Ok, so I found these WIP shots on Jenny’s gorgeous Instagram feed. Clearly, she’s a woman after my own heart:

Gasp! Seriously, I need my scissors RIGHT NOW. Look at that cut-image covered table! Call me a collage nerd if you must, but my heart is racing.

What else makes my heart race? Sugar! The only thing I regret about this episode was not asking Jenny about her deep passion for donuts. All of these sweet gems are also from her Instagram feed. I want ALL OF THEM:

Unicorn donut! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

And finally… Jenny, her cat Max, and Jenny’s perfect (apparently high maintenance) red lipstick:

Perfection. Max must’ve been too tired to put lipstick on for this shot. Thank you so much to Jenny for sharing her story of full-circles, loops, and starting over… so inspiring. Thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting another episode, and thanks to YOU for listening! There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Bennington College
2. Amy Sillman
3. School of Visual Arts, NY
4. RISD (Rhode Island School of Design)
5. Jessica Brilli Episode
6. Sidney Pink Episode
7. Anthony Zinonos Episode
8. The Philadelphia Story (Jenny’s fave movie from high school)
9. Kirstin Lamb Episode
10. Jenny on Instagram
11. BUY Jenny’s work 

ps. Oops, I forgot to mention this! The sign-up page for the course I’ll be part of in VENICE is ready! Yes, two weeks this August during the Venice Biennale!?! I’ll be teaching a few classes and workshops from August 7 – 20th via the European Cultural Center’s Academy, alongside several other instructors, curators, etc. Tours of galleries, meeting with curators, art making, passes to the biennale, AND gelato? There are only 20 spots for the weeks I’m going to be there, so if you were thinking about it, pop over there asap. Hope to see you in Italy… ciao! 

Simply complex, indeed! Beautiful colors, clean designs, and perfect stitching. Today I’m talking to New Zealand artist Jane Denton. As always, Jane and I have “known” each other for years, but today is the first time we’re talking. We recorded this just before Christmas so it was cold and snowing in my Canadian backyard and Jane was boiling hot on holiday at a lake in New Zealand! Well, even though we were on opposites sides of the world, I was still able to ask her all of the questions I’ve had for years. Ready? You can listen right up there under Jane and her gorgeous work, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

As usual, let’s start with a few of my favorites:

Sigh. The designer in me, who’s also obsessed with embroidery thread, is smitten. I mean, those colors, come on!

So, it turns out that Jane and I have a friend in common… the always fabulous LA based designer and stylist, Emily Henderson. She loves Jane’s work as much as I do, and in case you need proof, here are some images from Emily’s site. Oh, and first image below is the cover of Emily’s book, STYLED. Look to the far top right… oh hello, Jane Denton circles:

Gah! That light pink X and O in Emily’s nursery might be one of my favorites of Jane’s. Lovely, lovely detail and that delicate pink thread is killing me. So continuing with this artsy connection, Emily and Jane just did a “maker collaboration” together. Here’s the simple, yet complex, design that resulted:

Beautiful! I love how much texture Jane’s pieces bring to a gallery wall. {All of the photos are from Emily’s site, on the post she wrote about this project.} 

This is a perfect segue into these next few images. Circles. Tricky on a square grid, yes? Um, yes:

… yet somehow Jane makes them look simple. Ahhhh, gorgeous. I had wrongly assumed that Jane went to design school – wouldn’t you think so with these beautifully composed pieces? Yeah, me too. Nope, business school. Hm. Perhaps that’s why she’s so good at the whole marketing thang.

Up next, the two pieces I was a little bit involved with. The top piece was the pointy triangle piece that I brought to New York for a maker event, and the bottom piece {triptych on the far left} was her contribution to my Land of Nod collection:

Dreamy. All of it. And that’s that! Thanks so much to Jane for taking time out of her family holiday to do this with me; thank you to Saatchi Art for supporting yet another episode; and of course, thank you so much for listening! There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other Links:

1. Jennifer Pudney’s kits
2. Emily Henderson Collaboration
3. Framebridge
4. Jane’s online shop
5. My new art site
6. Susanna Bauer, Episode No.40
7. Flight of the Conchords

ps. This is my 4’x4′ “Type A” button piece I mentioned, along with photographic proof of how “organized” my thread jar is:

Yeesh.

Oh. Where do I begin? I love this work by Chinese artist Xu Ying. The square pieces are pencil & acrylic on canvas, and the circles are pencil & acrylic on cotton fabric. Pencil and acrylic? Clearly I need new pencils because mine don’t do that. ps. Those legs. I’m dying over those fabulous floating legs. Happy Monday.