Ancient art meets the mean streets of Chicago… well, the potholes anyway. Artist/designer Jim Bachor and I are talking about his gorgeous mosaic work, his 85 year old lookout, the fact that people are truly awesome, and me possibly dressing up as Jim for Halloween. You can listen right up there under that glass ‘n marble ice cream sandwich, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

First up, “THIS IS NOT A POTHOLE anymore”…

No, it isn’t! It’s an amazing piece of art that I would love to happen upon while out for a walk! Yep, Jim’s ice creams are my faves, of course, and we’ll get back to them in just a moment. But first, here are the portraits of his twin boys (Henry and Ajax), along with two other portraits. If one piece of glass doesn’t transfer, these very detailed faces can end up looking really weird. Luckily all of these beauties worked out just fine…

Wow. Also, I love that he’s using this ancient technique to make Starbucks cups and cigarettes.

So. This is it. Jim’s very first pothole, naturally titled “POTHOLE”…

Ah, yes, art born from necessity. If the city won’t fill the pothole in front of your house, just fill it with art!

He said that he was a little bit scared of getting in trouble for the pothole. He had just won a commission to create a mosaic at Thorndale Red Line station on Chicago’s North Side and didn’t want to risk losing it. Thankfully, he didn’t get in any trouble for his pothole-fixing, and the mural project went off without a hitch. Oh, and it’s gorgeous…

Beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful – good friends are beautiful. Enter Pat, Jim’s friend who emailed everyone… including me! Here’s a little bit of that very supportive email…

… Jim studied the mosaic arts for months in Italy. Now he’s not only selling his own pieces, but he decided to share some of  his “mysterious” work with the public. Me? I’m Pat. Never mind about me. I’m Jim’s friend and Jim is a bit flummoxed by this whole publicity thing. So, grub worm that I am, I took it upon myself to promote my pal.

“Me? I’m Pat. Never mind about me.” Ha! I think I may to put that on a T-shirt!

Ok, up next we really got into the whole pothole thing. What do people hate? Potholes. What do people love? Flowers…

… and ice cream …

YES! Oh, I love Jim’s “Treats in the Streets”. That pink and yellow piece just above was the piece he did in Finland. Site-specific ice cream potholes? Fan-freakin-tastic! 

Now, Finland is certainly not the only place he’s filled a pothole or two. The day before we did this interview Jim had been in San Antonio. He’d reached out to his followers there, was pointed to this specific pothole, and while he was there he filled it with a bit of “trash”. As part of his “Pretty Trashy” series he paid homage to San Antonio’s own “Whataburger”. Here he is in action – orange vest, cones, knee pads and all – followed by a few more trashy potholes from the same series…

Love. So, when Jim isn’t filling potholes with very, very expensive glass tiles, he is creating fine art mosaics that can hang on the wall. Once again, ancient technique and pop culture come crashing together. Here are two pieces from his cereal series…

Mmmm… insanely detailed glass and marble Cocoa Puffs!

This is the piece he was talking about, from his latest series titled “Fake”, with the tiny plane in the top corner. Again, his combination of old and new is just so perfect…

That red circle is printed onto the glass that sits over top of the mosaic, bringing your attention to the plane. Graphic. Clever. Beautiful.

And that’s that. Ahhh, I loved that conversation so much! What a talented, smart, funny guy! So how should we leave off? I thought this would be perfect…

He certainly has. One pothole at a time. Thanks so much to Jim for taking the time to do this with me; thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting this episode; thanks to audible.com for making my new book into an audio book! To preorder a copy for FREE {or to pick up any other book you might want} just use my link: audibletrial.com/JealousCurator. And you guessed it… thank YOU for listening! There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Jim’s store (originals, prints, etc)
2. Jim’s Instagram … so you can see him in action!
3. Map to find the potholes

What!? Urban cross-stitching… oh my word. This is the work of Spanish artist/set designer Raquel Rodrigo. Wire mesh and some very colorful rope working together to create lovely gardens on the walls around Madrid. Sigh. Yeah, I need her roses all over the front of my house.

{via Colossal}

Oh my. Beautiful and sad all in one glance. This is a glazed stoneware and porcelain installation by American artist/ocean advocate Courtney Mattison, titled “Our Changing Seas III”. Here are her eloquent and inspiring words about this work and her mission:

“This piece explores the rapid transition that corals throughout the tropics and subtropics are making from healthy, colorful and diverse to sickened and bleached as a result of human-caused climate change, which is putting coral reefs into the proverbial “eye of the storm.” At its heart, this piece celebrates my favorite aesthetic aspects of a healthy coral reef surrounded by the sterile white skeletons of bleached corals swirling like the rotating winds of a cyclone. There is still time for corals to recover even from the point of bleaching if we act quickly to decrease the threats we impose. Perhaps if my work can influence viewers to appreciate the fragile beauty of our endangered coral reef ecosystems, we will act more wholeheartedly to help them recover and even thrive.”

Beautiful.

{Thanks to Mariela Di Nardo for pointing me to this work.}

So, my plan had been to title this episode, “Reimagining Natural History”, which is the way Melbourne based artist Kate Rohde describes her work {as you can see from that fantastical blue display case up there} … but we just had so many great bits of conversation around the idea of just ‘saying yes and figuring it out later’ that I just had to kick things off with that thought! I wrote about Kate a few weeks ago, but last week’s guest, Sandra Eterovic, told me I had to reach out to Kate. So I did. And she said YES. Now, she’s not alone on this call. Her four month old baby boy was along for the ride! So sweet. You can listen right up there, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

Let’s start off with a few of my candy-colored favorites from my recent post about Kate:

Yes! Remember those? So good.

Next, here’s an installation, titled “Chateau Fatale” from 2005 that truly does “reimagine natural history”. I would happily spend the day in this super weird museum:

Fantastic! {Photos by Harry Fatouros}. Now, speaking of fantastic, I quickly mentioned Kate’s pieces under glass … mainly so that I had an excuse to put these images in the post:

That is a whole lot of colorful craziness… very different than the “brown and green” Australian landscape that Kate grew up in.

Up next, an insane collaboration with Australian fashion label Romance Was Born. They created custom textiles using collaged images of Kate’s work, and she made bizarrely beautiful resin accessories {yes, including horns}. This collection is called “Renaissance Dinosaur”, which might be the best name I’ve ever heard in my entire life:

Oh. My word. It’s like a crazy dream that I wish I could have every night. This project led Kate to making more jewelry… candy-hued, translucent, chunky jewelry that I would have a really hard time not licking:

Sigh. Stunning. ps. You can find Kate’s jewelry at Pieces of Eight, which also happens to be where I found these images.

One of my favorite bits of this episode was when we talked about lulls. Oh, lulls. You’d think they’d be a nice time to rest and recharge, but because we can’t predict the future lulls can feel more like THE END. Good news… they’re not. Not as long as you keep making stuff. During Kate’s lull she made vases. They don’t look like a lull to me! Now, we didn’t actually talk about this collaboration, but it’s just so beautiful I had to include it:

Now THAT is how you show off vases! Kate collaborated on this shoot with Melanie Stapleton from a floral studio in Melbourne called Cecilia Fox {that’s Melanie on the left, and Kate getting things just so on the right}. GORGEOUS! 

And finally, Kate in her home studio. She lives upstairs and works downstairs:

Love it… and of course, I love that chunky bracelet! Thank you to Kate for taking time to do this with us, and HUGE thanks to Tristan for letting me distract his mama for almost an hour. He did so well  ♥ Thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting this episode, and thanks to audible.com for making my new book into an audio book! To preorder a copy for FREE {or to pick up any other book you might want} just use my link: audibletrial.com/JealousCurator. Finally, and as always, THANK YOU for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Sandra Eterovic episode
2. Kate’s work on SaatchiArt
3. National Gallery of Victoria
4. Romance Was Born Collab.
5. Kate’s upcoming show, “Luminous Realms” at Craft Gallery, Dec 9 – Feb 2017
6. Kate in her studio: Photo by Tobias Titz

Yes, if I had orchestrated these projects I’d be dancing around in circles too! Yes, projects with an ‘S’. We’re looking at not one, but TWO houses completely covered in hot pink crochet. Um, when can I move in!? This is the absolutely beautiful work of Polish-born, New York based artist Olek. The first house is in Avesta, Sweden {first house in the post}, and there is another one in Kerava, Finland {second in the post}. These interventions aren’t just beautiful though, they’re incredibly important. Here are Olek’s words about this project, and the many people who helped make it happen:

“Our pink house is about the journey, not just about the artwork itself.  It’s about us coming together as a community.  It’s about helping each other … we proved that we are stronger together, that we can make anything happen together.  People from all walks of life came together to make this project possible.  Someone donated the house, another one fixed the electricity and @redheartyarns generously donated the materials.  And of course, most importantly, many women {including Syrian and Ukrainian refugees} joined us in the effort to make my dream a reality.

… Women have the ability to recreate themselves.  No matter how low life might bring us, we can get back on our feet and start anew… We can show everybody that women can build houses, women can make homes.  In 2015 over 21 million people lost their homes due to war and conflicts in their native countries. The pink house, our pink house, is a symbol of a bright future filled with hope.  Everybody should have a home.”

Yes, yes they should ♥

{via Colossal}

Ok, I may have gotten a little out of control with this post… but I dare you to visit the site and/or Instagram feed of Australia based artist Leonie Barton and NOT get completely lost in her work. I’ve been following this daily series for quite a while and thought that the last day of August might just be the perfect time to write about these nature-inspired beauties. Can you imagine strolling along the beach to find one of these? Sticks, shells, bits of plastic, rusty bottle caps – turned from beach debris into beautifully composed art pieces. Here are Leonie’s words about this body of work:

“The current ephemeral works and sculpture in the galleries are a continuation and a variation on, a years long daily discipline of creating an artwork regardless of circumstance, weather or location and using only materials from the ground, found in the moment… left behind for others to experience.”

Gorgeous. See you in September.

{Any work on her site can be ordered as a print. Just reach out to her at: leonie@leoniebarton.com}

Oh my WORD. I’m pinching myself over this episode. I absolutely love the work of London based installation artist Rebecca Louise Law. I’ve written about her before, but I was so excited to finally talk to her in person. I wanted to find out where her story began, if she’s afraid of heights, and why she’s obsessed with hanging thousands of flowers from ceilings all over the world. Actually, I’m kind of obsessed with her hanging thousands of flowers from ceilings all over the world too. You can listen under those flowers hanging in London’s “The Garden Museum”,  or you can subscribe on iTunes.

Let’s start with these beauties… they are the first installations of Rebecca’s that I ever saw {aka when my obsession began}:

Right? Well things got a lot bigger from there. More wire, more height, and of course, MORE FLOWERS. Here are a few random shots of awesomeness, including Rebecca in action:

Can you even imagine standing under these suspended gardens? Can you imagine wiring and hanging all of these suspended gardens?!

We didn’t actually talk about this installation, at Bikini Berlin, but I had to include it:

Wow. {photos via Bikini Berlin}

I’m pretty sure we touched on this installation for a few seconds, so I think that’s enough for me to include these gorgeous photos! The show is titled “The Beauty of Decay” … it just came down yesterday {sorry!} in San Francisco:

Oh, so dreamy. I love the photos of the work, but I have to say, I love the photos of Rebecca in action just as much. I’d be thrilled to watch her install one of these stunning gardens someday. {photos via Chandran Gallery, San Francisco}

Ok, this is the big beautiful crazy piece we talked about the most! “The Canopy”, a permanent installation in Melbourne… that used over 100,000 flowers!

Yes! And also, NO… I could not get myself up that high, hence asking her about a possible fear of heights during the speed/get to know you round! That’s also where I found out which flower she would use if she were only ever allowed to use one flower from now on. After careful thought, Rebecca chose…

Helichrysum aka straw flowers. Excellent choice. Oh, that was really, really fun… and mark my words, she is headed straight for the art history books! Thank you so much to Rebecca for fitting me into her insanely busy / flower-filled schedule, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting this episode, a new thank you to audible.com for making my new book into an audio book – and for letting me NARRATE?! To preorder a copy of the audio book FOR FREE, along with a 30 day free trial at Audible, you can use my fancy link: audibletrial.com/JealousCurator

And you know what comes next … a BIG thanks to you for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

ps. Artists need to know math. Stay in school, kids! ; )

So, I’m sitting here trying to think of a way to explain what India born, Sydney based paper artist Gunjan Aylawadi does… but in all honesty I really have no idea how she does what she does. Let’s just say there is a lot of paper, woven to look like intricate/patterned tapestries. Yes. She makes paper do this?! But don’t worry, she’s going to tell us how. Listen right up there under that insane “work in progress”, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

First up, this is the original she recently sent to me. Mind. Blown…

Yeah, that’s in my house!? The photographs are fantastic, but I wish I could explain what it looks like in person. So, so, so good.

We talked about her love of geometry {perhaps a holdover from her computer science degree… computer science?!}, and I thought this piece, and the making of this piece, was a beautiful example to show how these perfect geometrics come to life:

Cra. Zy. Have I mentioned yet that she’s completely self-taught, and in fact, invented this technique? Yes. She did. Again, my mind is blown. And while we’re on that topic, I’ll show you this beauty:

It’s paper. I dunno. What I find even funnier, is that Gunjan claims she’s “not a very patient person”… UM, what!? She told me that in day-to-day life she is very impatient, but once she found this work, and while she’s immersed in it she becomes another person. She said it feels like someone else takes over, almost like a form of meditation. Here she is in action working on two HUGE “carpet” pieces:

Yeah. Not very patient. Right.

And now, on to the text pieces we were talking about… love it!

As if her technique isn’t brilliant enough, Gunjan’s reason for doing these text pieces just adds to the awesome-ness of this work. Such a smarty-pants.

Now, as usual, the speed round produced a few gems. Turns out she refuses to eat Vegemite, but claims to be a huge fan of anything dairy. Well, according to her Instagram feed, she wasn’t kidding:

Yep! Ice cream from around the world! Paris, Sydney, and Japan {and there are a lot more where these came from!}. If I make it to Sydney next year, I’m so making her take me to wherever that blue ice cream came from! Oh, another speed round tidbit – she would love to show her very analog work in Silicon Valley, so if you’re listening Facebook, Twitter, Google etc… CALL HER.

Ok, thanks so much to Gunjan for sharing her insanely inspiring story with us, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode, and thanks to you for listening! There will be more art for your ear next weekend. xo

Other links:

1. Elizabeth Gilbert TED Talk
2. Japanese Paper Place, Toronto
3. Broken Hill, Australia
4. Munga Park, Australia

Paintings of installations, installations made from paintings, and a painted zebra rug? Yep, it’s safe to say that I’m totally in love with the work of Rhode Island based artist Kirstin Lamb. She has a library of painted “props” that she uses to create her own still life scenes… and a detailed glossary to go with it. Be still my organization-loving heart!  She has a literature degree from Brown, and a painting-focused MFA from RISD. She’s smart, thoughtful, and really into lists … so you know I’m going to love her! You can listen on the player right under that fabulous installation, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

Alright first things first, Kirstin’s still life paintings. This work is inspired by her interest in Dutch Vanitas still life… but with a modern, weird, wonderful twist:

Love! Those were the paintings I wrote about years ago, and yes, I still love them. I think it’s the portraits and cake… and ok, all of that meat too! So from 2D paintings that looked like 3D installations to 3D installations made from 2D paintings:

I cannot get over how much I love this body of work. Paintings as props? So good. I told Kirstin that I really want to curate a show of her work… mainly so that I could pick from her vast library of painted “props” and then sit on the floor amongst them. That would be my happy place. Sigh. Alright, moving on. The evolution continues:

Back to paintings on the wall, but now she’s painting the installations! Hello full circle! She’s creating her own still life set ups by first painting individual paintings, gathering props, setting it all up and then painting the scene. Beautiful, brilliant. So where does all of this magic happen? Take a look:

Wow. I think sitting on her studio floor might be my other happy place. So. Much. Stuff! Thank you so much to Kirstin for talking to me {and inspiring me to index the meaning of everything in my studio}, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode, and great big thanks to you for listening… there will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Bunker Projects, Residency
2. Wassaic Artist Residency
3. Portia Munson’s Pink Project
4. “The Art of Teaching Art”
5. Photography of Kirstin’s work {not studio} by Karen Philippi Photography

Oui, oui, a thousand times oui! These balloon-filled interventions are the work of Paris based photographer Charles Pétillon. These perfect white balloons, bubbling out of basketball hoops and old houses are all part of this beautiful series, titled “Invasions”:

“These balloon invasions are metaphors. Their goal is to change the way in which we see the things we live alongside each day without really noticing them. It is our way of looking at things that I am trying to transform and revive, and therefore make it possible to go beyond practical perception to aesthetic experience: a visual emotion. Each balloon has its own dimensions and yet is part of a giant but fragile composition. This fragility is represented by contrasting materials and also the whiteness of the balloons.”

… ‘a giant but fragile composition’. Sigh. Beautiful.