Los Angeles artist Jedediah Corwyn Voltz does painting, printmaking, and woodcutting, but it’s his experience as a TV and film propmaker that’s most apparent in “Something Small,” his upcoming show at Virgil Normal. Each of these miniature treehouses are customized to the succulents, cacti, and bonsai trees they inhabit. And as you’re welcomed inside each homestead, the intricacy of Voltz’s vision comes into focus.
The materials range between wood, silk fabric, glass, thread, minerals, pottery, and even tiny artworks hidden inside the art. Each tells a different story about its invisible residents, whether it’s bite-sized radio equipment or endearing tire swing. Some of these plant-sculptures even have their own, tiny plants. And buried within the dirt, semi-precious stones like quartz, labradorite, amethyst, and apatite show the artist’s love of geology. (Voltz says that the materials and fabrics used sometimes come from stop motion films that he helps create by day.)
In 2015, Voltz created his first mini-treehouse. Now, he has more than two dozen. “Something Small,” a show that centers just on this body of work, kicks off on April 23, and allows visitors to see these tiny worlds for themselves.
Canadian sculptor 
Japanese artist Shintaro Ohata places sculptures in front of paintings to create wondrous scenes inspired by childhood. They play out every day encounters between his child subjects, their pets and imaginary friends with the world around them. While their lives may seem ordinary for the most part, Ohata's playful and impressionistic style make them feel like fantasies. They are sculpted from polystyrene which are then painted to perfectly match their traditional 2D acrylic backgrounds.
Artist/architect Mohamad Hafez uses found objects and scraps to craft politically and socially charged Middle Eastern streetscapes. His "UNPACKED: Refugee Baggage" series adds an audio component, with the sculptures of homes and other structures existing inside open suitcases. The narratives offered are of real people from Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Congo, and elsewhere.