The Photography and Sculptures of Mari Katayama
Mari Katayama’s photography uses her own body as one of her materials. Born with a rare congenital disorder, the artist had her legs amputated as a child, and at times, her sculptural work emulates the features of her body that the condition caused. The resulting work explores identity, anxiety, and other topics.
“Her belief is that tracing herself connects with other people and her everyday life can be also connected with the society and the world, just like the patchwork made with threads and a needle by stitching borders,” a statement says. “In addition to her art creation, Katayama leads ‘High heel project’ in which she wore customized high-heeled shoes specially made for prosthesis to perform on stage as a singer, model, or keynote speaker. The motto of this project is to take advantage of any means including art and disabled body if it helps to expand the ‘freedom of choice’ for those in desperate need.”
Zachary Eastwood-Bloom takes the idea of adding digital-like glitches to traditional sculptures to a visceral level. He created most of these sculptures while he was sculptor-in-residence at Pangolin London. He uses both digital and analogue means to craft the final product, unifying several disciplines for a startling end result.
The enchanting yet eerie ceramic sculptures of San Francisco based artist Erika Sanada were first featured in Hi-Fructose Vol. 31. In that feature, we included works from her previous showing at Hi-Fructose Vol. 31, "Odd Things", where the artist touched upon themes of newborn innocence and death. She returns to the gallery on August 15th with an uplifting new series, "Fighting Spirit". In our recent studio visit with Sanada, she shared with us the personal inspiration behind the series where she seeks to defeat her own anxiety.
Scotland-born sculptor Philip Jackson has crafted faithful depictions of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mahatma Gandhi, and Sir Matt Busby and served as the Royal Sculptor to Queen Elizabeth II. Yet, Jackson’s also known for his modernist, dramatic gallery works, with characters that are less specific and in many cases, eerie and haunting. The quality present each of these works is Jackson’s seasoned knack for form and inspiring awe.
A gigantic 20-foot tall inflatable refugee, which arrived in Copenhagen this week, is currently making headlines as it sails around the world. The sculpture is part of an effort by Belgian visual artist collective Schellekens & Peleman, who want to bring attention to the European refugee crisis- "a "symbol of the dehumanization of the refugee and the current refugee crisis happening in the world."