2026-11-13 06:00:52
Looking at the serene paintings that emerge from Sky Glabush’ s studio, it’s easy to feel a soft breeze sliding off bare summer shoulders or hear the crunch of leaves underfoot, their parched fibers reverberating across the autumn landscape. Transportive and atmospherically charged, the landscapes harness the allure of texture to draw the viewer in and invite them to stay a while.
Raised on the west coast of British Columbia and currently based in rural Ontario, Glabush has long been attuned to the natural world. He often identifies the feelings he associates with a particular place and translates that through color and intuitive interpretations of the terrain: the spindly, strangely straight tree trunks of a forest, for example, or the ways a sunflower echoes the radial form of the sun.
Glabush typically utilizes limited palettes that adhere to just one or two color families. He also mixes oil paint with granular particles, sand being the most common, although he’s used crushed quartz and raw pigment. Originally, the idea of combining materials emerged because the artist wanted, he says, to “obliterate the image… But I realized it didn’t destroy the image. It was still present and humming under that surface layer. So it gave me the freedom of deciding what I wanted to hold on to or what I wanted to erase.”
Adding and removing has since become integral to Glabush’s practice, which involves adding thin stains of paint and turpentine to the point of the painting becoming relief-like. He tends to begin with an architectural structure that anchors the work. Sometimes a grid and others a radial arrangement, the foundational patterns inform each resulting layer. Color, though, is always “the unifying principle, it is the energy and dynamism, it is the element of surprise. Each painting often goes through several iterations of colour before deciding on a direction.”
Although he’s worked with other materials in the past and has particularly enjoyed carving, the conventions and limitations of painting always drew him back. “That period of experimentation with sculpture allowed me to treat my paintings in a more physically robust and experimental way. But even during my most experimental period, I saw myself as a painter and wanted to find a way to express myself within that language,” he tells Colossal.
Some of the works here will be on view in Glabush’s solo exhibition, If the Wild Bird Could Speak, on view from November 20 to January 9 at Alison Jacques in London. Until then, explore more of his paintings on 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 How Sky Glabush Conjures Atmospheric Landscapes in Sand and Oil Paint appeared first on Colossal.
2026-11-13 02:08:37
A confection of arches and windows has emerged in the Gospel Oak neighborhood of Camden in northwest London, thanks to Peter Morris Architects and a unique collaborative ownership approach. “The Cloud House,” which actually comprises two side-by-side townhomes, practically froths from its foundations. One side is occupied by the architect himself along with his partner, Emily, while the other half is owned by a resident who embraced the stylistic potential of the project and agreed to the exterior design and the same contractor.
Ten years in the making, “The Cloud House” is a playful response to its eclectic neighboring architecture, from the quirky Victorian church of St. Martin’s to a school next door that has a stone exterior mimicking a castle. Morris conceived of a bright, whimsical design with pink walls, robin’s egg-blue window frames and doors, and arched details in relief made from a dense recyclable polystyrene that mirrors the arches of the church across the street. See more on the firm’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 Peter Morris Architects’ Pastel Pink ‘Cloud House’ Billows in Northwest London appeared first on Colossal.
2026-11-12 22:51:12
From fungi and insects to technology and crystals, the winning entries in the 2026 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition reveal astonishing details typically invisible to the naked eye. This year’s top prize went to Ole Bielfeldt, a student and experimental photographer based in Cologne, Germany, who used a hand-built rig to capture an incredible up-close view of droplets inside of an inkjet printer. Runners-up included John-Oliver Dum’s portrait of a jumping spider with pollen on its body and Kaelin Wulf and Rachel Flannery’s capture of mouse neurons.
Winner images were organized into three categories: Top 20, Honorable Mentions, and Images of Distinction. Explore some of our favorites here, and head to the contest’s website to see all of this year’s best photos. You might also enjoy the Nikon Small World in Motion video competition.
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 Get Up-Close to Cells, Ink, and Insects in the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Contest appeared first on Colossal.
2026-11-11 07:15:05
Ask a seasoned collector about their first acquisition, and you’re likely to hear that they began with limited-edition prints. Often accessible in price point yet bearing the artist’s signature and maybe even hand embellishments, prints are the perfect entry point for people interested in living with art each and every day.
For the holidays, our partners at Joy Machine have graciously curated a special collection of limited-edition prints for the budding collector in your life.
Liz Flores: “Untitled” (2026)
Sentrock: “Better Days Ahead” (2026)
Mar Figueroa: “Untitled” (2024)
Anna Valdez: “Untitled” (2026)
Cody Hudson: “Self-Sufficiency Mono Print (Tangerine Variant)” (2024)
Stevie Shao: “Untitled” (2026)
Jess Ackerman: “Untitled” (2023)
Explore many more prints on Joy Machine.
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 Limited-Edition Screenprints for the Budding Collector appeared first on Colossal.
2026-11-11 02:00:00
More than 15,300 submissions made their way to the judges for this year’s Close-Up Photographer of the Year, setting a record for the highest number of entries in the competition’s history. From uncanny insects to slime molds to unexpected animal interactions, photographs captured by amateur and professional photographers alike highlight the diverse and sometimes surreal flora and fauna all around us.
The contest winners will be announced in January. In the meantime, a photography challenge on the theme of “Close to Home” is open for submissions through the end of the month. Explore some of our favorites from the shortlist below, and learn more on the contest’s website.
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 Bats, Spiders, and Slime Molds Make the Close-Up Photographer of the Year Shortlist appeared first on Colossal.
2026-11-11 00:22:43
Plumbing the rhythms of the ocean and marine life, Amy Genser creates undulating abstractions that evoke swells, currents, reefs, and the sea floor. The artist composes elaborate wall works from rolled mulberry paper, acrylic, and wire in which patterns move and converge across swaths of blues and greens. The closer you look, the more colors emerge.
Although reminiscent of the sea in many ways, Genser’s works defy instant recognition. At first glance, they may appear topographical, as if a luminous, clear sea is being viewed from above. The rolling forms are redolent of waves but also perhaps the way corals cluster around rock formations. Then, details draw us nearer: bulbous forms with cavities resemble barnacles, and extended shapes could be tentacles.
The artist’s play on scale, texture, pattern, and depth draw us in and keep us guessing—not unlike the many enigmas of the ocean itself. And one recent project challenged Genser to work at a monumental scale. The Macallan, a single malt Scottish whisky company, commissioned her to create a monumental piece titled “Stars Below” for its Carta Nautica Collection.
Both the bottle release and the artwork celebrate the time-honored transatlantic journey of the wooden barrels used to age the spirit, which travel to Scotland from Spain and the U.S. “Through layered textures, flowing forms, and rich colors, I brought to life a mythical underwater world shaped by movement, discovery, and transformation,” Genser says.
See more on the artist’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 Amy Genser’s Elaborate Mulberry Paper Assemblages Undulate Like the Sea appeared first on Colossal.