BEAUTY: Ceramics--Hylton Nel

As South African conceptual artist, sculptor, and ceramicist Hylton Nel says of himself, "Been doing this for 50 years." Over that time, he has created a charming body of work but I am most drawn to his pieces featuring script. I love his sculptures and vases, but the plates are special: lovely works of art, but I would like to use them as functional plates as well...

https://hyltonnel.co.za/HOME

BEAUTY: Sculpture--Kevin Francis Gray

I last posted about the marvelous work of sculptor Kevin Francis Gray a dozen years ago and his work since then has become amazingly abstract and gestural. After mastering figures draped in silky, diaphanous material (seen here), he is now taking the texture and silhouette of raw clay, especially the way it moves, and rendering those figures in marble. His Picasso-esque Family Series and Gestural Series stands out.

https://www.kevinfrancisgray.com/

BEAUTY: Sculpture AND Furniture Design

Sculptor Casey McCafferty works in many mediums but, seeing as I am interior designer, I am drawn to his wood sculpted chairs and benches that are truly works of art. The sense of them is at once tribal, futuristic, organic, and prehistoric. His larger sculptures would look great in the corner of a large living room too...

https://www.casey-mccafferty.com/

BEAUTY: Sculpture--Nadia Stieglitz

For her series Symbiotic, ceramic sculptor Nadia Stieglitz looked to the world of trees and fungi to create the wonderful, meandering, incised lines on her creations. She describes it in her artist statement for the series:

"I have been recently fascinated by the research of various scientists on the impacts of climate change on forests and the reliance of these ecosystems on the unseen work of fungus to adapt to it. My most recent work takes inspiration from mycorrhizal fungi – critical members of the plant microbiome that form a symbiosis with the roots of most plants on Earth. In my series 'Symbiotic,' the Sgraffito patterns etched onto the surface of mushroom-like shapes recall these complex networks that feed and support the functions of larger organisms. In their dormancy, these works remind the viewer that, despite appearances, there is always growth and circulation--life, ultimately, in stillness."

To see more of her work or to learn how to buy and commission pieces, visit her website:
https://www.nadiastieglitz.com/

BEAUTY: Sculpture--Matias Karsikas

Finnish artist Mataias Karsikas' compelling series Rykelmä features a fantastic juxtaposition of wood with glass and ceramic. His Artist Statement explains:

"In the artworks titled Rykelmä, glazed ceramics and mouth-blown glass meet nature-shaped wood. The ceramics are mineral-like, the glass is pouring, and the wood is untreated. Instead of portraying figures and landscapes, abstract textures and diverse surfaces are drawn from nature, thus manifesting the essence of the natural world. The visual starting point for the pieces has been, for example, slime molds that grow in clusters on the surfaces of decaying trees. The viewer can perceive in the works the resin-dripping branch of a tree or the melting of a frost covered moss under the spring sun."

He sells pieces on his site!
https://matiaskarsikas.com/