Around 100 B.C.E., wealthy Romans began building villas in the town of Baia, which sits on the Gulf of Naples. The region was considered superior to other outposts of the elite like Capri, Herculaneum, and Pompeii thanks to its relaxing, resort-like atmosphere and beautiful surroundings. It is also, however, in …...Read More

With waxy coverings and no limbs, female scale insects known as kermes vermilio are small parasites that attach themselves to oak plants to feed on sap. Native to the Mediterranean, the critters also produce a red dye that has been used since antiquity, the oldest example of which was recently …...Read More

Saad Qureshi’s Something About Paradise comprises three large-scale sculptures that rest on the floor or stretch up to meet the wall, supporting tiny houses and trees as if the earth has come alive and begun carrying the structures around. While developing the work, the London and Oxford-based artist traveled around …...Read More

When facing the unknown, the human brain is a powerhouse of dreams, paranoia, and pure ingenuity that helps fill in the gaps. An impeccably stylized short film written and directed by Anderson Wright plunges viewers into one woman’s inventive search for reason and rationality. “The Mark On The Wall” is …...Read More

From maple burl, cherry, and ash, Oliver Chalk’s voluminous vessels highlight natural textures while emphasizing alluring patterns and geometry. The Kent-based artist (previously) finds chunks of timber in the countryside around his home, homing in on pieces of trees that have partly decayed, been cut by arborists, or were felled …...Read More

“The Maratus spiders of Australia are the most colourful, flamboyant, sexy, and charming spiders on the planet,” says Maria Fernanda Cardoso, whose vibrant portraits capture the tiny creatures in remarkable detail. Kicking off a tour throughout Australia, the photographer’s exhibition Spiders of Paradise, organized in collaboration with the Museum of …...Read More

Whether working in Scottsdale, Arizona, or Fukuoka City, Japan, Jin Choi and Thomas Shine have found that crochet is a universal language. The pair engage communities around the world in large-scale projects that involve crafting elaborate lace patterns to be fastened to an iron armature. Both delicate and monumental, the …...Read More

Alex Chinneck has the world tied in knots as he distorts everyday tools and infrastructure. Twisting and twining telephone booths, hammers, and lamp posts, the British artist (previously) warps common objects to exaggerated proportions, rendering each almost entirely unusable. Mop handles form perfect bows, a brush constricts so tightly around …...Read More

“I want people to feel like they have stumbled onto a riddle,” says Jason Wheatley about his dreamy scenes. Melding realistic depictions with fantastical elements, the artist warps the time-honored traditions of still lifes by adding animals and insects to the otherwise inanimate subject matter. His most recent body of …...Read More

Jessica Thompson-Lee twists the age-old design principle of form following function with her biomorphic ceramics. Evocative of cellular structures, coral, and mycelium networks, handles appear to grow from Thompson-Lee’s mugs, sprawling outward into lattice-like webs that require users to slot their fingers into the amorphous shapes. “The person drinking from …...Read More