A new piece by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos (previously) envelops one of Fender’s Stratocaster guitars in a vibrant sheath of wool. Titled “Flower Power,” loosely knit petals cover the entirety of the instrument, wrapping the body, neck, and head in a kaleidoscopic bouquet. The fibrous webbing evokes the aesthetic of the 1960s when Fender’s model secured its legendary status. Along with a diverse series of artist-customized Strats, “Flower Power” will be auctioned on Nov. More

There are just ten days left to submit your art for consideration in the winter issue (#24) of Create! Magazine, which will be curated by our editor-in-chief, Christopher Jobson. Create! has been dedicated to promoting the work of contemporary artists, curators, and entrepreneurs since it was founded by Ekaterina Popova in 2013. Today, the international publication spans digital, print, and audio platforms.  Find all the submission guidelines on Create! More

A new discovery on the side of the Mirador Natural Hill in Peru reveals that common feline activities—namely sprawling out in the most comfortable position—have remained relatively stable throughout the last 2,000 years. This week, archaeologists unearthed a 120-foot-wide etching of a cat at the Nazca Lines site in Peru, which is home to a series of geoglyphs depicting a spider, monkey, hummingbird, whale, and fish. The feline rendering dates back to the Late Paracas period between 200-100 BC, making it the oldest in the area. More

In her hyperrealistic paintings, artist Lisa Ericson (previously) spotlights the myriad ways animal life and the natural world are connected, a theme she depicts by positioning various species on the backs of others and explains in a new interview. The vivid composites group marine and land creatures in unusual combinations that defy boundaries of habitat and authentic interactions. The underlying subject matter may be based on a real-world issue (coral bleaching, habitat erosion, etc.), but my take on it is not scientific, and I won’t sacrifice the impact of the image for the sake of scientific exactitude. More

In a whimsical narrative by Xuan Loc Xuan, an adventurous whale named Lucille traverses a bustling urban center, densely populated forest, and other dry-land locales on her search for a new home. The Ho Chi Minh City-based illustrator renders the marine mammal in a range of playful and melancholic scenes, either resting on a bed of flowers or trapped alone in a city as the sun sets. Titled The Whale Gets Stuck, the vivid series chronciles the whale’s journey that’s ripe with nostalgia and longing for her ocean home, a tale Xuan tells in her book Babà la balena in città, which is printed in Italian. More

Cig Harvey is adept at spotting both nature’s sublime qualities and the beauty in mundane moments. The serene shots frequently feature a human intervention, like outstretched arms spotted with dots of light from a disco ball hung in Harvey’s home or a compost pile heaped with vibrant produce scraps. Spanning nearly 20 years of her practice, the photographs shown here frame instances of serendipity, whether showcasing bright pink azaleas briefly pressed against foggy glass or the sun gleaming on a dark body of water. More

Los Angeles-based designer and stylist Alana Jones-Mann (previously) pipes thick buttercream onto her layered cakes, creating pastries that are closer in resemblance to lush floor coverings than typical birthday fare. From high-pile, ornate sheets to vibrant geometric rounds, the pointillist-style cakes often have a retro aesthetic that evokes either classic shag rugs or the psychedelic, wall-to-wall carpet popular in the 1970s. To try your hand at similarly luxuriant frosting, Jones-Mann shares a range of DIY projects and glimpses her process on Instagram. More

In her ethereal portraits, Toronto-based artist Sara Golish (previously) renders lavishly adorned goddesses and gods that exude a sense of power and wisdom. The charcoal, conté, and ink drawings are part of two ongoing collections, titled Sundust and Moondust, that imagine a series of fictional deities. Each figure belongs to one of the celestial bodies, a correlation that the artist visualizes through the paper’s color, with a warmer beige for the sun and a cool gray for the moon. More

Throughout lockdown in the United Kingdom, Mark Harvey, who is known for his striking equine and canine photography, shifted his focus to the avian creatures gliding above his home in the Norfolk Broads. Now part of a series titled In Flight, the exquisitely detailed shots frame common birds —including magpies, blue tits, starlings, goldfinches, great tits, coal tits, long-tailed tits, and green finches—in otherwise unseen poses: some splay out an entire wingspan, while others wrap their feathers around the front of their torsos. More

Using round canvases with a range of diameters, Alonsa Guevara deftly paints the plump, juicy insides of oranges, watermelon, and other fruits. Each circular piece depicts a seemingly perfect slice down the middle, capturing the fibrous veins and central seeds found within fresh produce. Guevara spent her childhood in the Ecuadorian rainforests surrounded by tropical landscapes and nearby agriculture, an experience of nature that influences her artistic practice. The Chilean artist, who lives in New York City, began fruit portraits in 2014 as she reflected on her adolescence and thought of creating a body of work that felt universal. More

Between gnarly chunks of concrete, basalt pillars, and smooth rounds of lapis lazuli, Ramon Todo (previously) positions sleek segments of layered glass. The Tokyo-born artist splices fragments of found objects that otherwise would be regarded as refuse, like a crumbling brick from Iizuka City or coal waste, to repurpose the existing material with a lustrous embellishment. Whether volcanic rock or chunks of demolished architecture, the resulting juxtapositions carry the original history, although they’re presented anew. More

Earlier this year, Malmo, Sweden-based game developer Oskar Stålberg launched Townscaper, a low-stakes video game that’s similar to Sim City without the threat of natural disaster or the need to maintain characters’ emotional wellbeing. Users only have the option to delete or build with a certain color, a function that’s controlled entirely by the algorithm. Simply drop a block and watch the system construct charming homes, towering cathedrals, and luxurious greenspaces. More

On the campus of University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla in Santander, Spain, a trio of interventions by street artist Pejac (previously) simultaneously responds to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and offers potential paths for healing. The new series, titled Strength, is Pejac’s direct response to the 50,000 people who have died from the virus in his home country. “The idea of the Strength project arises as a gesture of gratitude to the health workers of Valdecilla, for their work in general and during this Covid crisis in particular. More

During the last few months, Colossal has been evaluating our relationships with massive companies in lieu of more equitable options. In February, we stopped directing buyers to Amazon in favor of Bookshop, which directly supports independent bookstores. Although we will continue publishing to platforms like Facebook and Instagram, we’ve begun to deemphasize our growth in those spaces. Those who want to keep Colossal in their feeds always can find us on Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter, and Flipboard, and now, Mix (formerly StumbleUpon) and LinkedIn, too. More

Working with entomologists around the globe, the French street artist known as Mantra (previously) transforms brick facades and concrete walls into massive studies of local butterfly specimens. With framed outer edges that mimic a wooden box, the trompe l’oeil murals render the winged insects in detail, depicting their richly hued scales and delicate antennae. Each artwork features species native to the area, making it possible that a live specimen might flutter by its enormous counterpart. More

Based in Montpellier, France, Thibaut Malet (previously) spent much of his childhood in his father’s workshop, which housed the family’s cabinetry business. At 10-years-old, the third-generation woodworker began sculpting the organic material, although his creations were infinitesimal compared to his dad’s counterparts. Malet carved miniature scenes spotted in everyday life, imagining new, small-scale worlds. “It was a way to work with wood without using the too dangerous machines of my father. More

An ongoing print sale is bolstering fundraising efforts that promote progressive organizing in five battleground states. Offering work from more than 150 photographers and artists—including Cindy Sherman, Alec Soth, and Ed Ruscha—States of Change is selling 10 x 12-inch prints for $150 each with all proceeds going to the Movement Voter Project, which is targeting 42 local organizations dedicated to fighting voter suppression in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. More

The anonymous pair behind  Frank Moth (previously) characterize their layered digital collages as “nostalgic postcards from the future.” Using vintage photographs, the artistic duo merges retro visuals with natural elements like botanics and outer space to create playful composites that range from futuristic to romantic. “Our work almost always revolves around introspection, soul searching, and universal themes like eternity and human vices,” they share with Colossal. Based in Veria, Greece, the pair sources images of tropical plants and starry expanses from a variety of sources, including library and museum databases and other photograph-centered websites that offer copyright-free works. More

 In Rita Louro and Martina Stiftinger’s “We,” abstract forms undergo a series of transformations that evince both their malleable properties and inflexibility. Two-toned liquids gush into bulbous pools, fabric strips tether a diverse array of solid shapes in a single unit, and a rock-like substance cracks and crumbles into disparate pieces. While the amorphous forms are different in texture, hue, and structure, they overlap and join together in new configurations. More

First coated in black, the anonymous subjects in Tim Tadder’s portraits are cloaked with hypnotic swirls and thick drips of bright paint. To create the mesmerizing images, the Encinitas, California-based photographer and artist pours a mix of colors over his sitters and snaps a precisely-timed shot to capture each drop as it runs down their necks or splashes from their chins. “There’s something about the human head, and the bald head, and the brain, and that way that everything is here,” Tadder says as he gestures toward his own face. More