Tenane Faotu Blog

Imagine the sea and all the treasures that must live in its depth- corals and shells and remnants of civilizations swallowed by its watery vastness. Then thrust your eyes a little forward, to the future. I mean, make your own sci-fi and maybe you'll find something akin to Mitch Pilkington's ceramic vessels. Just look at those curves, the symmetry! They're like some marvel of engineering, representing the remarkable ingenuity of the best of nature. Sublime, I'd say. Mitch Pilkington studied Ceramics at Falmouth School of Art & Design. She is based in North Devon and has been a potter for a number of years. See more of her work on Instagram and on her website. Photo Credit: Instagram @mitchceramics

Let's talk about Lebanese French artist Roula Bechara's sublime female figures. Once again we are reminded that the power of the nude painting is nothing sexual. Oh well, there might be some sexual energy oozing of it, but what hits you more with Bechara's work for instance is a bunch of surprisingly liberating emotions sparked by the delicacy, serenity, confidence and the beauty her figures exude. It's almost like everytime she paints, the artist goes out of her way to capture Eve from Eden and unto her canvas with all all the the things about her that screams of womanhood. See more of what she does on Instagram and on her website. Photo Credit: Instagram @roulabecharaartist

Oh yes! Everyday can be this bright. You can carry the complete rainbow everywhere and make it swirl about you like a hand fan. It's alright, even if you step into a room and get everyone uncomfortable because you're pouring colour and light into it when no one asked you to. Here's a fashion company that celebrates Afican prints with its bold, eye catching designs. Grass Fields is an indigenous African clothing company based in Cameroon and founded by twin sisters Christelle and Michelle Ngahou in 2013. Their aim was simply to make people give more respect to African print, and one couldn't say that they are struggling on that one, because when you see a Grass Fields dress or pants, or any of their products, you'll just want to bend the knee. What I love about these designs is the kind of ingenuity you see going into one clothe. This must be how high-end Italian designer suits or shoes are made, with total awareness of the high worth of...

They scale and cling to buildings, walls, trees, and other living spaces like some strange yet truly relatable natural forms. Laura Ellen Bacon's sculptural installations are like enlarged replicas of those structures designed by smaller biological life forms like birds and insects. What makes her sculptures even more fascinating is the way they curl and weave across surfaces and appear like organisms that are alive, breathing. You'd think they are capable of shifting position on their own at anytime. A neat, exquisite emulation of nature! One would wonder how these sculptures are made. Well, first you have to know that Bacon's primary building material here are willow branches. And it's more than basketry really, even though the construction involves twisting, tying and knotting by hand and also with the aid of a few craft tools. What you have is actually a complicated system of weaves and knots coming together to present a solid, powerful, sinuous fa...

Come and get thrown, get hugged and caressed by water and it's pulsing, life sustaining, mysterious power. Breathe in the fresh beauty and glory of the empowered feminine. You start when you meet Lindsay Rapp, this young California based artist, and her paint brushes. Few things are as magnificent as Rapp's rendering of the nautical and marine life. Her pieces are all sea foam and lustrous ocean blues, and then the charming female form often represented as beings that are totally at home with the ocean environment. That is, sea goddesses and mermaids! The artist describes her style as 'Magical Impressionism'. Apt in my opinion. To experience Rapp's artworks is to be dipped into the vibrant, dynamic life of oceans and seas, to experience like you'll never do in real life, the magic in water's interaction with light, it is to appreciate the fertility and sensuality of the ocean. Truly magical. Lindsay Rapp studied at the Pennsylvania Academy ...

Dutch fashion designer, Iris van Herpen is one of the most influential and creative personalities in the fashion industry. She is a pioneer in utilizing 3D-printing as a garment construction technique, and in using technology in bringing her creative ideas to life. For this reason, she collaborates with artists, architects and engineers for most of her projects, delving into various interdisciplinary research. Collections by the designer have always been grossly interesting and unique to the point that her work have been characterised under the subfield of fantasy couture. These beautiful designs are of Iris van Herpen's latest collection, titled Hypnosis,  which she presented on 1 July 2019 at Elysée Montmartre in Paris for the city's Haute Couture fashion week. Comprised of nineteen (19) different, multilayered looks, Hypnosis is a marvelous attempt at mimicking the delicate patterns and structures found in nature. Each dress is a like a gorgeous art piece to b...

Onyinye Zennia forms powerful, telling images from plywood boards, nails and strings or just a board and nails. Imagine that! It's an astounding touch of creativity, it's genius and then it's more than all that because once again hers is art that owns a rather ambitious purpose, which is to inspire, educate and soothe the broken. Her works deal with themes such as happiness, abuse, equality, mental and spiritual well-being, women empowerment, peace, poverty. Zennia draws from the reserves of her experiences and observations into her creative processs, stringing strong lines across bold points to touch those who see her creations with fresh, empowering knowledge. Onyinye Zennia is a Nigerian visual artist, a graphic designer and a photographer. You can see more of what she does on Instagram. Photo Credit: Instagram @zennia_art