Seasonal Blooms Capture Sunlight in Jessica Saunders’ Delicate Stained Glass Sculptures

a round stained glass wreath with bluebells

Photos by Alice Walker. All images © Jessica Saunders, shared with permission

“Flowers are connecting, grounding, uplifting, healing, and worth treasuring,” says Essex-based artist Jessica Saunders, whose delicate stained glass sculptures highlight an array of familiar and beloved blooms. From daffodils and poppies to cornflowers and hydrangeas, her pieces celebrate the cyclical nature of the seasons and the incredible range of specimens in both our backyards and the wild.

For Saunders, inspiration comes from her own garden and walks outside with her dog Bramble, observing the gradual changes in blossoms and foliage throughout the year. She also builds upon stories people share with her about specific flowers that evoke memories of others or places they’ve visited, which can be captured in glass as an everlasting reminder.

Saunders began working with stained glass in 2020 when her partner gifted her a beginners’ guide to the practice. “I immediately fell head over heels in love with the process,” the artist tells Colossal. “It felt natural to use my hands this way, and understanding all the different techniques came easily.” She enjoyed the challenges and possibilities of the medium, intrigued by its colors, textures, and transparency, in addition to its ability to be endlessly recycled.

While preserving personal memories or observations, Saunders is also helping to keep a heritage craft alive. Stained glass “takes time and care; it can’t be rushed,” she says. “Each piece has positive intentions soldered, ground, and burnished into them.”

Saunders is currently working on her Summer Collection, scheduled for release around the solstice in June, which will include honeysuckle, rudbeckia, sweet peas, hollyhocks, strawberries, and more. Find more on the artist’s website, and follow updates on Instagram.

stained glass flowers and vines in ceramic vases alongside live specimens

stained glass magnolia flowers and vines in ceramic vases alongside live specimens

stained glass flowers and vines in ceramic vases alongside live specimens

stained glass flowers and vines in ceramic vases alongside live specimens

stained glass flowers and vines in ceramic vases alongside live specimens

stained glass flowers and vines in ceramic vases alongside live specimens

stained glass flowers and vines in ceramic vases alongside live specimens    stained glass flowers and vines in ceramic vases alongside live specimens

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Photos from 41 Countries Juxtapose Blocky Architecture and Verdant Gardens in ‘Brutalist Plants’

a range of foliage in a brutalist glass-roofed building with vines hanging from mezzanines and trees growing up on either side of a walkway

The Barbican Conservatory, London, United Kingdom. Architect: Chamberlin, Powell and Bon. Photo © Taran Wilkhu. All images courtesy of Olivia Broome and Hoxton Mini Press

In the mid-20th century, during reconstruction following World War II, an architectural style emerged in the U.K. and Europe that favored bare, industrial building materials, a monochrome palette, and angular geometry. Both iconic and divisive, the hulking, concrete facades can be seen in the likes of London’s Barbican Centre or the National Theatre. In the U.S., think of Boston City Hall or Met Breuer. These stalwart structures represented modernity, resilience, and strength, serving as civic hubs and governmental centers—the opposite of “soft around the edges.”

That’s where Olivia Broome’s project Brutalist Plants comes in, a repository of photographs featuring gardens and greenery around these iconic buildings, which she has collected on her Instagram since 2018. An eponymous forthcoming book, published by Hoxton Mini Press, showcases some of the most impressive examples that she has collected over time, focusing on incredible pairings and contrasts between architecture and foliage.

“I find it fascinating how much any space can be improved by some plants or greenery,” Broome tells Colossal. “There’s something so pleasing about grey and green, as anyone with some houseplants in their flat can agree with! For me, brutalism gives off such a strong presence when you’re near it, and nature softens that right down.”

Brutalist Plants emerged from a community-led collaboration, as Broome collects and showcases other photographers’ images. She enlisted her father, who is also a fan of photography, to help whittle down the more than 300 images in the project’s Instagram feed to create a selection for the book—ten of which made the final cut. “Something I’m proud of is that images from 41 different countries feature in the book,” she says. “I really wanted to make it as international as possible, so I hope there’s something for everyone.”

Brutalist Plants is out in the U.K. this month, and you can preorder your copy on Hoxton Mini Press’s website. The book’s U.S. release is scheduled for September.

an undulating architectural gridded wall, viewed looking straight up, with pockets of greenery in each square

Reinforced hillside, Aogashima, Tokyo, Japan. Photo © Yasushi Okano

a group of trees with a concrete slab cast onto their trunks to create a shelter

Artwork and photo by Karsten Födinger in La Vallée, Basse-Normandie, France

a side-by-side image showing brutalist architecture and greenery, with the image on the left of a concrete tower in a green estate, and the image on the right showing a tree growing in an atrium

Left: Monument to the Revolution, Kozara National Park, Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Architect: Dušan Džamonja. Photo © Alexey Bokov. Right: Casa de Vidro, São Paulo, Brazil. Architect: Lina Bo Bardi. Photo © Celeste Asfour

Jurong Bird Park, Jurong, Singapore. Architect: John Yealland and J. Toovey. Photo © James Wong

the exterior of a brutalist tower with vines creeping up the wall and trees around the base

Evangelische Friedenskirche (Peace Church), Monheim-Baumberg, Germany. Architect: Walter Maria Förderer. Photo © Bildarchiv Monheim GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

a side-by-side image of two examples of brutalist architecture paired with greenery, with the left image being an entrance with a large green vine over it, and the image on the right being a small concrete cabin in the woods

Left: Bucharest, Romania. Photo © Bogdan Anghel. Right: Casa Alférez, Cañada De Alferes, Mexico. Architect: Ludwig Godefroy. Photo © Rory Gardiner

a large, angular, brutalist complex in France with vines growing around many of its corners and from balconies

Les Étoiles d’Ivry, Paris, France. Architect: Jean Renaudie. Photo © pp1 / Shutterstock

lush greenery underneath an open concrete screen held up by pillars

The abandoned Haludovo Palace Hotel, Krk Island, Croatia. Architect: Boris Magaš. Photo © Maciek Leszczelowski

the front cover of the book 'Brutalist Plants' by Olivia Broome

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Verdant Landscapes and Burgeoning Plants Crawl Across Walls in ONIRO’s Vibrant Anatomical Murals

a large-scale mural of a potted plant that grows to reveal the silhouette of a person, who holds the pot

“Coltivazione del Sé” (2021), Cassino, Italy. All images © ONIRO, shared with permission

Greenery abounds in the large-scale murals of Italian artist ONIRO, who often focuses on themes of interconnectedness and balance, especially between humans and the natural world. In “Coltivazione del Sé,” or “self-cultivation,” a human form emerges from the leaves and shadows of a burgeoning plant, while an opening of sky between branches reveals a facial silhouette in an untitled mural on an olive oil processing workshop.

In 2022, ONIRO completed an ambitious series that links three neighboring communities along the Via Aurelia, an ancient Roman artery in Italy constructed around 241 B.C.E. that remains a busy commercial thoroughfare today. “Each mural is a necessary part for the others, like organs that form an organism, and which as a whole has a greater value than the sum of the individual parts,” the artist says.

The three pieces in Organismo, or “body,” are composed in a loose, painterly style to depict Gaia—the ancient Greek goddess who personified the earth—an island shaped like the human heart, and a peninsula shaped like lungs with flowing, bronchial inlets. Explore more on Behance and Instagram.

a mural of olive branches on the side of a building, which open up to reveal blue sky in the shape of a person's profile

Untitled, La Marina oil mill, San Donato Val Comino, Italy (2021)

a mural of a human heart that resembles an island as seen from above

“Organismo – Cuore” (2022), Comune di Castagneto Carducci, Italy

an overview of a city street with mural of a plant

“Coltivazione del Sé”

a detail of a mural showing the stems of a plant growing out of a terracotta pot

Detail of “Coltivazione del Sé”

a large mural of a verdant landscape viewed from above in which the land and water creates the shape of human lungs

“Organismo – Polmoni” (2022), Comune di San Vincenzo, Italy

an aerial overview of a mural in an Italian seafront town

Aerial view of “Organismo – Polmoni.” Photo by Francesco Luongo

a mural of a landscape overview in which the water bodies and land masses form the silhouette of a female figure representing Mother Earth

“Organismo – Gaia” (2022), Comune di Venturina Terme, Italy

a mural on the side of a building showing a river coursing through some mountains

“Casa del Fiume”

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In ‘Zoophites,’ Les Lalanne Hybridize Beasts and Botany into Functional Sculptures

an installation view with a cat sculpture that opens up on its back surrounded by additional chair sculptures

‘Les Lalanne: Zoophites,’ Kasmin, New York. All photos by Charlie Rubin, courtesy of Kasmin, shared with permission

Now obsolete, the term zoophytes once referred to organisms that exhibited both animal and plant characteristics. It’s also an apt title for a poetic exhibition of sculptures blending beastly and botanical forms by the late Claude (1925-2019) and François-Xavier Lalanne (1927-2008).

On view at Kasmin in New York, Zoophites brings together dozens of surrealist works from the French artists, known together as Les Lalanne, that bridge the divide between kingdoms. Included are iconic pieces like François-Xavier’s “Grand Chat polymorph,” a ten-foot cat with a tail fin and wings that open up to reveal a fully functional bar cart, and a similarly multi-purpose bull whose bronze belly flips open like a small desk. Having worked as a guard in the Egyptian and Assyrian galleries of the Louvre, the artist often referenced ancient mythology and hybridity in his figures.

While François-Xavier gravitated toward the animal, Claude was drawn to the plant world. Oversized ginkgo leaves line “Les Berces adossées,” an elegant bench with four fan-shaped seats. The pair lived together but tended to work separately, and their rare collaborations maintain both of their natural affinities. “Gorille consolé,” for example, features a seated primate by François-Xavier that grasps branches by Claude.

As its name suggests, that glass-top piece is made to hold objects, and some curators and critics struggled to classify the duo’s works because of such functionality. “It was difficult to be accepted in the art world,” Claude said. “We used to have a lot of trouble because we made useful things and made them ourselves. This is automatically considered as so called ‘decorative arts,’ a lesser, secondary art.”

Zoophites borrows its title from a 1964 show in Paris that was the first the pair presented together and is on view through May 9. For more about Les Lalanne, visit Kasmin.

a cow sculpture that opens up like a desk with two small animal sculptures on pedestals on either side

‘Les Lalanne: Zoophites,’ Kasmin, New York. Photo by Charlie Rubin

a bronze bench made of gingko leaves

Claude Lalanne, “Les Berces adossées” (2015), bronze, 42 1/8 x 96 1/8 x 29 7/8 inches. Image © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / ADAGP, Paris, France

a detail of a black goat with large curved horns

François-Xavier Lalanne, detail of “Bouquetin (grand)” (1999/2016), bronze and black patina, 37 x 53 1/8 x 11 7/8 inches. Image © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / ADAGP, Paris, France

a tv console of a seated gorilla in bronze holding up twigs with leaves and a glass top

François-Xavier Lalanne, “Gorille consolé” (2002/2016), bronze and glass 33 7/8 x 72 3/5 x 19 5/7 inches. Image © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / ADAGP, Paris, France

a black rhino sculpture

‘Les Lalanne: Zoophites,’ Kasmin, New York. Photo by Charlie Rubin

a bronze bird resting on a twig

François-Xavier Lalanne, “Oiseau de Peter branché (grand) (Modèle de montage)” (2004), bronze, 40 1/8 x 54 3/4 x 44 1/8 inches. Image © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / ADAGP, Paris, France

a centaur with a helmet over its face, holding a string with a point that touches the ground and a plane with 1-9

Claude & Francois-Xavier Lalanne, “Centaure (moyen)” (1995/2008), gilt bronze, 48 3/8 x 33 7/8 x 13 inches. Image © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / ADAGP, Paris, France

a black and white photo of the artists seated in front of the centaur sculpture

Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne in 1985. Phot by Jean-Philippe Lalanne, courtesy of Caroline Hamisky Lalanne and Kasmin

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article In ‘Zoophites,’ Les Lalanne Hybridize Beasts and Botany into Functional Sculptures appeared first on Colossal.