A Bouquet Of Birds. Artist Hong Yi Uses Flowers Petals To Construct Birds.

above: Owl made of white, orange and maroon chrysanthemums with trumpet flowers for the eyes and a dried leaf for beak

Malaysian artist and architect Hong Yi (aka Red) whose wonderful portrait made of socks and coffee stain portrait for Nespresso I have already shared with you, has this sweet series of birds made from flower petals, herbs, dried leaves and twigs.

Nespresso Commissions Coffee Cup Stain Portrait of Lucio Dalla in Milan.

I first introduced you to the beautiful and talented Hong "Red" Yi with her unusual portrait of Chinese film director Zhang Yimou created with 750 pair of socks. Most recently she was commissioned by the Milan Nespresso Boutique to create a portrait of the late Italian singer Lucio Dalla out of coffee cup ring stains.


above: Singer Lucio Dalla passed away this past March

Red, who is known for working in unusual mediums, created the piece onsite in Milan:




The final piece:

The unveiling of the piece at the Nespresso Boutique in Milan:



The piece will be displayed in the Milan Nespresso boutique, then given to the mayor of Bologna, who, according to Red, plans to hang it in a museum that they will be building for Lucio.

images and info courtesy of Red (Hong Yi) who now has a new website.

Artist Li Xiaofeng Does Porcelain & Cotton Polos For Lacoste Holiday Collector's Series

above: a detail of the porcelain shard LACOSTE shirt by artist Li Xiaofeng

Since 2006, each year the Lacoste brand commissions a designer, design team or artist to create a special Holiday Collector's Series of of their classic L.12.12 polo shirt. Past designers included Tom Dixon (2006), Michael Young (2007), R.E.M frontman Michael Stipe (2008) and The Campana brothers in 2009.



For 2010, Chinese artist Li Xiaofeng, best known for his porcelain fragment sculptures, has created both an outstanding porcelain sculpture of a LACOSTE shirt as well as wearable Holiday Collector's editions of the L.12.12 Polo for men and women.





The Porcelain Polo
The actual porcelain Lacoste Shirt is the most expensive Lacoste Polo to date. The art piece features porcelain shards printed with Chinese characters, symbols, red phoenix birds and variations of the Lacoste alligator and logotype as well as a wax seal.








the artist at work:

above photos by Miko He


The Cotton Polo
Now, for the actual wearable cotton Lacoste 2010 Holiday Collector's Series L.12.12 polo shirts, which will be be produced in a limited number of 20,000.




The men's and women's wearable cotton polo shirts designed for the Holiday Collector's Series for 2010 by Li Xiaofeng features a textile pattern that emulates broken porcelain shards from the Kangxi Period (1662-1722) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912).



This print represents happiness and exuberant youth according to Li Xiaofeng. Originally the reason for images of babies was to promote the births and good health of children in an era of high infant mortality. Li points out that joy continues exist even in a life that is always faced with difficulties, a life where we must continually reassemble the pieces after setbacks. Li photographed each of the shards and placed them in life-sized digital pattern of each part of the polo.



above left: the Men's limited edition polo shirt and right; the Women's version


special thanks to photographer Miko He, Jing Daily and Nels Frye of Stylites for images and information

Rock a Bye Deadly Baby: The Ne Zha Works of Shi Jinsong

The Ne Zha Baby Boutique By Shi Jinsong, 2006 - 2008

Na Zha (or Nezha), is a Chinese mythical creature, an impish trickster with supernatural powers and flamboyant fashion sense (legend has it his red silk trousers generated so much heat the sea began to boil, enraging the East Sea Dragon King). Na Zha's essential ferocity long since tamed in the Chinese psyche, he is now chiefly celebrated as a God of Lotteries and Gambling, a commodified totem of the new global economy.


above left; the exhibition catalog. above right; the artist Shi Jinsong

Through his razor-sharp sculptures and related works, Shi Jinsong initiates a dialogue, at once menacing and ironic, between the forms of mythic Chinese culture and modern day globalization. "Na Zha" is here recast as the brand name for an outrageously unsafe line of baby products.

Meticulously assembled in stainless steel from intricate mechanical drawings, they include a deadly Carriage; a sadistic Cradle; a sinister Walker; and a malicious, multi-part Toy complete with needle-tipped pacifiers and dismembering abacus. Baby Boutique confronts its "shopper" with a radically strange and seductive "product," lethal luxury designed to reveal the forces that dominate our lives in unimaginable ways. - above text courtesy of Absolute Arts

Various Ne Zha strollers by Shi Jinsong:






For his first exhibition at Chambers Fine Art in 2006, Shi Jinsong produced a range of articles for baby Ne Zha, consisting of cradles, strollers, rattles and a walker. Two years later, in the second showing of Ne Zha, the infant seems to have grown up into a toddler and Jinsong's works include miniature suits of armor, a rocking horse, roller blades, a scooter and a tricycle.

Images from the first show (2006) at Chambers Fine Art Gallery:

above: Na Zha Stroller, Stainless steel, 2005, 40 1/6 x 38 5/6 x 32 2/7 in (102 x 98.6 x 82 cm)


above: Na Zha Cradle, Stainless steel, 2005, 24 x 31 7/8 x 24 3/8 in (61 x 81 x 62 cm)


above: Na Zha Rattle, Stainless steel, 2005, 3/4 x 5 1/4 x 3 3/4 in (30 x 13.3 x 9.6 cm)


above: Na Zha Baby Bottle, Stainless steel, 2005, 3 x 5 x 5 in (7.6 x 12.7 x 12.7 cm)


above: Na Zha Baby Toys, 2005, stainless steel




above: Na Zha Walker, 2005, stainless steel, 54 x 59 x 66 cm


Images from the second show (2008) of the Ne Zha Baby Boutique, 2008:

Above: baby suit of armor, stainless steel, 2008


above left, stainless steel baby armor and right, a stainless steel scooter, 2008


above: Full Armor-Mouse, Stainless steel, 2008, 31 1/2 x 11 3/4 x 7 7/8 in. (80 x 30 x 20 cm)


above: Rocking Horse, Stainless steel, 2008, 26 x 34 x 15 3/8 in. (66 x 86.5 x 39 cm)


above: Rollerblades, Stainless steel, 2008, 14 1/8 x 5 7/8 x 8 1/2 in. (36 x 15 x 21.5 cm)


above: tricycle, stainless steel, 2008

Earlier this year, Shi Jinsong's Ne Zha works were part of a 'China - contemporary revival', exhibition at the Palazzo Reale, in Milan, Italy. The images below are from his works in that show, courtesy of Designboom.






about the artist:


Born in Danyang County, Hubei Province in 1969, Shi Jinsong enrolled at the Hubei Academy of Fine Arts in 1994, majoring in sculpture and mastering a gamut of traditional techniques. Under the influence of three powerful stimuli - radical socio-cultural change in China; a reading of Foucault's Madness and Civilization; and the birth of his first daughter - the artist began to investigate ideas of transformation and control.

The images in this post are courtesy of Chambers Fine Art, Saatchi Gallery, Marella Gallery, ArtNet