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Marisa Aragón Ware grew up wandering through the Rocky Mountain forests of Colorado, where she reveled in nature’s diversity. There, she learned about woodland wildflowers, fungi, birds, and more with the help of her dad, who is a scientist. Over time, her fascination with organic forms made its way into an evolving art practice.
Based in Boulder, Ware continues to spend time in the woods, taking inspiration from flora and fauna alike. Through a meticulous process of cutting and scoring paper, she creates delicate curves to imitate the volume of leaves or bones and defines feathers, insect wings, and petals with precise veins and edges.

Paper became Ware’s medium of choice because she finds beauty and awe in a material we use so often in daily life that we hardly give it a second thought. “Paper is deeply familiar—everyone has handled it, written grocery lists on it, folded it, torn it, discarded it,” she tells Colossal. “Because it’s such an everyday material, there’s something especially powerful about transforming it into something unexpected.”
Biodiversity and ecosystem interdependence are themes running throughout Ware’s work, and she’s especially interested in the theory of biophilia. The hypothesis posits that humans inherently seek connections with nature on multiple levels. “Our need for nature extends far beyond physical survival; it also nourishes imagination, spirituality, and our sense of meaning,” Ware says. “Through my sculptures, I hope to create moments of wonder that help viewers reconnect with that ancient relationship and perhaps feel more compelled to protect it.”
Precision and control are key in Ware’s practice, but she has recently been privileging experimentation and a loosening-up of her approach. “I’ve been asking myself what may have been lost in the process of becoming technically skilled and how I can return to a beginner’s mindset without abandoning the abilities I’ve spent decades developing,” she says. “That questioning has led me to incorporate new processes and materials, including cyanotypes, allowing myself to work in ways that are less controlled, more intuitive, and more exploratory.”
Ware’s work is included in Common Waters at Arch Enemy Arts, which opens on June 5. See more on Ware’s Instagram. You might also enjoy Manabu Kosaka’s hyperrealistic paper sculptures of retro technology.








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Opa vertelt maar toen wij 14 waren blowden we ook weleens mee in het park, en daarna kregen we dan heel hard de slappe lach of werden ontiegelijk paranoïde. Wat we heel nadrukkelijk niet deden: snuiven, althans, die ene rare jongen achterin de klas wel, maar dat was lijm en hij had geen vrienden. Er was wel een dealer, maar dat was eigenlijk gewoon een jongen die er ouder uitzag en dus wiet of hasj meekreeg uit de coffeeshop.
Dat er sindsdien het een en ander veranderd is blijkt uit Nachtkinderen, de nieuwe driedelige docuserie van vriendin van de show Sahar Meradji. Die maakt sowieso altijd geweldig spul - eerder volgde ze al op indrukwekkende en indringende wijze wokisten, extreemrechtse gekken, hoeren, junkies, en Nederlandse moslims, nu komen daar dus tieners die keta, 3-mmc of ander obscuur spul gebruiken bij. Afijn, wat ons betreft solliciteert Meradji met Nachtkinderen nadrukkelijk naar de eretitel beste documentairemaker van Nederland, want christus te paard wat een spul is dit. Het leidt tot allerlei talkshowdiscussies over hoe wijdverbreid dit fenomeen nou is, en dat is logisch en goed, maar als je het daadwerkelijk zit te kijken, is dat helemaal niet zo relevant - het is erg genoeg dát dit fenomeen er is.
Nu kijkbaar op Videoland - was een uitstekende serie geweest voor de NPO, maar die zaten waarschijnlijk te slapen, of hadden te weinig budget omdat het leger aan middenmanagers ook betaald moet worden.
Ho, en wellicht ten overvloede, maar doe toch maar geen drugs, kinders.