❥ new year/art/podcast

this week in outsider art features some of the top posts of 2025, the latest episode of folkartwork and friends with esteban whiteside and much more

Jan 04, 2026

THIS WEEK IN OUTSIDER ART

for daily postings of outsider art visit folkartwork.art or follow on instagram

**SAVA SEKULIĆ** The Army of Generals Franchet d’Espèrey (1976) // Oil on pasteboard; 72.5 x 61.5 cm via *Sammlung Zander*

**HILMA AF KLINT** The Dove, no. 9 (1915) // © Stiftelsen Hilma af Klints Verk (Photo: Albin Dahlström/Moderna Museet)

"Between 1906 and 1915, Hilma af Klint created “The Paintings for the Temple”. It comprises 193 paintings and drawings, divided into series and groups. The overall theme of the series is to convey different aspects of human evolution, instigated by polarity. “The Paintings for the Temple” also thematises different stages of development that every human being goes through during life on earth. The temple in the title refers not only to a physical building, which af Klint imagined would house the work, but also to the body as a temple for the soul." (Moderna Museet Malmö)

Tibetan Tantra rugs with Buddhist symbolic skeletons surrounded by skulls and severed human heads alternating with crossed dorje (double tridents) symbols via *Jozan Magazine* / reddit

The Mowing-Devil (1678) or the Earliest Known Depiction of a Crop Circle via *Public Domain Review*

**BiLLY LiLLY** House (2021) // Paint on wood via *the artist*

**MARIA PRYMACHENKO** A Dove Has Spread Her Wings and Asks for Peace (1982)

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**WILLIAM DOUGLAS** Hell (date unknown) // Oil on canvas; 20 x 16 inches via *High Tramp*

“Will cast thee down from the mountain of god into the fires of hell”

**SARAH MARY TAYLOR** Story Quilt (c. 1980) // Cotton, poly/cotton, and denim; 77 3/4 x 62 inches via *Telfair Museums*

**ANONYMOUS** Untitled Headstone (c.1800) // Stone and Wood; 15 x 14 in (38 x 35.5 cm) via *Gallery of Everything*

**SIMON SPARROW** Assemblage with Faces (date unknown) // Glitter, paint, molded plastic figurines (Star Wars figures, putti, and devils), decorative plaques, vessels, frames, shells, metal and plastic jewelry, buttons, beads, seeds, glass, stone, plaster, pine cones, and other found objects on wood; artist-made painted wood frame; 56 1/2 inches × 8 feet 11 inches × 3 1/2 inches (143.5 × 271.8 × 8.9 cm) via *Philadelphia Art Museum*

**JON SERL** Between Two Worlds (1982) // Oil on board; 60 3/8 × 60 3/8 × 1” via *American Folk Art Museum*

**MAMIE DESCHILLIE** Cat (c. 1990s-2000s) // Roving, paint, plastic beads, cardboard via *Spencer Museum of Art*

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FEATURED ARTIST OF THE WEEK

**RELEAH MICHELLE** A New Spirit Animal is Born (2025) // Acrylic painting on stretched canvas; 11” x 14” courtesy *the artist*

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WATCHING AND READING

Here are a few things I’ve been watching this past week:

Here are a few things I’ve been reading this past week:

OH WORD?

Starting the year off right, with one of my good friends and favorite artists in the game right now!

In the fifth episode of FolkArtwork and Friends, self-taught artist Esteban Whiteside joins me on a beautiful sunny morning to talk about how growing up he was turned off from artwork because he could never draw realistically.

After his dreams of playing professional basketball were dashed (I can relate), it was the free time he had while bartending and working as a security guard in one of his favorite museum collections that convinced him he could make art. After years of hustling and finding his calling, years later, he’s still making some of the most poignant and powerful artwork in the contemporary art world.

@folkartwork

Self-Taught & Outsider Art w/ Adam Oestreich on Instagram: "Sel…

Plus, a look into the life and work of self-taught artist Steve Ashby, an artist who was brought to my attention thanks to Esteban, who didn’t start carving wood and making art well into his 60’s.

Episodes will come out every first Friday of the month, on your favorite podcast player — Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and with video on YouTube. Like, subscribe, share, and keep coming back for more. Thanks so much! Catch up on past episodes here.

listen now

SHOUT OUT

Shout out to Fred Scruton for putting together this great book on Cano’s Castle, “a set of four gleaming towers, built single-handedly by Dominic “Cano” Espinoza, a Native American Vietnam vet”.

A picture book on Dominic “Cano” Espinoza and his Jesus’ Castle in Antonito, Colorado. Espinoza, a Vietnam veteran, built his two tower castle from recycled materials over about 20 years starting in 1980. In 2022 Espinoza’s on-site house burned down, and since then he’s been rebuilding a new home next to the remaining walls of his old house. Espinoza, his castle, and many of his other hand made creations are illustrated with Fred Scruton’s color pictures from 2008-2024 as well as earlier vintage black & white photographs All proceeds from sales of this book go to support Dominic Espinoza and his work. (Amazon)

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FROM THE COLLECTIVE

LORENA ELIASEN is a folk artist and illustrator who has created children’s books and patterns for packaging design. Her most recent works are hand-painted papier-mâché works exploring traditional spiritual and cultural themes.

available for purchase

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This Week in Outsider Art

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