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Irina Tall
These pieces were featured in Volume 2, Issue 2. Click here to explore other pieces from this issue.
Cass Francis
In the Dark
Movie House
Passerby
My creative work often explores fractured identities, distant connections, and a sense of place in a highly mediated world. This series of acrylic paintings are mostly based off photos I took while exploring my home state of Texas. “Movie House” represents a beautiful theater near Sundance Square in Fort Worth. In reality, the theater is surrounded by urban downtown buildings—but I stripped those out of the painting to leave it with an isolated and slightly spooky feel. “In the Dark” does not come directly from a single photo or real place, but instead is a play on how in our media-saturated world sometimes media play reflections of us for its own sake. “Passerby” is a tryptic showing the different points of view of a building I photographed in Marfa, Texas. As with the movie theater, I stripped out the surrounding buildings and landscape to isolate the building and make it seem dreamier and more surreal. Pretty simple, this one just means that things change shape as you pass them by.
These pieces were featured in Volume 2, Issue 2. Click here to explore other pieces from this issue.
Sara Grant
This piece was featured on the cover of Volume 2, Issue 2.
Hereditary
Sara Grant is a Midwest based colored pencil artist, known for blending realism with subtle surrealism. Her vibrant, detailed works offer a fresh perspective, drawing viewers into imaginative and thought-provoking worlds.
This piece was featured in Volume 2, Issue 2. Click here to explore other pieces from this issue.
Dakota Russell
Renee
This piece, Renee, is a simplistic characterization of my own cat. It is a portrait of her within a forced perspective composition where the subject confronts the viewer. It is entirely painted out of gouache atop a 6x6 inch panel. During its creation, I felt lost as an artist and was struggling to understand the definition of my own art. This piece was the first painting I had created in years that was for my own enjoyment other than for my work and schooling. The use of color and further distortion of the room surrounding the subject was a key part of my experimental thought process.
Using my own cat as my subject evolved into a symbol representing a new spark and process of creating art. This simple piece not only helped me out of years of struggle within my practice, but opened up an entirely new world of art to me. With this, I can use my personal experience of making art exciting again by inspiring others to create as much as possible and reminding those how they define their creative process.
This piece was featured in Volume 2, Issue 2. Click here to explore other pieces from this issue.
Brett Stout
The art that I’m submitting has the basic overall theme of “creative destruction.” I’ve taken my own photographs that I mainly take while walking the streets of my town, while on vacation, or riding my bicycle late at night.
The art that I’m submitting has the basic overall theme of “creative destruction.” I’ve taken my own photographs that I mainly take while walking the streets of my town, while on vacation, or riding my bicycle late at night. Then, I get prints of my photographs made, and I take the original prints of various sizes and defile and deform them into something different. I almost exclusively do this with an assortment of random and common household items and products, as varied as drywall screws, nails, cleaning bleach, staples, watercolor paint, duct tape, etc. I transform and make new art from already existing photographic art. Nothing I make will be perfect when partaking in the chaotic creative process, nor is it meant to be. I don’t go into making this kind of abstract art with a plan or any sort of idea of how the finished product will truly look. The new art could come out in the end as anything. It truly is random and sporadic chaos, which adds to the appeal and originality of it.
Kreative Kwame
I work in mixed media, printmaking. This usually involves several of these: acrylic paint, ink, marker pen or color pencil, paper weaving, collage and printmaking and performance.
Traditional healers and “sorcerers” have over the years claimed that people with albinism are “ghosts” who never die but merely disappear. In many parts of East Africa, people with albinism are targeted for their body parts, which some believe hold magical powers and bring good fortune. Albinism is a genetic condition that causes a deficit in the biosynthesis of melanin, a pigment that colours the skin, hair and eyes. “banaoroko” is an aspiring artist. I met him at a theatre close to where I work. He was there for rehearsal for a talent show due the next day. I introduced myself to him as an aspiring photographer and said I’ll love for us to make visual statements together. He opened up to me about dealing with colorism. “Dealing with stares from birth sounds a bit tough, but you get used to it” he said. We went on to plan a creative shoot which was so fun! I learnt a lot from him. Here is our visual statement.
The year 2019 was revolutionary for me. Amidst an internal conflict in my country Cameroon that had been going on for 3 years, changing the very way we live, I found the courage to share my love for art and created my IG page where I hoped to share my creations.
I could never imagine this journey will lead me here. It was an escape from the realities we faced. I remember searching “how to edit cinematic photos that tell a story” on YouTube. I immediately went out with my then iPhone 7 and began shooting expressive photos. I’ve always liked the idea of creating photos in a series accompanied by an essay on the theme chosen. The interpretation of these often thought provoking photos that touch on different subjects is left for the viewer to decipher for themselves.
Lior Locher
I work in mixed media, printmaking. This usually involves several of these: acrylic paint, ink, marker pen or color pencil, paper weaving, collage and printmaking and performance.
I work in mixed media, printmaking. This usually involves several of these: acrylic paint, ink, marker pen or color pencil, paper weaving, collage and printmaking and performance. I just launched my first film. I love bright colors and media that dry quickly so you can add more layers. Printmaking adds science, whimsy and cool kit, elements that are fixed and yet vary from print to print. Collage was my first love and still plays a prominent role. It started with travel ephemera and a fascination with Japanese origami paper and traditional patterns while living there, and has since expanded to anything that’s flat and sticks. In my other life I trained in personal development, coaching and psychotherapy as well as teaching different styles of yoga. I continue to be fascinated by our inner lives as humans, how we make sense of our own journeys and experiences, and how our mind and body come together. Our lives always involve picking up what already is, at that point in time, and recombining it to move forward, adding our own flavor. Often ripping things up and starting again, layers and sedimentations that form over time into something uniquely ours. That applies to life and art. Mixed media work is a great way to capture this.
Madeline O’Neill
In my work, I strive to highlight the hardships many minorities endure at the hands of American society and the modern world.
In my work, I strive to highlight the hardships many minorities endure at the hands of American society and the modern world. Typically, this inspires me to use my platform to emphasize the resilience and passion of the Indigenous population of North America, also those of the Muslim religion. It is important to bring forth the power and impact Indigenous cultures have on modern society, as we are advanced because of their diverse and inclusive culture. We should strive to have such diversity in our lives as well!
Tyrone Mckie
Drawing pencils capture fleeting ideas from my inner world and the world at large. These then transform into surreal digital paintings brought to life in Photoshop.
My artistic practice delves into the complexities of human experience, using digital paintings and digital collages as my tools of exploration. Drawing pencils capture fleeting ideas from my inner world and the world at large. These then transform into surreal digital paintings brought to life in Photoshop. With my digital collages, I curate fragments from various media sources, weaving them together to build a rich tapestry of imagery and often typography. As in our lives, where seemingly disparate elements coalesce to form our unique narrative, this artistic process reflects the interconnectedness of reality.
At its core, my art fuels a journey of self-discovery and a yearning to understand the world and universe around me. It's a visual conversation that invites viewers to explore their own emotions, ponder their place in the grand scheme, and engage with the questions that lurk beneath the surface. My work doesn't often offer easy answers, but instead invites contemplation and reflection, encouraging viewers to appreciate the beautiful complexities and contradictions inherent in being human.