Find Your Zen Inside Peter Harrington’s Mirage-Like Paintings
In his early 20s, Peter Harrington laid his backpack on the threshold of a Zen Buddhist temple. Someone opened the door, handed the young artist a broom, and said, “Now, Peter, when you sweep, only sweep!”
Christine Garvey Redefines Motherhood as Messy, Monstrous and Tenderhearted
Described as a “feminist ahead of her time,” 17th century Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi explored themes of motherhood, heroinism, and the male gaze. Now, hundreds of years later, artists like Christine Garvey study and reimagine her work through a modern lens, still captivated by the same themes.
Vibrant Paintings From CJ Hungerman Explore the ‘Friction of Life’
CJ Hungerman’s psychedelic art takes you on a “magic trip” that would make Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters proud, though his paintings achieve a state of altered consciousness sans hallucinogenic drugs. Amplifying color, texture, and shape, CJ presents a pulsating illusion of a three-dimensional world, one that’s a little kinder and brighter than reality.
The Transcendental Beauty of Susan Chambers’ Southern Gardens
Susan Chambers strays far from the American standard of a manicured lawn and a garden carpeted with non-native plants. The Arkansas-based painter practices soliphilia, a term coined by sustainability professor Glenn Albrecht that refers to “the love and responsibility for a place, bioregion, planet, and the unity of interrelated interests within it.”
‘M’ is for Monster: Heidi Brueckner and Her Sleazy Creatures Teach the ABCs
“A is for Ahlmee, the first of our creeps. B is for Bumbreth who swallows down heaps,” goes the couplet scrawled on Heidi Brueckner’s pair of alphabetic paintings, “Ahlmee” and “Bumbreth.”
Surreal Fairy Tales From Nathalie Tierce Prove That ‘Life is Full of Pricks’
“Life is full of pricks” reads the tagline from Pulling Weeds from a Cactus Garden, a surreal collection of illustrated fairy tales for adults from author and artist Nathalie Tierce. The book, inspired by Aesop’s Fables, includes short prose paired with Nathalie’s mixed-media work. “The luridly rendered artwork and writing reflects the dark side of human interaction and alienation,” reads the book’s synopsis. “Just like the act of pulling weeds from a cactus garden, it’s tricky, and you can’t do it without getting hurt. Yet, these tales of hazard evoke a sense of beauty and humor from otherwise threatening situations.”
‘Urban Landscapes’: Exquisite Papercuts From Rosa Leff
“I think creativity is just a way of seeing the world,” says paper artist Rosa Leff in a recent episode of People | Things. The video series, produced by EyelumWorks, follows artists into their studios in an effort to understand how creativity flourishes in different environments. “[Creativity is] having strange, really strong responses to things that other people don’t understand or don’t see or things that they wouldn’t see until you bring it to their attention,” Rosa clarifies.
Jeannie Rhyu’s Moody Paintings ‘Float Between Surrealism, Folklore, and Dreams’ [Interview]
“I've always been really interested in light and the way it glows, blazes, and warms,” writes Jeannie Rhyu on Mint Tea, an online platform where the painter shares a warm cup and a conversation with her favorite artists. “I love including mutable elements like light, fire, smoke, and water […] their flexibility is really charming to me. I want to capture the exact moment of transformation, which is very magical.”
Kristen Liu-Wong: The Pressure to ‘Feel Good, Look Good, Fuck Good, Be Good’ [Interview]
Kristen Liu-Wong’s work is a pot of water about to boil over.
Working with bright acrylic and gouache, the LA-based illustrator blends crude humor with synthetic surfaces, creating portraits of modern women under diamond-mine pressure. Each painting holds tension, resting at the point of critical mass. “These women grapple with the pressure to feel good, to look good, to act good, to fuck good, to be good, and to define what ‘good’ is for themselves,” says Kristen.