I embrace distinctly “soft” aesthetics and subject matter, which have historically been dismissed as feminine and frivolous. Moments of intimacy and vulnerability are where my particular interests lie, as it is in these moments that we reveal ourselves. I illustrate these moments through embroidered images of skin, embraces between loved ones, portraits, and the like. My art often involves embellishments, lace, and lots of pink. In this way, my work is intentionally “girly,” to reclaim femininity as a source of strength and pride rather than a weakness.

 S.H.Kim is working on a “picture diary” project. These works recount his memories of everyday encounters such as with scenery, movies, or books. With ordinary scenes and popular images as his source, the artist constructs a subjective archive. Kim’s works show simplicity, sincerity, and authenticity. The materials he uses—oil pastels and oil sticks—give viewers intimate feelings when they see his paintings. With his paintings, Kim shows how contemporary film and literature with distinct characteristics are reduced down to uniform colors when processed through a consumer.

 The Universe is half creation and half destruction. Understanding that brings me peace. I hope my work conveys a sense of balance.

 Everyone is wounded. Everyone carries on. This is a hypothetical reality that draws from nature, art history, magic . . . the news. These are vestiges of a world that is familiar but appears here half-remembered or misremembered and reincarnated in a fanciful way. Incongruous plants and sometimes animals exist side by side. People merge with the land and emerge from thin air. Climates are theoretical. Everything is fluid. The rocks might melt, the sea stand still. The trees may change at any moment . . . a new pattern may be imported, a character swapped . . . a sky stolen.

 I am an illustrator by profession and an artist by heart. My mixed media paintings explore both Blackness and womanhood. Acknowledging the number of stigmas attached to each classification, I hope that my paintings will serve as a contrast to existing stereotypes by promoting their true essence, beauty, happiness, and inclusion.

 Dave Swensen is a self-taught painter and sculptor with a background in design. He works from his home studio with a focus on minimalist concepts and forms. With a unique approach to painting, Swensen’s handling of shadow, light, and spatial concepts are front and center. Embedded surfaces, figurative notions, and the use of repetition are all recurring themes. Swensen is constantly refining his use of line and how a blank space is used and declined. In most cases, his work walks the line between painting and sculpture.

 My paintings are light and strange and sometimes sweet. I love ordinary objects, drawings within paintings, and when goofiness undercuts beauty.

 When I get to making something, the drive is to get at and exploit the seemingly mundane quality of our collective surroundings. You either get lost in, or completely ignore your daily setting most of the time, but the visual background noise hums along. I’ve found that with time and scrutiny, our habitats can expose themselves to the bizarre mixture of influences that form them, especially in a city environment. Observational in its foundation, my work tends to shift and merge into the abstract through sampled components and hints of collage, like abstraction lite.

 Color is a huge part of the way I see the world and what I am most interested in when constructing my paintings. The interaction of color, how space can be flat and have depth all at once. How two colors can fight with each other while remaining friends. That perfectly off-color combination that feels so satisfying. Materiality. Reflectivity. Symbols that can mean something and nothing all at once. Narrative that can be abstract. Color that takes over your body. Brings joy, but also makes you uncomfortable. I am interested in that discomfort. In the unknown.