According to the Mayan creation story, humans are spun from white and yellow corn, a precious crop at the epicenter of their culture. Referring to herself as Xicanx—a genderless term emphasizing Indigenous Mexican or Mesoamerican ...
Artist Profiles
Discover exciting Artists + Learn About Their Work
Why Photographer Tommy Kha Loves Clumsy Snapshots
Tommy Kha takes after his great-aunt, who according to family lore, “read too many books and went crazy.” The self-portrait photographer from Memphis with an MFA from Yale sums himself up as a “left-handed, Queer, ...
Noa Charuvi Resurrects the Israeli Landscape
Painting is in Noa Charuvi’s blood. Destined for a life of facing the blank canvas, Noa chose to follow the footsteps of her grandfather, Shmuel Charuvi, a 20th century Ukrainian painter who was fascinated by ...
How Texas Painter Carlos Donjuan Overcame the Fear of Not Belonging
Carlos Donjuan learned the basics of line, tone, shape, and space from painting graffiti as a teenager. A high school art teacher steered him into the studio and inspired him to earn a masters of ...
Keya Tama and Elléna Lourens: The Creative Power of Friendship
While popular culture puts sexual relationships on a pedestal, many people find friendships just as transformative and nourishing as love affairs. Emerging South African-born artists Keya Tama and Elléna Lourens form two halves of a ...
Justin Tate Creates Site-Specific Installations Around the Globe
In the past decade, Justin Tate has created more than a hundred projects in over twenty countries. He incorporates architecture, carpentry, botany, cooking, electronics, chemistry, and new media into his site-specific installations. Born in Canada ...
Experience a Heart-Stopping Celestial Romance From The Stars Collector
Who hasn’t wanted to pluck a handful of stars from the clear night sky? Collage artist Dolores Nemi Caldentey—known publicly as The Stars Collector and colloquially as “Lo”—has found a way. Inspired by vintage illustration ...
How Ates Isildak Creates a Safe Space for Marginalized Communities
Ates Isildak uses short films, music videos, and photography to subvert conventional expressions of beauty and sexuality. His goal is to create a safe space for marginalized communities to “exuberantly express themselves.” The son of ...
Sad Sack Illustrator Travis Lampe Laughs in the Face of Fate
“Death is certain. But I recommend avoiding it,” quips artist, illustrator, and toymaker Travis Lampe. Influenced by fortune telling, mystical divination, and a healthy dose of pessimism, Travis’ topsy-turvy works are just as wry as ...
San Diego Artist Neil Kendricks Confronts the Human Toll of Racial Violence
Neil Kendricks is an artist, filmmaker, writer, and photographer who teaches at San Diego State University (SDSU). His interdisciplinary practice addresses the human toll of racial violence. In 2020, Kendricks launched a series of mixed-media ...
Luscious Digital Portraiture From Graffiti Artist Turned Illustrator Samuel Rodriguez
There’s more than one way to paint a landscape, according to California-based artist Samuel Rodriguez. Referring to his digital portraits as “cultural landscape paintings,” the graffiti artist turned illustrator likens his creative process to that ...
NOT REAL ART July Gift Guide: Digital Rainbows Over Dreamland
Recently, we’ve been sharing tips for growing your art collection with unique, affordable works (it’s easier than you think!). While buying original works through blue chip galleries remains mysterious and pricey, there are tons of ...
Pop Art Meets the Apocalypse in D*Face’s Hollywood-Inspired Work
Deceptively rose-tinted and rebellious, new work from multimedia artist D*Face (aka Dean Stockton) reveals the hairline fractures appearing in our quick-fix, instant-oatmeal society. “After living through an unprecedented, historical moment in time that saw us ...
Spandita Malik’s Embroidered Photographs Turn Away From the Colonized Eye
Brooklyn-based artist Spandita Malik combines photographic portraits with embroidered details made by women in India who’ve suffered from domestic abuse. Her mixed-media images of female subjects in enclosed spaces speak out against gender-based violence. Spandita’s ...
All Hail Camille Walala, the Queen of Creative Joy
French artist Camille Walala is no existential philosopher clad in black cashmere. Explosively colorful, the muralist’s ambitious, large-scale designs transform cityscapes across the world into stirring spectacles of joy. Though Camille’s public work is open ...