Nigerian-born, U.S.-based artist Njideka Akunyili explores the dynamics of her culture and community through mixed-media art, melding limitless combinations of acrylic, charcoal, pastel, marble dust, colored pencils, oil, fabric or Xerox transfers into figurative collages with distinct narratives. Both critics and collectors have responded positively to her work. At Art Basel in 2012, five of her large collage paintings sold…
Abigail Vancannon’s oil paintings capture the beauty in the everyday, suggesting the nostalgia of the 1950s. The inspirations for her Americana portraits and scenes are classic car shows and antique stores, and she creates art that “evokes emotions, challenges thinking and thoughts, contemplates beauty and has great power to reach people in a nontraditional way,” she says. Vancannon received her…
With marker and ink, Minjae Lee, a self-taught artist, layers bright, intricate patterns over female portraits. The images call to mind his South Korean heritage and push a contemporary aesthetic. Although a fresh face in the art world, Lee has already been commissioned internationally. Nature plays a dominant role in Lee’s images, and this focus stems from his early interest…
Marcus Payzant’s soft yet texturally rich images transform the mundane and the random into the complex. “I’m inspired by setting boundaries and then trying to figure out how I can break those boundaries to take a piece to a different level,” says Payzant. “The limitless possibilities associated with making art are enticing and inspiration enough to keep working.” Payzant received…
Karen Lederer saturates her paintings in colors and dynamic patterns, and they “revel in excess,” she says. “I create work that rejects the rigid aesthetic directive of formalism in favor of bold color and pattern,” says Lederer. “I am interested in how these elements change how one sees.” Lederer received her master’s degree in fine arts in printmaking from the Rhode…
Film and theater inspire many of Joyce Ho’s paintings, and her work reflects her multiple artistic passions. Ho’s work with Riverbed Theatre Productions in Taiwan influences her artistic use of “lighting, perspective and space,” she says. Her father and sister frequently appear as models in her paintings, grounding the dreamlike concepts of her work with the familial. “There is something…
Barbara Ernst Prey has become an iconic American painter, renowned for her vibrant landscapes and watercolor scenes of Americana. She was appointed by the U.S. president to serve on the National Council on the Arts, the 14-member advisory board of the National Endowment for the Arts. Prey has participated in the Art in Embassies program which exhibited her work in…
With a fluid combination of charcoal, ink and paints, Bryan Ramey infuses his work with the surreal. Inspiration for his illustrated dream worlds comes from “the darker, more primitive side of man: the superstitious, the imaginative, the unknown part of ourselves,” he says. Ramey attended the postbaccalaureate program at the School for the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and…
Barcelona-native Xavier Rodés has exhibited throughout Spain and internationally, including France, England, Argentina and the U.S. He completed his art studies degree at EINA College. According to the artist’s statement, “The ground-breaking treatment of light, precise drawing and thematic originality create Rodés’ distinguished and unique style. In spite of being a figurative artist, his paintings suggest non-conventional ideas, as he…
Mixed media artist Hilary Williams layers photos, drawings, paintings and patterns to create screen print impressions of San Francisco and the Bay Area. Her work captures a marriage between the urban and the natural. “Through layering, collage and juxtaposition, I strive to make layered pieces that deal with the absurdity, poignancy and joy of our world,” she says. Williams has…
