In Justin Lovato’s new paintings, patterns are layered on top of one another to create dualistic compositions. Kaleidoscopic, sunset-hued arrangements of shapes in turn create new images with their negative space, an effect the artist says represents a conduit between two worlds. “I have always been interested in dreams, subconscious and ecstatic states, and the experience of alternate or parallel universes or dimensions,” wrote Lovato in an email to Hi-Fructose. “With this series especially I have been trying to relay the idea of parallel but different planes transposed on top of one another.”
Lovato recently closed his solo show “Prima Materia” at Space Gallery in Denver, where he showed alongside his mentors, Mars-1, Damon Soule, and Oliver Vernon. Take a look at some of his latest work below.
In the recent, enormous portraits painted by Mike Dargas, the artist pays homage to major figures in art history and tucks surprises into their contours. With “The Unbreakable," which honors Frida Kahlo, the artist says she was "physically broken but her spirit was unbreakable and her powerful essence eternal.” See more of his recent portraits below.
With his dreamlike, ink-on-paper renderings of mystical rivers, mountains and forests, Cuban artist 
Beijing-based painter and illustrator 
Born in London, Lina Iris Viktor merges hip hop and high fashion with Art Nouveau patterns to create bold artworks that scream contemporary pop expression. Many of her designs contrast soft swirls and sharp peaks, referencing motifs used to convey the mood of spiritual and technological progress of the early 20th century. Viktor however, is perhaps best known for her use of 24k gold. The artist, who has an interest in astrophysics and theater, uses the luxury material to elicit the same guttural response of awe that viewers have expressed towards uses of gold for centuries, such as in Byzantine icons.