Australian artist Ben Smith’s take on portraiture is loose and impressionistic, adhering to the classical tradition of figure painting. Yet his latest series, titled “Flux,” pops with candy-colored hues — the artificial colors that bleed into our lives by way of mass-produced products and media. The teals and violets add a playful quality to the work, accentuated by the surreal creatures he introduces into his whimsical scenarios. A miniature albino lion in one piece looks like it would make for an excellent viral pet video if it were a real animal; in another painting, a two-headed horse presents a perplexing and ultimately disturbing anatomical riddle. Tying together various threads in the world around him, Smith creates imaginative vignettes that engage the senses.
Cesar Piette’s analogue paintings carry the texture and sheen of digitally created Pixar characters. The artist uses a blend of paint techniques, between traditional layering and airbrush approaches. Before that, the artist has first designed these characters via sketching, digital modeling and adjustment, and then goes to work on the final painting.
Artist 
In Taylor Schultek’s riveting oil paintings, an urban structure is as much a character as his human subjects. The connection between humanity and environment is often at play, with the art of graffiti often in progress. The artist's own history in graffiti and graphic design seem to converge in building believable backdrops.