Jenny Morgan’s (featured in HF Vol. 21) paintings reveal beauty in simplicity. She often depicts nude figures with poignant expressions, stylizing their bodies to fit her sunrise-hued palette in lieu of focusing on minuscule details like hairs and wrinkles. The simplification of her subjects gives her work a glossed-over effect that pushes it from objective realism into surreal territory. For her latest exhibition “The Golden Hour” at Plus Gallery in Denver, Morgan explored notions of spirituality and the cycle of life. While her major focus has always been faces, often using herself as a subject, her exhibition features a substantial amount of paintings of skulls, alluding to the fading nature of youth and the ephemerality of the body. Take a look at the work in the show below and check out “The Golden Hour” on view through October 18.
South Korea-raised, Melbourne-based artist 
Ai Yamaguchi’s paintings combine traditional Japanese influences and notes of contemporary and pop iconography. Her work has a particularly feminine focus, finding both grace and strength in manga-influenced characters, often juxtaposed with geometric and off-kilter forms. The artist was last mentioned on HiFructose.com 
There's a palpable darkness that permeates the surreal oil paintings of Philippine artist Leslie De Chavez. Rendered on large, black canvases, the shadowy landscapes are home to ghoulish, distorted figures and act as settings to various scenes of violence, corruption and suffering. Born in Manila, De Chavez uses his art to reflect upon current socio-political issues that affect his homeland. Through use of powerful text and imagery, his works explore religion, national identity, global capitalism, power struggle, and corruption within modern government. While the works appear dismal and often sinister, De Chavez is driven by the hope that his art can create awareness and inspire positive, progressive change within his community.