Michelle Avery Konczyk‘s beautifully strange portraits of young women with ghostly appearances and third eyes are a far cry from the cheerful, impressionistic paintings we commonly associate with the watercolor medium. “It is my goal,” the artist says, “to push the boundaries of the medium and take it where no artist has gone before, not only in technique and subject matter, but in presentation.” Moving between the realms of both realism and surrealism, Konczyk’s work is layered with imagery that juxtaposes love and beauty with darkness and morbidity as a means to explore “the beauty that lies within our ugly realities.”
Konczyk’s female figures are alluring in their youthfulness, yet their pale skin and stoic expressions suggest a certain lifelessness to them. They are often accompanied by the red rose promising eternal love and beauty, which at times is interjected with ominous visions of black crows. Eyes are also a common motif in Konczyk’s work, the presence of which not only lends to the surreal atmosphere of her paintings but also emphasizes the central theme of perception beyond ordinary sight. Continuously, Konczyk challenges us to question the role our own perceptions play in defining reality. “The only thing apparent and true,” she offers, “is there cannot be light without darkness, and there cannot be beauty without ugliness.”
Hailing from the small town of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, Konczyk has recently been featured in Growth / Decay: A Dual City Group Show, an exhibition co-curated by Paradigm Gallery in Philadelphia and Antler Gallery in Portland. The artist is also experimenting with the ways in which she presents her artwork, and has taken to mounting her watercolors onto pieces of wood, which “breaks the traditional shape along with inviting the viewer into the piece.” View more of Konczyk’s work and learn about her artistic process on her Instagram.
Examining masculinity and power, Scott Scheidly’s paintings re-contextualize real and fictional villains. Elsewhere in Scheidly’s practice, he injects the grotesque into floral motifs, further underscoring the painter’s knack for satire and subverting expectations. The artist’s humor is also evident in his short bio: “At age four I attempted my first art project by devouring a 10 pack of crayons thus turning my diaper into a Jackson Pollock.”
Painter 
Juanjo Surace’s expertise in animation and character design comes through the murals he crafts on walls across the globe. His surreal work often confronts themes from our own reality, from death and solitude to technology and consumption. The above work, "The Trip," was painted over 14 days in Vinaròs.
In a new collection of paintings and drawings,