Yasam Sasmazer, a Turkish artist who works in Berlin, crafts wooden sculptures the deal with psychological hardship and narratives. Series like “Metanoia” take influence from the work of psychiatrist Carl Jung, exploring the journey between mental breakdowns and the evolution that follows. Her use of three-dimensional figures and shadows, both simulated and real, offer an absorbing take on the duality of living.
“With her realistic sculptures, she questions in turn the notions of identity, doppelganger, the self and the other, the individual in his social or natural environment, willingly deconstructing the clichés and cultural structures that surround these ideas,” says Berlin Art Projects. “In her current works she deals with the specific relationship between the mankind and nature focusing on its contradictions and malfunctions, which lead her observations to the themes of invasion, decay, ruins, remembrance and transience of memories.”
Other works by the artist explore our relationship with nature, as well as our own social environment. Sasmazer work has been shown at venues in New York City, California, Berlin, Dubai, London, China, and other spots across the globe. She graduated with an M.A. in sculpture from Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts in her native Istanbul.
Greg Escalante has been an important figure and catalyst of new contemporary art for the past twenty years. Through his work as Copro Gallery director, co-founder of Juxtapoz magazine, and avid art collector, he's helped catapult some of the scene's most well known artists to prominence. On Saturday night, he began a new venture with the grand opening of the Gregorio Escalante Gallery in the Chinatown area of Los Angeles. The gallery's first exhibition showcases some of the most notable and interesting pieces in Escalante's collection, aptly titled "The Collection."
In 2013, Chinese artist Zheng Chunhui made international headlines for using his craft to nab one of the Guinness World Records. With more than 40 feet of wood, Chunhui’s piece recreates the beloved "'Along the River During the Qingming Festival," a famous Chinese painting created during the Song dynasty by Zhang Zeduan, nearly 1,000 years ago. (The painting is so highly regarded, it’s often referred to as the Chinese “Mona Lisa.”) Included in the piece are the plants, domestic structures, bridges, and boats that comprise the piece. And let’s not forget 550 individually crafted individuals scattered throughout the scene.
Last weekend, 
One of the leading ladies of Pop Surrealism, California based artist