Tomas Clayton takes us back 100 years with his nostalgic portraits set in the World War I era. Re-imagining documentary photographs and artifacts from this time period, Clayton creates enigmatic, highly stylized images that zero in on various characters — soldiers, acrobats, actors, and average men and women alike. Influenced by the aesthetics of the 1970s, elements of this period get muddled with his early 20th century imagery, as well. As a result, his oil on masonite works at times become dislodged from a specific time and place, inviting viewers to create narratives of their own.
Houston-based artist Ana Marietta paints and draws animals with exaggerated human features to create sympathy for her subjects. Looking at a raven with wide eyes glassy with tears, or a frowning pelican dimpled with warts, one feels the animal's deep sorrow. The creatures appear to look outward however, suggesting their sadness comes from the environment, as opposed to any personal ailments directly. Their anthropomorphic deformities hint at something unnatural, an effect explained only by human behavior and intervention.
Idyllic paintings of daily life set centuries ago are spliced with a dystopian sci-fi fantasy in German artist 
Zhiyong Jing says he paints "dreams, bodies and absurd realities." The Beijing-based artist takes a surprising approach to scale in his work, often rendering distant figures on small canvases. The effect is cinematic, further underscored by the artist’s occasional use of pop culture references and characters.
Raised in Los Angeles in a family of immigrants,