Lauren Bergman creates narrative paintings that reframe historical memory through the female experience, transforming archival photographs into imagined worlds of beauty, loss, and resilience. Her work reflects on individuality, humanity, and the urgent need to preserve personal stories within collective history.

María Cobas creates poetic, reflective paintings that question contemporary systems of speed, productivity, and consumption. Through hybrid figures and atmospheric compositions, her work proposes alternative ways of seeing rooted in care, ambiguity, and relational presence.

Mar Figueroa’s paintings unfold as layered, symbolic landscapes where human and nonhuman forms coexist in states of quiet metamorphosis. Drawing from Andean traditions, ritual practices, and ecological interconnection, her work transforms everyday interiors into spaces of care, memory, and spiritual reflection.

Alice d’Apolito’s practice transforms lived experience into a visual diary of sculptural figures, blending animation-inspired aesthetics with artisan craftsmanship. Through recurring characters and bold cobalt blue linework, her work explores identity, memory, and the emotional duality of movement and stillness.

Lauren Browning’s figurative paintings invite viewers into moments of stillness and connection, where subtle expressions and hidden tones reveal the essence of her subjects. Through a slow and intentional process, she captures not just likeness, but the emotional presence that defines each individual.

Lisa DeLoria Weinblatt’s SCHOOL LUNCH series captures the emotional and social dynamics of student life through direct observation and expressive figurative painting. Rooted in real moments and environments, her work reflects the complexities of human relationships, identity, and shared cultural experience.

Cozy Soga, a multidisciplinary artist from Tokyo, turns two-dimensional canvases into immersive visual poems. Blending myth, technology, and human emotion, Soga’s concept-driven oil paintings challenge perceptions of identity while inviting viewers to explore rebirth, transformation, and poetic narratives through the lens of contemporary figurative art.

Denise Brook blends narrative, color, and layered acrylic techniques to explore complex contemporary issues. Her paintings bend reality, balancing clarity and ambiguity, inviting viewers to engage with questions of gender, identity, politics, and culture.

Pierce Scantlin’s figurative paintings draw from shared mythologies, archetypal forms, and a deep longing for historical connection, creating works that speak across time through memory, line, and color.

Sinem Beles creates portraits and figurative works that capture the subtle presence of those we love, even after they are gone. Her painterly realist style and softened brushwork evoke memory, spirit, and emotional depth. Featured in The Spirit World exhibition, her paintings invite viewers to explore the mystical, unseen, and lingering energies that connect past and present.

Working under the name Glass Bambi, British artist Claire Dockray creates luminous, dreamlike paintings shaped by memory, fragility, and emotional resilience. Blending Pop Art, realism, and surrealism, her work draws from mid-century imagery, cinematic lighting, and personal narrative to explore longing, identity, and the unseen forces that shape human experience. Her work is featured in Create! Magazine’s upcoming The Spirit World virtual exhibition, which examines the spiritual, mystical, and uncanny through contemporary art.

In Issue 53 of Create! Magazine, Brooklyn-based artist Caroline Otis Heffron shares her transhistorical approach to painting, where women from art history meet contemporary street imagery. Through magical vignettes and saturated colors, her work examines dualities of belonging and isolation, vulnerability and strength, offering a theatrical yet intimate exploration of memory, myth, and feminine identity.

Xi Zhang’s paintings blend Eastern philosophy with Western expressionist traditions, creating emotionally charged compositions that examine memory, empathy, and the immigrant experience. From expansive dreamlike landscapes to intimate portraits, his work invites viewers into spaces of psychological tension and reflection.

Christina Lucia Giuffrida’s paintings invite viewers into a surreal, Queer-centered adventure, where vivid color, graphic figures, and layered environments challenge perception and celebrate irreverent women. Her work combines fantasy, humor, and material experimentation to explore identity, movement, and the unpredictable beauty of life.

Genevieve Cohn’s paintings invite viewers into richly imagined communities of women, where historical inspiration, literary fiction, and fairy tales intersect. Her work celebrates collaboration, self-endowed agency, and connection with the natural world, offering a space for reflection, ritual, and the beauty of shared experience.

Kurt Stimmeder (b. 1972, Bad Leonfelden, Austria) creates oil paintings and lithographs that balance technical precision with emotional depth. Now based in Linz, his practice explores memory, immediacy, and the unspoken language of the human body. Exhibited internationally from New York to Tokyo, his work reflects on the human condition with layered narratives that are both profound and quietly suggestive.

In the Lightness of Being exhibition, Mary Porterfield presents intimate, life-sized drawings reflecting her mother’s care for her father during his battle with Parkinsonism. Layered and translucent, her work captures both the weight of loss and the quiet resilience of love, inviting viewers to witness transformation and reflection through her deeply personal lens.

Emily Wingate’s work invites viewers into a world of calm and reflection, capturing the subtle beauty of nature and the interconnectedness of life. Featured in the Lightness of Being virtual exhibition, her paintings convey a sense of serenity and hope, offering a moment of quiet introspection.

Mary Davidson’s work captures serene landscapes and intimate scenes with a delicate mastery of light and color. Featured in the “Lightness of Being” virtual exhibition, her paintings invite viewers to pause, reflect, and experience the quiet beauty in everyday moments.

Renowned for his evocative paintings and dynamic presence in over 100 exhibitions, Jason John invites viewers to explore the subtleties of human emotion and perception. His work in the “Lightness of Being” virtual exhibition continues this journey, balancing technical mastery with emotional depth, offering a contemplative and immersive experience.