Julia McGlew’s artwork transports viewers to a calmer, kinder world filled with fantasy, nature, and surreal imagery. Featured in the upcoming The Spirit World exhibition, her paintings merge emotional depth with whimsical storytelling. Influenced by the overlooked beauty of animals and a vintage aesthetic, her work invites reflection, imagination, and escape into an ethereal, magical realm.

Jon Gernon transforms canvas into spaces of myth and imagination. Featured in Create! Magazine’s upcoming The Spirit World exhibition, his paintings and allegories encourage viewers to step into a world where narrative and imagination meet. Gernon’s work inspires audiences to create personal stories, making each encounter with his art a unique and participatory experience.

Multidisciplinary artist Aunia Kahn brings a vibrant, symbolic visual language to The Spirit World exhibition, weaving personal history, cultural influence, and mystical storytelling into layered compositions. Her work reflects a powerful journey of survival and renewal, offering viewers a transformative encounter with color, symbolism, and inner mythology.

Danish artist Lisbeth Thygesen brings shimmering layers of Nordic nature, magic, and mystical symbolism to her work, which is featured in Create! Magazine’s upcoming virtual exhibition “The Spirit World.” Her paintings and sculptures bridge the physical and spiritual, inviting viewers into realms of myth, intuition, and quiet transformation. Learn more about her practice, background, and artistic vision in this featured profile.

Tomás Carlos Ortolani creates paintings that connect the viewer with worlds beyond perception, using symbolism, dreams, and personal narratives to explore the unconscious. Featured in The Spirit World exhibition, his work blends technical mastery with deeply psychological and spiritual themes, offering a contemplative journey into the unseen.

Maya Sumile creates mystical work that bridges the tangible and intangible, blending self-portraiture, Gothic literature, and Romanticism to explore the human condition. Her paintings and environments evoke the uncanny while balancing dread and serenity. Featured in The Spirit World exhibition, Sumile’s work invites viewers to experience narratives that give form to silence, dreams, and enduring human stories.

Emily Ezell, born in Monroe, Louisiana, creates apocalyptic and surrealist paintings that blend neon, mutated creatures, and corpse-like nymphs with historical references to the Old Masters. Featured in the upcoming Spirit World exhibition, her work explores the uncanny, pop surrealism, and Southern Gothic themes, creating images that are simultaneously provocative, grotesque, and mesmerizing. As an educator and professional artist, Ezell continues to push the boundaries of narrative, technique, and the surreal, inviting viewers into worlds that challenge perceptions of beauty, desire, and decay.

Amelia Carley transforms found materials into vivid dioramas that become the foundation for her surreal landscapes. Her work examines ecological anxiety, memory, and the overlap of the natural and artificial, inviting viewers to consider humanity’s impact on the environment through imaginative, layered compositions

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.

Taylor Keister creates layered assemblage paintings that explore nostalgia, femininity, and the tension between outward appearances and inner reality. Her work merges saturated color, decorative motifs, and altar-like structures to confront suburban rituals, childhood experiences, and the emotional cost of perfection.

Paige DeVries turns everyday walks through her New Orleans neighborhood into vibrant paintings that highlight the relationship between humans and their environment. Her work observes how choices shape landscapes, blending humor, quiet beauty, and reflection on suburban life

Cindy Phenix creates dense, collage-like paintings and installations where humans, animals, and natural elements intertwine in vivid, layered compositions. Her work examines ecological crises, societal tensions, and the delicate balance between humanity and the natural world, offering viewers a glimpse into a poetic, interconnected universe

Meet Sophia, the creative force behind Mrs. H, whose paintings and illustrations blend whimsy, storytelling, and quiet rebellion. From her South African farm roots to Dubai’s vibrant inspiration, her work evokes emotion through recurring figures, text, and symbolic motifs. Explore her series There Should Be Room for Us Too and witness art that celebrates freedom, choice, and reflection.

Lou Haney’s work transports viewers into imagined domestic interiors where charm meets excess, and memory intertwines with fantasy. Using layered oil, acrylic, and fiber art, her paintings explore nostalgia, femininity, and the tension between reality and escape. Inspired by Pattern & Decoration and Pop Art, Haney transforms familiar spaces into surreal compositions filled with quiet traces of human presence.

Fern Apfel transforms letters, stamps, and keepsakes into richly layered paintings that blur the line between text and abstraction. Her work evokes nostalgia, memory, and the passage of time, inviting viewers to reflect on personal and collective histories. Explore her contemplative practice in Issue 53 of Create! Magazine.

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.

Michael Hambouz, a Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist, musician, and curator, creates work deeply informed by chromaesthesia and personal history. Drawing from music, memory, and his Palestinian-American heritage, Hambouz experiments across mediums—painting, printmaking, sculpture, and animation—to explore themes of loss, transformation, and resilience. His vibrant abstractions, often influenced by sound and architectural forms, invite viewers into layered reflections on identity and generational experience.

Andreea Alunei’s work transforms grief, humor, and imagination into intimate, layered paintings. Drawing on the birth of her daughter, the loss of her mother, and a deep interest in personal mythology, her surreal imagery—halos, unicorns, and whimsical children—invites viewers to reflect on life, death, and the delicate balance in between.

Lauren Moses’ paintings and printmaking explore complex systems of power and identity through layered imagery and historical references. Oscillating between the familiar and the unknown, her work invites viewers to engage with evolving narratives, revealing new insights with each encounter. Based in Charlottesville, VA, Moses draws from her experience as a lifelong musician and visual artist to create work that resonates deeply, offering fresh perspectives on history, gesture, and meaning.