You're All Dead To Me: Guest curated by M. LeBlanc

Omar Abulsheikh’s works develop slowly as he carefully layers paint to achieve his desired effect. As a result, his paintings are identifiable by saturated pigments, heavy line-work on a textured surface. “I like to draw. I like myself. Happy going.” Abulsheikh’s most recent works feature nebulous, spray-painted backgrounds that are reminiscent of star fields. He then layers narratives upon them, pulling from a rich sense of humor that shines through his artwork. “It’s a painting. It’s about something. People who fight and dance.”

Born in 1994, Renata Berdes’ persistence and focus in pursuit of her artistic outcomes is indomitable. Themes, or what she often calls “obsessions,” are pursued with much intention. When viewed collectively, her sculptural works suggest the assemblage of a new space that plays with scale and permanence. Individually her sculptures are imbued with the magic of what is possible; first there was nothing, and now by Berdes’ hands and imagination the object exists. Found objects are unified through an intimate connection with the sense of touch that manifests in rich textures. Berdes invites us to see the world from her perspective and delights viewers with her reinterpretation of what is. Berdes’ work has been exhibited at the Outsider Art Fair in NYC, Chazen Museum of Art in Wisconsin, and is in the permanent collection at the University of Wisconsin Waisman Foundation. “I really like art because you can see everything through art. I got plexiglass for the door because I can see through it. I can see stuff in there. I really like what I made. I was using some string for that water. I like that box that you gave me. It was a good idea, using that box”.

Billy Borgerd’s artwork is influenced by his love of wrestling, movies and action heroes. His paintings express the depth and intensity of these themes through dark under-painting tempered by vibrantly hued details. “I do all the wrestlers. I like them. I’ll watch them on TV. It’s easy. I gotta draw more of them today.“ Borgerd’s artwork continually evolves while remaining indelibly linked to the early years of his practice. His works feature larger than life characters rendered in strong tones and bold lines. Elemental shapes are assembled to represent his characters. Environments are addressed with intentional vagueness, allowing the subjects to take center stage. “I like to draw them. The big guys. I can see the faces on them.” Borgerd’s artwork has been exhibited at the Chazen Museum of Art in Wisconsin, and has been featured on studio merchandise.

Rachael Bos (b. 1999, Salt Lake City UT) is a Chicago based artist that makes oil paintings exploring athleticism. Rachael received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2021. Her work has been shown at Slip House (NYC), Secrist | Beach (Chicago IL), De Boer (LA), Nathalie Karg Gallery (NYC), No Gallery (NYC), The Hole (NYC), Sulk Chicago (Chicago IL), Mickey Gallery (Chicago IL), Apparatus Projects (Chicago IL), and Galerie Rolando Anselmi (Rome, Italy).

Peppi Bottrop (b. 1986 in Bottrop, DE) lives and works in Los Angeles. Recent solo exhibitions of Bottrop’s works include Jungle Rapture (2021) at Pilar Corrias in London, schwarze schraube deutschland (2021) at PKM Gallery in Seoul, Going Deeper Underground (2020) at Galería Heinrich Ehrhardt in Madrid, Sabotage (2020) at Galerie Meyer Riegger in Berlin, and How Long is Forgotten (202) at Sies + Höke in Düsseldorf. Bottrop’s work has also been the subject of a number of recent institutional exhibitions including Jetzt! Junge Malerei in Deutschland (2019) at Kunstmuseum Bonn, Museum Wiesbaden and Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Line Packers (with Albert Oehlen) (2018) at the Marciano Art Foundation in Los Angeles, Hovel (2016) at Kunstverein Heppenheim in Heppenheim, Germany; and Fasi Lunari (2016) at Fondazione Carriero in Milan. In 2014, Bottrop graduated as Meisterschüler from Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, studying under Albert Oehlen, Andreas Schulze, and Jutta Koether.

Max Capus (b. 1999, New York) lives and works in Chicago. He received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2021. Recent solo and two person exhibitions include “Marco Polo,” Home to the Arts, Chicago (2023) and “Meadowlands,” Paris London Hong Kong, Chicago (2023). Selected group exhibitions include “Survey,” unda.m.93, Chicago (2025); “LUCKY NUMBER,” Patient Info (2024); “ON THE NATURE OF THINGS,” Sulk Chicago, Chicago (2023); “Decenter,” Latent Space, Chicago (2022); NICE WORK, Sulk Chicago, Chicago (2022); “Inflorescence,” Heaven Gallery, Chicago (2021); “You Thought To Think,” Latent Space, Chicago (2021). Capus’s work has also been featured in publications such as Graphite Journal (2022) and Solo Show (2020). In 2025, Grunts Rare Books published Capus’s artist book “Cats and Dogs,” a copy of which belongs in the collection of the Ryerson and Burnham Library at The Art Institute of Chicago.

Isamu Guy Conners was born in 1990 in Tokyo, Japan and moved to Chicago as a child. Conners has a talent for realism and is gifted with a keen sense of visual perception. Where other artists may be intimidated by the detail or scope of a reference image, he has the ability to break his subject down to the key qualities that convey depth, texture, and character. He skillfully layers brush strokes over time – whether in a wet on wet application of acrylic or delicate washes of watercolor – yielding a rich and varied surface. Conners enjoys depicting landscapes and still lifes (typically of a single object), as well as working on commissions. Selected exhibitions include Bouquet, Dog Show, and If a Mountain Could Love at Circle Contemporary in Chicago, as well as Championship Belt at NIAD Art Center in Richmond, California. His work is part of the ArtBank permanent collection in McCook, Nebraska. Outside of his work as a painter, Conners is an avid runner. He takes breaks from his practice to participate in several marathons each year in cities across the US. “I’m a painter. I like to make art. I look at photographs, get ideas. I look at all the colors.”

Maeve Coughlin (b. 1996, Boston, Massachusetts) lives and works in Chicago. IL. She received a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2020. Recent solo-exhibitions include “Someone Who Isn’t Me” (2024) at Sulk Chicago, Chicago. Selected group exhibitions include “A Prologue for Chicago” (2025) at DeBoer, Los Angeles; “Purpose of a System is What it Does” (2025) at Sawhorse, Chicago; “The Weatherproof Anniversarial” (2024) at Weatherproof, Chicago; “Don't Die” (2023) at No Gallery, New York; “Opening Night” (2023) at Circle Contemporary, Chicago; and “Green Belt” (2022) at Jargon Projects, Chicago.

Born in 1995, Raina "Tokyo" Carter develops narrative themes in her works that revolve around female-centric pop music and Japanese culture. The influence of anime is evidenced in the interplay of geometry, fantasy and character-driven artwork. Carter invests a high degree of planning into her paintings as she explores concepts through sketching and research. She works with drive and focus, but this intensity is offset with vibrant colors bursting from the light-hearted paintings she creates. Raina has shown work at NADA Miami and internationally at Art Fair Tokyo and Art Collaboration Kyoto with Sho + 1 gallery. “My dream is to go to Tokyo, Japan. I want to be a Tokyo artist someday. Like Final Fantasy artists Yoshitaka Amano and Arina Tanemura. I’m in love with Japan. I have to draw pictures of Tokyo and Shibuya, and Sanrio Puroland. Mariah Carey Tokyo Dome. She arrived in Japan to see her Japanese fans. She went to Tokyo. She wears a beautiful black dress. I want to paint Mariah Carey Daydream 25 anniversary concert tour in Tokyo Dome. I painted TWICE Mina. She was a Japanese American. She was born March 24, 1997. I love the Japanese Culture Center.”

Jessie Darnell (b.1996, St. Louis, MO) is a painter based in Berlin. She received a BFA from SAIC in 2018. Recent exhibitions include The Hypochondriac's Dream House at Louche Ops (Berlin, 2023,) Brutalism at KVS Berlin (Berlin, 2024,) and Where is the Reward at LVL3 (Chicago, IL, 2019.)

Born in 1994, Rocco DiCaro’s work centers around the creation of drawings, comic books, and animations where recurring characters interact in various situations and settings. Working in saturated marker and pen on paper, Rocco skillfully renders these characters in a playful style of cartooning that has visual associations with anime. DiCaro cites Jim Henson, Looney Tunes, Phineas & Ferb, and the Amulet series (among others) as influences along with cartoons, graphic novels, and movies. The physical features of each character are exaggerated to a quirky affect which is reinforced by vibrating, acidic color combinations and intricate mark-making. The drawings that Rocco makes tend to be vignettes of larger narratives that light-heartedly explore fantasy, adventure, satire, humor, and friendship. Rocco is the creator of The Secret Beauty, The Magicaland Adventure, and the Wilma & Carl comics. He is active on social media and can be found @thesecretbeautydrawings on Instagram and his Youtube channel Drawing with Monster Boy Roc. Recent exhibitions include Bouquet guest curated by Noel Mercado and Cordially Invited VI at Make Studio in Baltimore.

Liza Jo Eilers (b. 1993, St. Paul, MN) received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL in 2020. In 2024 she was the recipient of the Soho House Dreamers in Residence Grant and the Hopper Prize Grant.

The artist's solo exhibitions include Starland silver sash, GRIMM, New York, NY, 2025; The Great American Songbook, GROVE, London, UK, 2024; Scorchers, with Andrew Ordonez, Roommate, Chicago, IL, 2024; Don’t blow on the soup., Material Room, Richmond, VA, 2023; GLORY’S, with Alessandra Norman, Yew Nork, Chicago, IL, 2023; The Care and Keeping of You, SULK CHICAGO, Chicago, IL, 2022; SLUDGE, Rainbo Club presented by M. LeBlanc, Chicago, IL, 2021

Jake Fagundo (b. 1997, Chicago) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

Danny Frownfelter continually maintains a zealous and independently driven art practice. Inspired by dramatic narratives, his subject matter often explores dichotomies of religion and the destructive forces of super villains. His flair for the theatrical is realized using high contrast, bold brushstrokes and subjects gazing directly at the viewer. “I am making art 6 years. My heart. It’s good and ticking.” Frownfelter’s sketching practice continues to thrive, and he consistently creates lush and detailed sketches prior to embarking on a final piece. His marks are frequently visible in the finished piece, offering clues about the enthusiasm of his making practice. “Lots of people love my art. People look at my paint. Make me happy. Your art [is] supposed to make you happy. My life.” Frownfelter is also a singer for the studio band, Van Go Go.

Ben Foch (b. 1977, Chicago, IL) lives and works in Chicago, IL. Recent solo exhibitions of Foch’s work include Hood Ornament (2021) at M. LeBlanc in Chicago, IL, Haiku (2019) at Selenas Mountain in Brooklyn, NY, Full Grown (2018) at Efrain Lopez Gallery in Chicago, IL, and Of Human Bondage (2018) at Roots and Culture in Chicago, IL. Foch’s work has been recently included in group exhibitions such as Tricky Passage (2022) curated by Ben Gill at Rhona Hoffman in Chicago, IL, Ugly Feelings (2016) curated by Karolina Gnatowski at Side Car Gallery in Hammond, IN. Foch received a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2000.

Hans-Jörg Mayer (b. 1955 in Singen, DE) lives and works in Berlin. Recent solo exhibitions of Mayer’s work include ‘Hans-Jörg Mayer’ (2023) at Martos Gallery in New York, ‘A Touch of Cthulu’ (2020) at Galerie Nagel+Draxler in Cologne and ‘Sweet Distance - Bittere Maronen’ (2018) at nationalmuseum in Berlin. Mayer’s work has been included in many institutional exhibitions, including ‘Painting 2.0: Malerei im Informationszeitalter’ (2015/16) at MuMoK in Vienna and Museum Brandhorst in Munich, ‘Captain Pamphile – Ein Bildroman in Stücken’ (2011) at Collection Falckenberg, Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, ‘Make Your Own Life: Artists In & Out of Cologne’ (2007) at the Henry Art Gallery at University of Washington, Seattle and Museum of Contemporary Art Miami, and Made In Berlin (2004) at Art Forum Berlin, Berlin. In addition, Mayer’s practice has been the focus of multiple features in national and international periodicals, and is held in numerous public and private collections.

Manal Kara (b. 1986 Pennsylvania, based in Gary, IN) is a Moroccan-American self-taught interdisciplinary artist. Their work has been exhibited extensively in Chicago and New York as well as in Istanbul, Vienna, and Berlin. Recent solo exhibitions include The Wild Thing Rides Again, Hair+Nails, Minneapolis (2024); Sacred Topologies, Deli Gallery, New York (2023); Hypothèses, Pangée, Montréal (2022); Conjectures, Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles (2022); Xylem & Phlöem, No Place, Columbus (2021); The Viewing-Room vs. The Adoring-Gaze, Interstate Projects, Brooklyn (2020); Song of the Other Worm, Prairie, Chicago (2019), and Tearassin’ Like a Slug Outta Heaven, Basketshop, Cincinnati (2019). They have attended residencies at 8th House, Shandaken: Storm King, ACRE, Ox-Bow, September Spring at the Kesey Farm, and Project Freewill.

James Krone (b. 1975, Chicago) lives and works in Berlin. Recent exhibitions include Wet Resistance at the Dortmunder Kunstverein (August, 2022), Dortmund, When There is No Laughing Matter Laughter Matters at the Halle für Kunst Lüneberg (2021), Lüneberg, Model of Dissolve at M LeBlanc, Chicago (2019), The Wolf and the Head on Fire (with Dawn Kasper) at Portikus, Frankfurt (2019), Annunciations (as curator) at M. LeBlanc, Chicago (2018), Four Scores: From Zero to Nothing (with Dawn Kasper), David Lewis Gallery, New York (2018), An Ornithology for Birds at Kavi Gupta, Chicago (2016) and The Collapse of the Mind’s Ordering System Leads to Some rather Wanton Developments (curated by Alexi Kukuljevic), Tanya Leighton, Berlin (2016). Krone's work has been written about in various online and printed publications including Artforum, Mousse Magazine and Modern Painters.

Vincent Larouche (Canadian, b. 1995) lives and works in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Recent solo exhibitions of Larouche’s work include à l'extérieur (2023) at No Gallery, New York; FATHERS (2022) at M. LeBlanc, Chicago; Café de Flore (2021) at Interstate Projects, Brooklyn; and Ocelle (2020) curated by Caroline Andrieux at Founderie Darling, Montreal.

Born in 1994, Lawrence M. joined Arts of Life to begin developing his studio practice. Working primarily in drawing, painting, and collage, he engages with a process and aesthetic reflecting his everyday interests – gathering imagery of animals, watching cartoons, and a spontaneous layering of diverse materials and ideas. Lawrence also enjoys traveling with his family, spending time with friends, and playing basketball, shot put, and a variety of other sports. Among other exhibitions, his work has been included in Duck Feet guest curated by Ricardo Partida, If a Mountain Could Love guest curated by Cody Tumblin, and Dance Dance Dance guest curated by Tyson Reeder.

Ryan Michael Pfeiffer is a technician in Collections and Loans. He is an interdisciplinary artist and writer who holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His artworks have been exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Art (Singapore), Breese Little (London), Abbaye Saint–Magloire (France), Come Again (Berlin), The International Museum of Surgical Science (Chicago), Western Exhibitions (Chicago), Andrew Rafacz (Chicago), LAXART (Los Angeles), 80 WSE Gallery (New York), Indiana University (Indiana), among others. His works and exhibitions have been published in The New York Times, Artforum, Art in America, The Brooklyn Rail, Fulgur Press, The New City, the Journal for Extreme Anthropologie, and the Religious Studies Review Journal. In 2022, he co-curated the first Austin Osman Spare (1886–1956) exhibition in the United States at Iceberg Projects (Chicago), celebrating the centennial anniversary of a rare folio of drawings from the Kinsey Institute’s collection.

Jack O’Sullivan carefully plans each work and renders them with equal precision. His ability to memorize and recall visual source imagery results in representational works that are executed with equal parts exactitude and singularity. His realist works are meticulously crafted, but remain fresh due to the fantastical nature of subject matter that traverses a wide range of time in the context of science fiction and foreign locales. “To memorize and to thinking. Try to see a picture. I have to memorize thinking of possible things. Like a picture of image. Thinking is good. I try to imagine how I am going to draw a picture.” O’Sullivan works adeptly across mediums and skillfully adapts his approach based on the materials he’s chosen. He works in with intention, fully absorbed in the process. Upon emergence, he revels in the pleasure of seeing the visions in his mind realized on canvas. “Thinking. It’s the energy. It’s life force energy. It’s a fascinate technology way beyond our own. I remember to see my project of this wonder.”

Scott Reeder (born 1970, Battle Creek, MI) is a multi-disciplinary artist in Chicago, IL. He is currently represented by Canada in New York, NY and Kavi Gupta in Chicago, IL. Reeder is currently an associate professor of painting and drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Reeder is best known for his irreverent take on modernism and memorable titles like 'Money in Bed' and 'Symmetrical Pirate.' A book of his Reeder's work, Scott Reeder: Ideas (cont.) was published by Mousse Publishing in 2019.

In 2002, with his brother Tyson Reeder, they established the storefront gallery General Store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. General Store curated the exhibitions Drunk vs. Stoned (2004) and Drunk vs. Stoned 2 (2005) at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, New York, and The Early Show (2005) at White Columns, New York. The Reeders also organized the Dark Fair, an art fair operated in a black-walled space lit only with candlelight, at the Swiss Institute Contemporary Art New York in 2008 and as part of Art Cologne in 2009. Scott and Tyson Reeder additionally operate Club Nutz, billed as the world’s smallest comedy club. First established in a small 8’ x 8’ room adjacent to the Green Gallery in Milwaukee, Club Nutz has traveled to the Frieze Art Fair in London, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and Salon 94 in New York to host open-mics, dance parties, screenings, and lectures.

Haynes Riley (b. 1984 North Little Rock, Arkansas) is an artist, curator, designer, and founder of Good Weather. Selected solo exhibitions include An attitude you can wear at TOPS (Memphis), Grand Opening at Brittany (Vallejo, California), and Always at The Hills Esthetic Center (Chicago). He has participated in two-person and group exhibitions at Arturo Bandini (Los Angeles), Cranbrook Art Museum (Bloomfield Hills), Sediment (Richmond), Threewalls (Chicago), and The Luminary (St. Louis), among others. Riley has organized exhibitions through various platforms, including friendsh.jp, The Bedfellow’s Club, Girl/Boy Gallery (which he founded while participating in the Ox-Bow School of Art Fall Artist Residency), and independently. He has an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and studied at The Mountain School of Arts (MSA^). Riley lives and works between Chicago, Illinois and North Little Rock, Arkansas.

Mindy Rose Schwartz (American, b. Chicago, IL) lives and works in Chicago. Recent solo exhibitions of Schwartz’s work include Sophie Tappeiner (2025) in Vienna, Interstate Projects (2021) in Brooklyn, Et. Al. Gallery (2020) in San Francisco, Barely Fair (2019) with Prairie in Chicago, Balice Hertling (2017) in Paris, and Queer Thoughts (2017) in New York. Selected group exhibitions include: Artists Space in New York City, US (2025), King’s Leap in New York City (2024),Tatjana Pieters Gallery in Ghent, BE (2021), The Renaissance Society in Chicago, US (2018), Room E-10 27 in Berlin, DE (2018), Carlos Ishikawa in London, UK (2018), Cooper Cole in Toronto, CA (2017), Alter Space in Los Angeles, US (2016), Galerie Hussenot in Paris, FR (2015) and Arcadia Missa, UK (2015). Schwartz completed her MFA at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

Alongside her studio work, Schwartz teaches in the Sculpture Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she contributes to ongoing conversations around craft and sculpture. Her course Extreme Craft investigates conventional sculptural and craft methods through the lenses of taste, class, gender, and generational identity.

Nick Schutzenhofer (American b. 1981, St. Joseph, MO) Lives and works in Chicago, IL where he holds an MFA in Painting and Drawing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2014) and a BA in Art History from DePaul University. He has exhibited recently with Mickey Gallery, Sulk, Hans Gallery, Samuel, Fernwey, Shane Campbell Gallery, and Julius Caesar in Chicago, IL. Baader-Meinhof in Omaha, NE, Good Weather in Little Rock, AR, Pumice Raft in Toronto, ON, Left Field Gallery San Luis Obispo, CA, Shaheen Gallery in Cleveland, OH, Viewing Room and TSA in Los Angeles, CA.

CJ Shaw (b. 1998 Los Angeles, CA) lives and works in Chicago. He received his BFA from Columbia College Chicago. Recent solo exhibitions include “It was revealed to me on my walk” at Weatherproof; selected group exhibitions include Gure in Chicago, IL; Junior. Gallery in Chicago, IL; Weatherproof in Chicago, IL; SULK CHICAGO in Chicago, IL; Night Club Gallery in St. Paul, MN; Pop Gun in New York, NY.

Cameron Spratley (American, b. 1994 in Manassas, VA) lives and works in Chicago. Recent solo exhibitions of Spratley’s work include a forthcoming exhibition with Von Ammon Co. in Washington D.C., Violets and Daisies (2023) at M. LeBlanc in Chicago, American Portraiture (2023) at Moskowitz Bayse in Los Angeles, 1364 (with Leni Sinclair) (2022) in Detroit, Pressure (with Jason S. Wright) (2022) at Material Room in Richmond, In the Air Tonight (2021) at James Fuentes in New York, Caged Bird Songs (2021) at James Fuentes (Online) in New York, and 730 (2020) at M. LeBlanc in Chicago. Spratley’s work has also been included in recent group exhibitions, LIFE (curated by Arnold J. Kemp) (2025) at Artist's Space in New York, Miniotics (2025) at Weatherproof in Chicago, A Prologue for Chicago (2024) at de boer in Los Angeles, Group Exhibition (2024) at M. LeBlanc in Chicago, Offices and Honky Tonks (2023) at Nightclub in Minneapolis, Drunk vs. Stoned 3 (2023) at The Ranch in Montauk, The Californian Subject (2023) at Temple Projects in Los Angeles, Nice Work Forever (2023) at Sulk Chicago, Homotopy Type Theory (2023) at Centralbanken in Oslo, SKIN+MASKS (2022) at Kavi Gupta in Chicago, A Healthy Dose of Nihilism (2022) at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Columbus, OH, Made to be Broken (2022) at P.P.O.W. in New York, Songs of Fire (2022) at Kranzberg Arts Foundation in St. Louis, and Notes on Entropy (2020) at Arcadia Missa in London. In 2021, Spratley collaborated with filmmaker Jordan Peele and his firm Monkeypaw Productions on the remake of Candyman, set in Chicago. Spratley attended the Yale University at Norfolk residency in 2015, obtained his BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2016, and completed his MFA at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 2021.

Maxwell Volkman (American, b. 1997, Tacoma, WA) lives and works in Chicago, IL. Volkman’s work has been the subject of solo and two-person exhibitions at Grunts Rare Books, Chicago, IL; GURE, Chicago, IL; Rainbo Club with M. LeBlanc, Chicago, IL; and Patient Info, Chicago, IL. His has work has also been exhibited at venues such as Common Ground, Seattle, WA; Rainbo Club with Goodweather and M. LeBlanc, Chicago, IL; Pop Gun, New York, NY; Weatherproof, Chicago, IL; Espace Maurice, Montreal, QB, Canada; Night Club Gallery, St. Paul, MN; Screw Gallery, Leeds, UK; and The Research House of Asian Art, Chicago, IL. Publications include ‘226’ (2025) published by Grunts Rare Books, Chicago, IL; ‘Bone Thugs ~N~ Harmony Korine’ (2024) in collaboration with Cameron Spratley; and ‘Silent Screams’ (2022). Volkman’s work will be included in a two-person exhibition at LVL3, Chicago, IL, from October 11, 2025, through November 30, 2025.

Jean Wilson was born in Chicago in 1958 and has been a member of the Chicago Studio since 2007. Drawn to beasts both real and fictional - ranging from wolves and wildcats to bats and birds of prey to werewolves and three-headed hellhounds - Wilson is most inspired by the feared and respected nature of these subjects. Immediately visible across her body of work are sharp talons, ragged tufts of fur, glowing eyes, and jagged teeth lining unhinged jaws. While her feral menagerie serves as a collective talisman, it is also directly linked with her creative identity and related aspirational acts in the studio; she’ll often watch favorite creature features while wearing elaborate animal masks, fantastical wolf montage T-shirts, or a full body gorilla suit. As an avid consumer of pop culture, her paintings also sometimes depict stereo systems, CD players, headphones, or favorite musicians. For another ongoing series, Wilson has created yellow legal pad drawings over the years, poetic missives listing bits of text transcribed from various source material, including magazines, album covers, and online advertisements. Wilson’s work has previously been featured in numerous curated exhibitions at Arts of Life in addition to exhibitions at Intuit Art Museum, The Franklin, and The Chicago Cultural Center. Wilson can also be heard on the Arts of Life Band’s 2017 album Kinda Weirdy.

Known for her comics and characters, Christina Zion (b. 1983) is a true storyteller. Her work immerses viewers into a world of action, excitement, and depth. She takes pride in her careful process, thoughtfully translating imagery from imagination or reinventing pop culture references using her preferred materials – graphite, markers, colored pencils, or acrylic on paper. Ever-evolving in its complexity, her body of work is a narrative that unfolds one chapter at a time. Zion is also featured on the Arts of Life Band’s 2017 album Kinda Weirdy. “My books tell a story. I plan it out and change my sketch into a final project. I get my ideas from pictures. I choose one that inspires me and I work from the image, but add more to it. I use pencil and then a fine-line Sharpie to go over the pencil lines. I add color last. I work hard and make sure I pay attention to every detail. I want everything to be perfect and neat.”