SUPERHERO: IV Annual Portrait Invitational

Wonder Woman is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character is a warrior princess of the Amazons (based on the Amazons of Greek mythology) and is known in her homeland as Princess Diana of Themyscira. When outside her homeland, she is sometimes known by the secret identity Diana Prince. She is gifted with a wide range of superhuman powers and superior combat and battle skills. She possesses an arsenal of weapons, including the Lasso of Truth, a pair of indestructible bracelets, a tiara which serves as a projectile, and, in some stories, an invisible airplane, Mental Radio, and Purple Ray that could heal otherwise lethal injuries.

Wonder Woman was created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston. The character first appeared in All Star Comics #8 in December 1941 and first cover-dated on Sensation Comics #1, January 1942. The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986. Her depiction as a heroine fighting for justice, love, peace, and gender equality has led to Wonder Woman being widely considered a feminist icon. Created during World War II, the character was initially depicted fighting Axis military forces as well as an assortment of colourful supervillains, though in recent years more emphasis have been placed on characters, deities, and monsters from Greek mythology playing an adversarial role for her story arcs. In the decades since her debut, Wonder Woman has gained a formidable cast of enemies bent on eliminating the Amazon, including classic villains such as Ares, Cheetah, Circe, Doctor Psycho, and Giganta, along with more recent adversaries such as The First Born. Wonder Woman has also regularly appeared in comic books featuring the superhero teams Justice Society (from 1941) and Justice League (from 1960).

CLIENTS
New York Times
American Greetings
Strand Magazine
Toronto Blue Jays/Jays Care Foundation
Case Western Reserve University
Ohio Magazine
Cleveland Magazine
Scene Magazine
University of Dayton
The Day I Hit a Home Run Enterprise
Idea Center at Playhouse Square
NoiseBot.com
Threadless.com
Design By Humans

EDUCATION
_Kent State University (KSU)
School of Visual Communication Design
Bachelor of Science + Master of Fine Arts
Graduated Summa Cum Laude
Major: Visual Communication Design
Concentration: Illustration

Thesis:Painting heroes: using illustration to improve the standing of baseball in the inner city - Worked with Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI), Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Boys & Girls Club to develop a series of conceptual portraits designed to increase interest in baseball, among inner-city children, by highlighting the personal narratives of contemporary African-American baseball players.

_Illustration Academy
Virginia Commonwealth University, VA (Summer 2003 + 2004)

_Illustration Master Class 2013
Amherst College, MA

Mighty Mouse is an American animated anthropomorphic superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. The character made its first appearance in 1942 (originally named Super Mouse), and subsequently appeared in 80 theatrical films produced between 1942 and 1961. These films later appeared on American television from 1955 through 1967 on the CBS television network on Saturday mornings. The character went through two later revivals, once by Filmation Studios in 1979, and again in 1987, by animation director Ralph Bakshi, who had worked at the Terrytoons studio during his early career.

Mighty Mouse has also appeared in comics and other media.

Born in Fairfax Virginia, Henry Schreiber spent his childhood in the suburbs of Washington DC, the mountains of West Virginia, and the gulf coast of Florida. After receiving his MFA from the University of Central Florida, Schreiber established a studio on a family farm in the Appalachian Mountains. Following his two years of learning the ways of the groundhog, he packed up his studio and moved to Charlotte, NC.

Superman is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character is widely considered an American cultural icon.The Superman character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, high school students living in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1933; the character was sold to Detective Comics, Inc. (later DC Comics) in 1938. Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1 (June 1938) and subsequently appeared in various radio serials, newspaper strips, television programs, films, and video games. With the success of his adventures, Superman helped to create the superhero genre and establish its primacy within the American comic book. Superman's appearance is distinctive and iconic. He usually wears a blue costume, red cape, and stylized red-and-yellow "S" shield on his chest.

The origin story of Superman relates that he was born Kal-El on the planet Krypton, before being rocketed to Earth as an infant by his scientist father Jor-El, moments before Krypton's destruction. Discovered and adopted by a Kansas farmer and his wife, the child is raised as Clark Kent and imbued with a strong moral compass. Very early on he started to display superhuman abilities, which, upon reaching maturity, he resolved to use for the benefit of humanity. Superman resides and operates in the fictional American city of Metropolis. As Clark Kent, he is a journalist for the Daily Planet, a Metropolis newspaper. Superman's primary love interest is Lois Lane, and his archenemy is supervillain Lex Luthor.

Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Craig LaRotonda received his BFA in 1992 at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he studied with the internationally renowned illustrator Alan Cober. Currently working as a professional painter, illustrator, and sculptor, Craig divides his time between each endeavor.

LaRotonda's richly layered paintings are provocative; his signature iconic style is reminiscent of Renaissance and Byzantine art while remaining boldly contemporary. His work possesses a dark narrative and grotesque elegance. These distorted creatures are captured in a timeless space — surviving the brutality and beauty of existence. Craig's ability to make deformities and oddities become aesthetically magnificent is what makes his art so unique.

His paintings and sculptures incorporate mixed media and aging techniques, ultimately creating surreal figurative works. LaRotonda's artwork graces the walls of famous homes including collectors in France, Germany, Norway, Mexico, Canada, and the United States.

Through his relationship with Film Art LA, his acclaimed art appears prominently in television and five feature-length motion pictures - including the Academy Award winning film "Traffic" directed by Steven Soderbergh, and "The Other Guys" with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg.

LaRotonda's striking and unique art has been featured in Time Magazine, The Washington Post, The Village Voice, Juxtapoz, The New York Times and numerous other publications. This commercial work has received awards from the Society of Illustrators (in New York and Los Angeles), Communication Arts and Print Magazine.

Exhibitions include solo shows in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, and Paris. Craig also exhibits regularly in group shows nationally and abroad.

Jean Grey, or Jean Grey-Summers, is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and is a founding member of the X-Men. Jean Grey has been known under the aliases Marvel Girl, Phoenix, and Dark Phoenix. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The X-Men #1 (September 1963).

Jean Grey is a member of a subspecies of humans known as mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. She was born with telepathic and telekinetic powers. Her powers first manifested when she saw her childhood friend being hit by a car. She is a caring, nurturing figure, but she also has to deal with being an Omega-level mutant and the physical manifestation of the cosmic Phoenix Force. Jean Grey experienced a transformation into the Phoenix in the X-Men storyline "The Dark Phoenix Saga". She has faced death numerous times in the history of the series. Her first death was under her guise as Marvel Girl, when she died and was "reborn" in the X-Men storyline "The Dark Phoenix Saga" as Phoenix. This transformation led to her second death, though not her last.

Leilani Bustamante was born in Santa Rosa California and is a graduate of the Academy of Art University. She grew up between the suburban sprawl and rural Fort Bragg, where she draws inspiration from their simultaneous decay and growth. Her work often voices themes of mortality exploring elements of death, rebirth, beauty and spoil, the loveliness of the macabre and the mournful influence of osteological motifs. She currently resides in San Francisco.

Storm (Ororo Munroe) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. The character first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975), and was created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum. Best known as a longtime member and sometimes leader of the X-Men, Storm is the former queen consort of Wakanda, a title once held by marriage to King T'Challa, better known as the Black Panther.

Storm is a member of a fictional subspecies of humanity known as mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. Storm has the ability to control the weather and can fly. She is a member of the X-Men, a group of mutant heroes who fight for peace and equality between mutants and humans.

Brianna Angelakis (b. 1990) was born in Massachusetts and moved to Florida in her late teen years where she currently lives and works. She graduated from Flagler College with a B.F.A. in Fine Arts and a B.A. in English in 2013, and she is currently working toward her M.F.A. in Painting with an assistantship at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL.

In the past few years, her paintings have exhibited internationally in museums and galleries with critical acclaim. Her works have been published internationally including books such as Manifest's International Painting Annual 4, Semi-Permanent and Creative Quarterly. She is also a featured artist in the beinArt Collective which includes an international network of highly skilled figurative artists with a fascination for surreal and imaginative themes.

Rogue is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. She debuted in Avengers Annual #10 (November 1981) as a villain, but then joined the X-Men.

Rogue is part of a subspecies of humans called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. Rogue has the involuntary ability to absorb and sometimes also remove the memories, physical strength, and superpowers of anyone she touches. Therefore, Rogue considers her powers a curse. For most of her life, she limited her physical contact with others, including her on-off love interest, Gambit; but, after many years, Rogue finally gained full control over her mutant ability.

Hailing from the fictional Caldecott County, Mississippi, Rogue is the X-Men's self-described southern belle. A runaway, she was adopted by Mystique of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and grew up as a villain. After Rogue permanently absorbs Ms. Marvel's psyche and Kree powers, she reforms and turns to the X-Men, fearing for her sanity. Rogue's real name and early history were not revealed until nearly 20 years after her introduction. Until the back story provided by Robert Rodi in the ongoing Rogue series, which began in September 2004, Rogue's background was only hinted at. Her name was revealed as Anna Marie, although her surname is still unknown. She has sometimes been called Raven, which is the first name of her foster mother Mystique.

Monty Guy is a San Francisco-based painter and illustrator whose earliest memories are drawing in the entryway of his parents’ home in Southern California. A true artist, he is passionate and constantly compelled to create, seeing beauty and inspiration in everything around him. His acute attention to detail conveys his dedication to creation and craftsmanship.

Bandit is a character in the Vertigo Series We3. He was created as a tool of warfare with animals instead of humans fighting wars.

Robert Bowen is a San Francisco based artist who watched entirely too much t.v. as a kid. A connoisseur of bad habits and collector of all things wrong, this “artist” feels it is his duty to bombard you with whatever inane and juvenile imagery falls from his hand. Hell bent on world domination, he pauses only occasionally for Mexican food and Lindsay Lohan movies.

A visual artist living and working in San Francisco, Robert Bowen has been exhibiting his artwork throughout the US for over ten years. Bowen got his start through graffiti and street art, and went on to attend art school and obtain a classical education as a painter.

Robert Bowen’s work is a strange, swirling brew of colorful contradiction that is not easy to define or even understand, but that seems quite the point. Throughout his body of work, Bowen takes familiar iconography and handily corkscrews it with his own unique brand of humor and distinct painting style. Bowen’s ability to reappropriate contradictory symbols into unsettling situations puts him in league with greats like Ron English, and Andy Warhol. He continues to walk the line between charming humor and blasphemous sarcasm with symbolic imagery that leaves the viewer both curious and confused. -Stacey Ransom

Astro Boy, known in Japan by its original name Mighty Atom (Japanese: Tetsuwan Atomu), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka from 1952 to 1968. The story follows the adventures of a robot named Astro Boy and a selection of other characters.

The manga was adapted for TV as Astro Boy, the first popular animated Japanese television series that embodied the aesthetic that later became familiar worldwide as anime. After enjoying success abroad, Astro Boy was remade in the 1980s as New Mighty Atom, known as Astroboy in other countries, and again in 2003. In November 2007, he was named Japan's envoy for overseas safety. An American computer-animated film based on the original manga series by Tezuka was released on October 23, 2009. In March 2015, a trailer was released announcing a new cartoon series.

Helice Wen was born in Shenzhen, China where her interest in art began at the age of 5 when she first started copying children’s book illustrations. After graduating from the Academy of Art University San Francisco in 2009, she began working as a children’s book illustrator. After leaving her illustration job a few years ago, Wen is now focused on creating gallery works. She has exhibited in New York, Florida, Melbourne, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. She currently resides in San Francisco, working as a full time artist.

Harley Quinn is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics and television shows, most commonly in association with Batman. The character was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, and first appeared in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series in September 1992. She later appeared in DC Comics' Batman comic books, with her first comic book appearance in The Batman Adventures #12 (Sept. 1993). Her name is a play on the name "Harlequin," a character which originated in the commedia dell'arte.

Steve Lawson is an emerging British artist making his mark within the international arts market. Being Self taught Steve has been a professional artist since turning his life around whilst serving a lengthy prison term for armed robbery. During his youth Steve shunned the restraints regulations laws and expectations of society living instead a carefree reckless life with abandon adventure and threw himself into the darker underbelly of society.

Leaving his former life behind him Steve used the time to positive effect indulging in his love of art and continues to use his art as an expression of himself and the world around him thus his art becoming his outlet, his playground in which to run free.. 

It wasn't long before Steve was exhibiting in open shows such as the discerning eye and the affordable arts fair in London from behind prison walls as well as several commissions from the UK prisons management.
Recognising Steve's talent and passion for the arts a position within the arts department of teaching assistant and full time mural artist was soon made for him.

Since his release Steve’s reputation as a fine artist as continued to grow and he hasn't looked back.
Having Exhibited internationally and around the UK Steve has been a featured artist in art books magazines and other such printed publications and continues to grow as an emerging artist.

The Coon & Mysterion: "The Coon" is the second episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series South Park. In the episode, Cartman poses as a superhero vigilante named "The Coon", who grows increasingly jealous of the popularity and success of a rival superhero named "Mysterion".Donning a disguise modeled after a raccoon, Cartman becomes a vigilante dubbed "The Coon", who attempts to wipe out crime in South Park. Though Cartman tries to raise awareness about The Coon through word of mouth, nobody pays much attention to the Coon's efforts. When he reports "crimes" (such as mistaking a man innocently trying to kiss his date for a rapist) to the police department, he is threatened with jail time and snubbed off. During class, Cartman tries to hype up an appearance from the Coon, saying he will be on roof of a Walgreens later that evening. Cartman (as the Coon) shows up to the spot to find another child superhero named "Mysterion", who is far more successful in garnering appreciation as a crime stopping icon from the police and South Park citizens who want to know just "Who is Mysterion?" Cartman is angered by his lack of popularity and the attention Mysterion is receiving. The Coon tries to discover the identity of Mysterion, but only finds more questions when Wendy suggests that it may not necessarily be a boy. To which Carthen says "Fuckin bitch" after gasping.

Coon decides to rid the town of Mysterion, enlisting the help of Professor Chaos (Butters) and his sidekick General Disarray (Dougie). Unlike the Coon, Professor Chaos and General Disarray have become as familiar to the residents of South Park as Mysterion. Butters also wants to know the identity of Mysterion but can only narrow the list of suspects to the boys from Mr. Garrison's 4th grade class whose shapes do not differ greatly from that of others. In contrast, he has nearly pinned down Coon's identity to a few fat celebrities, and Cartman. In a scheme to uncover Mysterion's identity, the Coon convinces Professor Chaos to threaten the destruction of a hospital unless Mysterion reveals his identity. After the Coon plants the TNT and leaves to buy detonators, Mysterion unexpectedly arrives. He points out that this is not Professor Chaos' usual style, and fights Professor Chaos and General Disarray on top of the building. A crowd forms below and cheers on Mysterion as the police take no actions, believing that their bullets are no match for Professor Chaos' aluminum foil armor. Dramatically, the Coon appears to fight on the side of Mysterion, with the hopes that he too will be hailed as a hero. At that point, Professor Chaos and General Disarray run off in defeat. After their victory, the Coon convinces Mysterion to unmask himself by claiming such threats to public safety will continue until Mysterion's secret is revealed.

Despite the threat of imprisonment, Mysterion unmasks himself, showing the television viewers only the portion of his face that looks similar to almost all of Mr. Garrison's 4th grade class. The crowd, however, is shocked to learn Mysterion's identity and, much to the regret of all except Coon, who says that he knew who Mysterion was, even calling him out on it at one point (though this helps the audience little as Cartman claimed that practically everyone in his class was Mysterion at times), Mysterion is hauled to prison. With Professor Chaos, General Disarray and Mysterion defeated, Cartman now perceives that he is the superhero in South Park and that every town should have a Coon like him.

Hannah Yata: The pictures forming in my head are ones of domination over nature, the struggle of animals in a changing world, and the effects of a changing world on the animals and humans. Women became the metaphor for mother nature as wild and sexual thing exploited and explored in my work, and animals became the subjects of examining abnormalities and evolution. Taking ideas that I had learned from ideas on feminism, I began to draw parallels in our ways of controlling and objectifying women to how we also think about the earth and its resources therein. 

Jean Pierre Arboleda: The love for animals and nature inspires me to make work the addresses issues of war, environmental toxicity, and evolutionary change. the subjects on the canvases mutate and morph, suffering from destruction and chaos. amidst the chaos, i tie in societal issues and and re-contextualize them with animals as a critique against humanity: my animals build bombs and machines to gear up for a war in efforts to exterminate one another, other animals start to become one with the very machinery they build- sprouting wires and mechanical parts. it is my concern, in my work, that i address our practices of amassing weapons, the extermination of each other, and the real value of the science behind it.

Mina Murray is a British adventurer turned immortal, a former music teacher and agent for the British Secret Service. She was also the leader of two incarnations of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Catherine Moore was born in San Leandro, California, but spent her formative, and awkward, teenage years amidst the neon lights and desert landscape of Reno, Nevada. In 1998, she returned to the Bay Area to pursue her fine arts degree and graduated from the Academy of Art University in 2004. She worked for several years as a freelance illustrator and graphic artist and began exhibiting her work in 2011. She currently lives with her husband, son, and doggy companion in San Leandro.

Aquaman is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941). Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo title. During the late 1950s and 1960s superhero-revival period known as the Silver Age, he was a founding member of the Justice League of America. In the 1990s Modern Age, Aquaman's character became more serious than in most previous interpretations, with storylines depicting the weight of his role as king of Atlantis.

Scott Holloway's work represents themes associated with the historic fusion of religious dogma and scientific enlightenment of the Renaissance. The work is meant to be contemplative; and the viewer is encouraged to meditate on its hidden subtext - narratives about the search for the divine soul through anatomical dissection. Conceptually Holloway approaches the work emotionally, but controls the formal presentation through analytical methods as was done by the great masters of the past. The final images of anatomy are presented as traditional icons to convey the sacred nature of the human body. Holloway's work is about honoring the beauty and complexity of the human form even after death.

Working steadily from his studios in Worcester, MA, Holloway has exhibited his work in New York City, Salem, Boston, Worcester, Phoenix, Tucson, Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Francisco, Culver City, Park City, Saint Louis, Philadelphia, London, Berlin, Italy and Denmark.

His work has been published in Hey! Magazine (France), Art That Creeps (Germany), La Luz 25, Quadrant Fantasies (Denmark), Catapult ArtMag twice, Worcester Magazine, Lexikon der phantastischen Kunstler (An Austrian encyclopedia of surreal artist), Monkey Sapian (Italy), Pulse Magazine, Skull Face (England), Boston Spectrum, Churn, Book of Skulls (Germany) and 20 Artists of Worcester.

Batman is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and first appeared in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). Originally named "the Bat-Man," the character is also referred to by such epithets as "the Caped Crusader, "the Dark Knight," and "the World's Greatest Detective."

Batman's secret identity is Bruce Wayne, an American billionaire, business magnate, and philanthropist. Having witnessed the murder of his parents as a child, he swore revenge on criminals, an oath tempered with a sense of justice. Wayne trains himself both physically and intellectually and dons a bat-themed costume to fight crime. Batman operates in the fictional Gotham City, assisted by various supporting characters including his butler Alfred Pennyworth, his crime-fighting partner Robin, the police commissioner Jim Gordon, and occasionally the heroine Batgirl.

Brian Donnelly’s portraiture deconstructs the dialogue between the audience and objects by experimenting with the fragile nature of artwork.  Faces deteriorate, separate, and occasionally combust in his work, redefining it as transitional rather than perpetual.  Presenting fading memories instead of permanent effigies Donnelly draws a parallel between the fragility of artwork and the ephemeral nature of ourselves.

Cyclops is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and is a founding member of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the comic book The X-Men #1 (September 1963).

Cyclops is a member of a subspecies of humans known as mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. Cyclops can emit powerful beams of energy from his eyes. He cannot control the beams without the aid of special eyewear which he must wear at all times. He is typically considered the first of the X-Men, a team of mutant heroes who fight for peace and equality between mutants and humans, and one of the team's primary leaders.

Adam Caldwell: "My paintings and drawings juxtapose elements of abstract expressionism and classical figuration. During my training at the California College of Arts and Crafts, I began to create collage drawings that layered disparate images on top of one another; I now use oil paint in a similar way, starting with an abstract background and then adding more photorealistic details, allowing the work to dictate its own construction. The resulting palimpsest of figures and abstract shapes represents the conflicted and paradoxical emotions that underlie my work. My paintings evoke the tensions between mind and body, self and other, present and past. They also raise questions about the nature of identity, particularly concerning issues of gender and sexuality. I am deeply concerned about the world around me, and my work reflects my reactions to social issues such as war and consumerism by contrasting images from American advertisements and popular culture with images of rituals from around the world.

The eclectic nature of my work reflects my wide range of interests and influences. My figurative painting and drawing has been influenced by the realistic yet expressive work of Odd Nerdrum, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Antonio López García, Jenny Saville, and Barron Storey, whom I studied under at CCAC. Theories of consciousness by philosophers such as Gilles Deleuze have also informed my art work. I am inspired by my grandfather, author Erskine Caldwell, and his commitment to representing the unseen and marginalized members of our society. I am also heavily influenced by music, movies, and comics, all of which have shaped my identity. I am an accomplished guitarist and martial artist, and these disciplines also inform my artistic perspective.

One of my most important areas of inspiration is the community of artists I surround myself with. Painting in particular can be a very lonely and isolating practice, so I make a point to attend drawing groups and I share studio space with David Choong Lee. Although the process can be solitary, I paint to commune with others and allow them entrance into my interiority. Painting connects me to my world and times and culture. I always hope to create work that will invoke in someone else the feelings I have had before great art."

The Maxx is an American comic book series created by Sam Kieth and published originally monthly by Image Comics, then was collected in trade paperback collections from DC Comic's Wildstorm imprint. Starting from November 2013 it has been republished by IDW with new colors and improved scans of the original artwork by Sam Kieth and Jim Sinclair. The comic book, which stars a character of the same name, spawned an animated series that aired on MTV. The first appearance of The Maxx was in Primer #5, published by Comico Comics.

The series follows the adventures of the titular hero in the real world and in an alternate reality, referred to as the Outback. In the real world the Maxx is a vagrant, a "homeless man living in a box", while in the Outback he is the powerful protector of the Jungle Queen. The Jungle Queen exists in the real world as Julie Winters, a freelance social worker who often bails the Maxx out of jail. While the Maxx is aware of the Outback, Julie is not, though it is integral to both of their stories.

Brenton Bostwick was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area where he currently lives and works.  He has studied sculpture and painting at New York University and the San Francisco Art Institute.  Having spent his life drawing and painting, it was during his time in college at NYU, he began to seriously study art .   During this time, he was deeply attached to the idea of being a painter.  From a young age he was drawn to the human form, studying portraiture as well as human and animal anatomy as sources of inspiration for his paintings.

     After finishing college he worked as a carpenter and landscaper in San Francisco, and fell in love with working outside and building with his hands.  This type of work felt far more real, and resonated with him more than any subject studied in the classroom.  At the time his primary focus was still painting.  Constantly searching for a more effective way of portraying his visual experience of the world, it was a natural progression to move outside the frustrating constraints of the two dimensional canvas, and in to the world of sculpture.

     In 2008, he moved to the north bay of San Francisco and began to experiment with natural found objects as the material for his creative playground.  The coastlines and mountains became the source of much of the artistic materials as well as the creative inspiration itself.   Using the human form, as well as years of anatomy study as a template, he set out to use the cast off refuse of the natural world to show the beauty of life and emotionality held in both human and abstract forms.  Through the process of learning the materials, the enjoyment of abstraction and play with the amazing texture and organic form held within the material itself, became one of the driving forces behind his creative endeavors.  With every experiment, a new range of possibilities was exposed.  Using nature and the our society as a backdrop, each piece shows the play between our human effort to control the natural world, and the effortless and powerful movement of nature around us.

Batgirl is the name of several fictional characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts to the superhero Batman. Although the character Betty Kane was introduced into publication in 1961 by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff as Bat-Girl, she was replaced by Barbara Gordon in 1967, who later came to be identified as the iconic Batgirl. Depicted as the daughter of Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon, she debuted in Detective Comics #359, titled "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!" (1967) by writer Gardner Fox and artist Carmine Infantino. As Batgirl, the character operates primarily in Gotham City, allying herself with Batman and the original Robin, Dick Grayson, as well as other prominent heroes in the DC Universe.

Batgirl makes regular appearances in Detective Comics, Batman Family and several other books produced by DC until 1988. That year, she appears in Barbara Kesel's Batgirl Special #1, in which she retires from crime-fighting. She subsequently appears in Alan Moore's graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke where, in her civilian identity, she is shot by the Joker and left paraplegic. Although she is recreated as the computer expert and information broker Oracle by editor Kim Yale and writer John Ostrander the following year, her paralysis sparked debate about the portrayal of women in comics, particularly violence depicted toward female characters.

Matthew Robertson was born and raised in San Francisco and graduated from the Academy of Art University in 2012 with a BFA in illustration. He currently lives and works in Berkeley, California. Robertson’s technical oil paintings are simultaneously chaotic and controlled as he masterfully weaves the two components into one canvas to intuitively explore the tenuous balance between real and abstract forms. The new series vibrates with a sense of innocence described by bold colors, geometric forms, and spontaneous lines which merge together harmoniously with an expert sense of realism,  to create a body of work that is both nostalgic and contemporary.

Major Motoko Kusanagi (草薙 素子 ) is a fictional character in the Ghost in the Shell anime and manga series. She is an augmented-cybernetic human employed as the squad leader of Public Security Section 9, a fictional law-enforcement division of the real Japanese National Public Safety Commission. Being strong-willed, physically powerful, and highly intellectual, she is well known for her skills in deduction and hacking.

Sarah Joncas is a Toronto-based artist.  

Wolverine is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. Born James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant who possesses animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, and a healing factor. He has been depicted variously as a member of the X-Men, Alpha Flight, and the Avengers.

Wolverine first appeared in the last panel of The Incredible Hulk #180, with his first full appearance in #181 (cover-dated Nov. 1974). He was created by writer Len Wein and Marvel art director John Romita, Sr., who designed the character, and was first drawn for publication by Herb Trimpe. Wolverine then joined a revamped version of the superhero team the X-Men, where eventually writer Chris Claremont and artist-writer John Byrne would play significant roles in the character's development. Artist Frank Miller collaborated with Claremont and helped to revise the character with a four-part eponymous limited series from September to December 1982 in which Wolverine's catchphrase, "I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do best isn't very nice," debuted.

Wolverine is typical of the many tough antiheroes that emerged in American popular culture after the Vietnam War; his willingness to use deadly force and his brooding nature became standard characteristics for comic book antiheroes by the end of the 1980s. As a result, the character became a fan favorite of the increasingly popular X-Men franchise. Wolverine has been featured in his own solo comic since 1988.

Daniel J Valadez was born in Santa Clara, California. He grew up in Visalia, central California, where the summers were scorching and the winters left the grass frozen. He made his return years later to the Bay Area. Daniel moved to San Francisco in the spring of 2005 and began studying at the Academy of Art University. After a rigorous three years, in 2008 he received a BFA in Illustration. The years that followed his schooling, Daniel has continuously pursued a career in painting. While currently residing in San Francisco, he continues to show and sell his work all around the world.

Rorschach (born Walter Joseph Kovacs) is a fictional character and an antihero of the acclaimed 1986 graphic novel miniseries Watchmen, published by DC Comics. Rorschach was created by writer Alan Moore with artist Dave Gibbons, but as with most of the main characters in the series, he was an analogue for a Charlton Comics character, in this case Steve Ditko's the Question and Mr. A.

While the series has an ensemble cast, some consider Rorschach to be the protagonist as he drives most of the plot forward. In the beginning of the story, he is introduced as the only remaining active masked vigilante not employed by the government. A ruthless crime-fighter, his beliefs in moral absolutism—good and evil with no shades of grey—have driven him to seek to punish evil at all costs. Rorschach's mask displays a constantly morphing inkblot based on the ambiguous designs used in Rorschach inkblot tests, with the mask's black and white coloring consistent with Rorschach's sense and view of morality.

Born and raised in Southern California, Emilio Villalba received his BFA from the Art Institute of California in 2006 and his MFA from the Academy of Art University in 2011. He has shown in San Francisco and lives and works in Santa Clara. He teaches at the Art Institute of California.

Tigra (Greer Grant Nelson) is a fictional American comic book superheroine in the Marvel Comics universe. Introduced as the non-superpowered crime fighter The Cat in Claws of the Cat #1 (Nov. 1972), she was co-created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artists Marie Severin and Wally Wood, with her early adventures written by Linda Fite. She mutated into the super powered tiger-woman Tigra in Giant-Size Creatures #1 (July 1974), by writer Tony Isabella and penciller Don Perlin. 

Isabel Samarasʼ work is a form of visual storytelling that is witty, mysterious, and tender. Her painted narratives are classical in technique and pop in content, revolving around issues of secret love, unrequited lust and making things end the way we wish they would. Best known for lush and meticulously painted riffs on Old Masters that send up pop culture icons of the '70s, her ribald images are woven with references to classic horror movies, ancient mythology, cheesy television, and childhood fables.

Familiar to a broad audience through publications like Juxtapoz and International Tattoo Art magazines, her work has also been featured in books such as 20th Century Women Artists, Pop Surrealism: The Rise of Underground Art, Weirdo Deluxe: The Wild World of Pop Surrealism and Lowbrow Art‚ and her monograph titled On Tender Hooks: The Art of Isabel Samaras. She opened her studio to the television shows Internet Tonight‚ SexTV, and the documentary films‚ The Lowdown on Lowbrow and Newbrow: Contemporary Underground Art.

Comparing her work to postmodern painting, one critic writes: “Samaras has created a truly populist art. Fairy tales, magical realism, and the forbidden fantasies of fabled characters present a world where elusive desires become reality. She often re-imagines gothic romances with happy endings, and ill-fated journeys turn into enchanted honeymoons. Tinged with mischief, she invites the viewer to be part of her humorous and heartfelt storytelling process.”

Emma Frost is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129 (January 1980), and was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne. Emma Frost, also known as the White Queen, has evolved from a supervillain and foe of the X-Men, to becoming a superhero and one of the X-Men's most central members and leaders.

Frost belongs to a subspecies of humanity called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. She is an urbane telepath with a well-noted, dry wit.

Melissa Morgan studied Computer Graphics and Graphic Design at New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, Long Island, NY. Working within the NYC design field for several years, she quickly became frustrated with the lack of creative freedom, long hours and high demand.

As fate would have it - she landed an opportunity as Gallery Director in Soho, NYC. Feeling as though she belonged on the other side of the spectrum she set out to find a place where she could nurture her creative spirit that has driven her entire life.

Subsequently, this landed her in Madrid, New Mexico where she currently resides and actively pursuing art.

Tank Girl is a British comic created by Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin. Originally drawn by Jamie Hewlett, it has also been drawn by Philip Bond, Glyn Dillon, Ashley Wood, Warwick Johnson-Cadwell, Jim Mahfood, Brett Parson. Jonathan Edwards, Craig Knowles, Rufus Dayglo, Andy Pritchett, and Mike McMahon.

The eponymous character Tank Girl (Rebecca Buck) drives a tank, which is also her home. She undertakes a series of missions for a nebulous organization before making a serious mistake and being declared an outlaw for her sexual inclinations and her substance abuse. The comic centres on her misadventures with her boyfriend, Booga, a mutant kangaroo. The comic's style was heavily influenced by punk visual art, and strips were frequently deeply disorganized, anarchic, absurdist, and psychedelic. The strip features various elements with origins in surrealist techniques, fanzines, collage, cut-up technique, stream of consciousness, and metafiction, with very little regard or interest for conventional plot or committed narrative.

Carl Faulkner’s work universally captures a provocative and playful love of color. He explores themes of neoteny, sexuality, fantasy and contemporary subculture. He is based in Seattle WA, and holds his BFA from Cornish College of the Arts.

Thor is a fictional superhero that appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name, is the Asgardian god of thunder and possesses the enchanted hammer Mjolnir, which grants him the ability of flight and weather manipulation amongst his other superhuman attributes.

These are portraits of the forgotten idols, the pieces of the past meant to preserve the highest order of our human ideals. As we move stubbornly forward in time and generations pass on, we see our crowned achievements of art and culture as dust. The rate of decay is governed only by the constitution of the material, be it flesh or marble. These paintings are about interpreting the fragility of our idols and examining them from a humanist perspective. In the end, entropy prevails and only by finding beauty in decay and re-interpreting it do we carry on the indomitable human spirit of progress and artistic pursuit of beauty.

Bradley Platz’ intricate oil paintings deal with the alternating nature of worship in the modern age. Using classical symbolic imagery from old world traditions and transposing subtle hints of modernity, his work might best be described as tarnished elegance. Ever present also are certain whimsical and subtle symbols that carry the viewer through his body of work as a reader through a story, or a craft on the sea.