Christy Bush’s recent exhibition Soundtrack to Nothing was a series of photographs featuring teen concert fans in Australia, Europe and the US. The fans were shot in a variety of settings in and around a range of concert venues, but somehow Bush’s work has allowed the viewer to create a narrative out of the images. The focus is the intensity of the fans as they experience, and share, their passion for the music and the event. Interesting to note that an actual soundtrack was produced to accompany this exhibit.

Artist: Christy Bush
+ bespokegallery.net

Youn Woo Chaa takes the traditional craft of wicker weaving to an art form by using portraiture to express the creativity put into his work. Chaa spent time in the Amazon Forest with the Tukano Indians who are skillful at this weaving. Chaa learnt first-hand the process of the work, from the harvesting of the plant that produces the reed, the Aruma, to the binding of the wicker with the cipo wood. The results are intricate renditions of an update on an ancient theme.

Artist: Youn Woo Chaa
+ lolabrown.com

Catherine Howe’s recent works look at woman as goddess, empowered by and with nature in many forms. The pink goddess sports a blue octopus, but perched amongst her tendrils are also some very small birds. The yellow goddess with snails has coils of snail-like hair with a pair of waterfowl decorated with dragonflies right on top, while the green goddess has the tiniest of bunnies sleeping in her braids. By incorporating these various types of flora and fauna into these classically-styled portraits, Howe makes the viewer look at the female in a different way.

Artist: Catherine Howe
+ claireoliver.com

Go to Aaron Jasinski’s website. This artist and illustrator has a terrific gallery of acrylics. Jasinski’s body of recent work covers pop culture circa right now. The world of clubs and concerts meets that of an overabundance of technology that can sometimes result in a lack of inspiration. Kids of all ages and their accompanying moods and mindsets tame the robots and play the guitars. And then of course there’s the occasional flying frog.

Artist: Aaron Jasinski
+ aaronjasinski.com

Justin Wood’s illustrations are of the moment renditions of the way this artist sees reality, be it based on current events, human interest stories or entertainment. The monkey spies depict the IRS watching over tax advisors and their clients. Outside Alison is a picture of a young woman who survived a near-fatal bus accident and went on to scale great heights, while the artwork for turntablist DJ Uppercut is a little on the lighter side.

Artist: Justin Wood
+ singlecell.to

Uta Barth by Matthew Higgs is a simple book about the photographs of a master of simplicity. Barth’s photos of interiors or architectural elements both indoors and out are often slightly out of focus and cropped, home to no real foreground subjects. This book gives insight into the way Barth composes her shots and the tremendous amount of layering that is involved before the desired effect can be achieved. Includes essays and interviews.

Paperback, 160 pages, Phaidon 2004, $27.17 at Amazon.

+Uta Barth at Amazon

Arild Danielsen's art shots of compositions in nature, trash and all, are very peaceful, but don’t be surprised to see a few animals putting up with the rigidity of three-piece suits in some of his other work. Via The Apartment Blogs

San Base is a digital artist specializing in dynamic painting, ever-changing pictures created on an LCD display, combining composition and technology.

Dahlia Fischbein presents Bloom, an unusual multimedia presentation of watercolours, video and an interactive magnetic wall installation at nydesignroom.

Dan Krall’s paintings are colourful modern retro narratives that explore worlds inhabited by elephants, aliens, demon babies and freckled kids, to mention but a few of his characters. Krall’s style takes us to the days of old-fashioned cartooning and illustration (or at least to Saturday morning in front of the TV), and most of his pieces are timeless. Some of the paintings are sparsely populated, others are much denser, but each one pulls in the viewer either via colour or composition, and once there, it is impossible not to linger.

Artist: Dan Krall
+ dankrall.com

To say that Marion Peck’s work is a bit surreal is understating the obvious. It is downright surreal to the extreme. Animals take on exaggerated features like larger, or extra, eyes, and lend body parts to humans. And when the animals and the humans appear to be in proportion, something seems highly suspicious. Even the fruit aren’t what they should be. And Peck’s latest series of paintings, I Cari Estinti (The Dear Departed), is a collection of children and pets gone on to another place.

Artist: Marion Peck
+ marionpeck.com

For over ten years, the illustrations of Eric Drooker have adorned the covers of New Yorker magazines. A native of New York’s Lower East Side, Drooker’s drawings and paintings are an excellent reflection of the city, from skyscraper to tenement. But Drooker’s work is not all about the glamour of cover art, as the artist has always championed the less fortunate foot soldiers of the urban struggle, using his talents for political posters and cartoons. Drooker is also the creator of graphic novels full of pictures that tell the tales of alienation in the big city.

Artist: Eric Drooker
+ drooker.com

In case you thought the world of origami started with the crane and ended with the frog, Jospeh Wu is the origami artist for you. Wu’s website features not only his own patiently constructed creations, but presents a nice gallery of the important works of others. Some of the pieces come with instructions, others are special commissions or more exclusive designs. Fish and fowl are certainly prominent amongst the models, but Wu has also done a variety of inanimate objects, like microscopes, movie cameras and computers. A modern take on a long-time tradition.

Artist: Joseph Wu
+ origami.vancouver.bc.ca