Henry Darger art book by Klaus Biesenbach

Aya Kakeda

Brooklyn-based illustrator Aya Kakeda has used a wide range of materials for her Yoshitomo Nara-esque images, but there’s something particularly compelling about her embroidered work. The constraints and distortions inherent in the medium suggests a struggle and a roughness not apparent in her other work and fits nicely with some of her folky subject matter and child-like narratives. Read more

Keith Shore’s folksy artwork

As a long time fan of the folksy paintings of artist Keith Shore, I was really happy to hear from him that he’s just updated his site with some amazing new paintings. I can never get enough of the loose, dreamy way that he treats his subject matter, as well as the medium in general. In fact, several of these paintings will be dressing the set of the upcoming movie, The Beaver, starring Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster. I’ve never been a huge Mel Gibson fan, but I might have to check this one out. Read more

Kathleen Lolley

Kathleen Lolley takes a narrative approach to her folky paintings, using fairy-tale, fantastical, and mythological imagery to weave cryptic stories both imaginary and referential to her personal life. Read more

James Reynolds documents last meal requests

James Reynolds currently lives and works in London. He recently graduated from Kingston University studying Graphic Design. This series, Last Suppers, documents former Death Row prisoners’ requests for their last meal before execution. [see more photos at Feature Shoot] Read more

Thomas Straub

Paris-based Thomas Straub has worked as a photographer in advertising for the past fifteen years, with client including Piaget, De Beers, Yves Saint Laurent and Hennessy. Read more

Alina Rudya

Alina Rudya is a photographer living and working in Kiev, Ukraine. Of this series, Soviet Women Dreaming of Future, she says, ‘The full name of this series of self-portraits is Soviet Peasant Woman Dreaming of her Bright Capitalistic Future. I was born in the era of Perestroika and didn’t live during Soviet era that much. Nevertheless, my image abroad, no mater how hard I try, is always impacted by my Soviet background. People are either joking or seriously think, that I’m different because I came from Ukraine. Even my foreign friends jokingly call me red or soviet. I love traveling and I feel myself very cosmopolitan. But every time I’m applying for a visa to travel to EU I feel myself as a Soviet peasant woman who wants to benefit from Western capitalistic wealth. So I created this series, because I wanted to show the stereotypical exaggerated view of me in the West’. Read more