TIFFANY BOZIC

(1979, Russellville, US)

Tiffany Bozic is a self-taught artist currently living and working in San Francisco, California. Bozic has spent the majority of her life living with and observing the intricacies of nature. Her work has the traditional air of tightly rendered illustrations with a highly emotional range of surreal metaphorical themes. In her paintings and sketches she presents her vision of life’s struggles and triumphs that are largely autobiographical. Her wide array of subjects are inspired both from her extensive travels to wild places, and the research specimens at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, California.

Over the years, Bozic has developed a complex process of masking and staining the maple panels in which she paints on. By doing this, the natural grain can collaborate with each composition using multiple layers of watered down acrylic paint.

She has participated in numerous group shows nationwide. Bozic has spoken at international events such as the 2007 Semi Permanent International Arts and Design Conference in Sydney, Australia. Bozic was also the first Artist in Residency at the California Academy of Sciences whereby she created the “From the Depths” exhibit on the public floor of the museum in November of 2007.

Watch this interview by Walrus TV:

STEVEN VASQUEZ LOPEZ

(California, US)

Steven Vasquez Lopez was born in Upland, California and currently lives in San Francisco. Raised in Southern California in a Mexican-American household, Lopez's early obsession with architecture, manual labor and bold fashion continues through his hard-edge graphic acrylic painting and ink drawings. 

Lopez received his BA in Studio Art from UC Santa Barbara in 2000. He was a recipient of the William Dole Memorial Scholarship (1999, 2000), Abrams Prize (2000), Murphy and Cadogan Fellowship (2006), ArtSlant Prize (2012). Since completing his MFA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2007, Lopez has exhibited at CES Contemporary, Aqua Art Miami, ArtsPadSF, the San Francisco Art Commission Gallery, Riverside Art Museum, Diego Rivera Gallery, Parklife Gallery, Roll Up Gallery & Root Division Gallery.

SLICK

(1961, Meskwaki Nation)

Duane Slick’s work takes the form of books, paintings, and prints. In the early 1990s he worked with colorful abstracts and gradually shifted to work that is nearly monochromatic and figurative. Presently his figures can appear transitory, fragmentary and border on the elusive. The theory of absence and presence can be applied to his work. 

Through the raw shadow of an image, he creates a longing in the viewer to discover, in the hint of it that is left on the surface of the canvas, the actual or absent object. The importance of time, the play between surface and image, are concerns for Slick. The shadow that he captures is the intangible linked to the tangible, as seen in the acrylic-on-linen work White Bird Circuit (2007). Slick is protective of the cultural knowledge acquired from his family; therefore his work can be interpreted as a means to play with reality without specifically naming or giving away information.

Slick confronts issues of materialism; hence he dematerializes by revealing the essential shape ofan object, symbol or person. The figures in his paintings are taken from shadows that he projects and then traces onto the canvas. Through this process he acquires the intangible (the shape or presence of the object), without giving a literal interpretation of the object itself. He creates through the process of addition and subtraction, by layering and erasure, until the work appears to him complete.

Watch this video by NetWorks Project:

NATE VAN DYKE

Nate (N8) VanDyke is a prolific artist and illustrator who began drawing at the age of two. His medium of choice ranges from: pencil, ink, marker, watercolor, gauche, acrylic and oils. Regardless of what medium he picks up, his signature style can be seen in the contrast of his thin and thick lines in his pen and ink work and the high sheen contrast in his mixed media pieces.

Nate's heavily detailed illustrations feature his heavy metal humans and his well-known future primitive apes with dark menacing personalities. His color work features studies of animals (apes, elephants, giraffes) against lustrous backdrops.

He recently took a job as a senior concept artist at NCsoft working on City of Heroes/City of Villains. Just prior, he finished creating concept art and storyboards for the Sega video game, Iron Man. His work has also been featured in several magazines such as JUXTAPOZ, XBox, PlayStation and Heavy Metal. Over the years N8 has attracted clients such as Converse, Levi Strauss, Scion, EMI Records, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Burton Snowboards, Slayer and Wired. N8’s work has been commissioned and showcased internationally.

Watch N8 in his studio:

MIKE PARK

Mike Park's polymer coated acrylic paintings on wood depict a melange of dream like narratives brimming with adolescent angst. His technique is impressive, and he reveals young men and women engaged in deeply personal moments, often exuding emotions of hope, fear and desire. The works can be read as a virtual map into the psyche of the human condition, where people grapple with feelings of alienation and sexual ambiguity.