I grew up in Los Angeles/ Inland Empire area and currently live in Oakland. Im 21, and I'm in my last year at San Francisco Art Institute. ayalamario.tumblr.com/

I guess I would tell someone I primarily work on paper, prefferibly stretched over panels. I use a wide range of mediums, gouache, enamel, oil, etc. My imagery derives from various interests I have, drug/alcohol consumption, Suburbia, and Santeria to name a few.

Jazz, Giorgio Morandi, James Bond, the Lost Bros familia, my dog Bubba Gucci, but my biggest influence has got to be my father. Hardest working man I know.

PIZZA!/ Sam's Burgers on broadway

Haven't done much traveling, but I recently visited New York for the first time last summer and was pretty stoked on it.

I try an work either early in the morning, but I usually end up working on things late at night shackled in my atelier listening to some jazz or oldies. You know, that Art Laboe shit.

Philadelphia, PA. 22. BFA from Tyler School of Art. www.kylekogut.com

My work mainly consists of mixed media drawings and paintings of nonsensical figures/environments. A lot of it is about mankind's relationship to Nature, in both physical and metaphysical realms. Recently I've also been making animations and sculptures that deal with similar narratives.

My biggest inspiration is the natural world; what separates man from animal, and how have we evolved to conceptualize and comprehend our own existence as independent entities from the world around us. Mythology, philosophy, religious iconography, and cultural practices all play a part in the narrative of my work. Visual influnences include the Northern Renaissance period, Greek and Roman antiquity, fauvism, Christopher Davison, Picasso, Allison Shulnik, Jan Švankmajer, Dasha Shiskin, Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, and countless others. Influences really come from everything.

Cheese please.

North Wales.

I basically lock myself in my studio and pretty much just do whatever I want, no rules. I make myself be stay productive and use my work as exploration of new ideas. I'm always looking for that next image or theme to expand on or experiment with. In the studio I listen to everything from the Black Angels to Panda Bear to Om. I make work around my job schedule, so it all kind of depends.

I run my own screen printing company and fill in some hours at a library, which also serves as an endless resource of history and imagery. I also have some potential teaching opportunities in the near future.

San Francisco artist Kevin Taylor introduced us to the work of Jay Bo who lives and works in Berlin.

Kevin was there in Berlin a few months back working on a solo show (studio visit pics) and thought we'd like Jay Bo's paintings. Well, we do and wanted to share them with you.

I was born in the south of France, but living in Berlin since 86. | Enough. | None but the strength of life. I quit school by the age of 14. | www.jayboisms.com www.eyeseaeye.com www.iwishusun.com

My work is about visual fragmentation. About rebuilding. I follow paradoxical ideas at the edge of the legacy of romantism. A touch of insanity, a dance between rational and irrational, I just try to escape reality. I considere myself an abstract painter, playing with the contrast between hyperrealism and expressionism. I try to marry the two. By the way this is not a question I can answer, as my answer is the piece itself.

I am perpetually influenced by everything, my work is based on layers, as our memories are. The raster made out of thoses bring me to new horizons. That's why I am not only influenced by the old paint masters but also on the multiple failures of mankind. by the nature, by your questioning as well as by the silence in the morning, by the words of poets, and by the screams of Earth.

Definitly both but self made.

Well the next one. I am interessted in the concept of traveling not in places. And this has to be contrasted, I like to observe confrontation. Visual opposition. I am walking the same ways over and over and I find something unseen everyday. I am an observer and I need therefore more time on a new place to understand it. Africa have left a big influence on my acceptance of chaos.

Yes which is the hard part. Discipline never has be my friend.

The shed in my parent's backyard. Lapel, Indiana

22 years young. Working on my BA in Printmaking at the Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis, IN. You can find me here: christianbforrer.carbonmade.com/ Or here: etsy.com/shop/HUMANSHOP Here too: facebook.com/christian.b.forrer

Geometric and architectural forms that mirror both my weariness and confidence of the future. I'm drawing from a beautiful, yet growingly ominous midwest landscape. I use a bright, neon and pastel palette to balance a heavier line, and to convey a wishful personal conscious. When composing work, I tend to centralize imagery of the most importance.

The midwest, my friends and my lady, Bob Dylan, and recently Star Wars

I'd take either, but I really just want some general tso's.

Had a few life changing moments in SF, but Vegas was epicly hardcore.

Well, I'm living in a shed right now, so i just wake up and I'm pretty much in the middle of my studio. If I have no money-making schemes to pursue that day, then I'll just work until I'm ready for bed or a movie. Lately I've been listening to a lot of oldies, but mostly the sound of my dogs barking.

Marissa Textor and Ryan Travis Christian are currently showing together at Cooper Cole Gallery in Toronto. Gerald interviews the LA based Marissa Textor. Check out her detailed graphite drawings.

I was born and breed in Southern California and I spend most of my time now making graphite drawings. I also work with my friend Naheed Simjee on a range of really exciting projects with artists through our company SIMJEE TEXTOR.

Los Angeles, 25, UCLA, marissatextor.com, simjeetextor.com

I would describe my work as hyperrealistic graphite drawing. The theme of the work varies but I often include elements like smoke, filtered light, negative space, water and rocks to create organic uncommon images of natural environments.

The initial stages involve some tinkering in photoshop to make adjustments and to get a sense for what the finished product will look like. It is a lot easier to erase clouds or add more trees when you are working on a computer than to hand draw it. Deciding on the scale of the work is an important part of the process and I'm slowly creeping towards making larger and larger work although I also enjoy the intimate scale of the smaller works.

I'm a night person so I'm usually the most productive between 10pm and 2am but if I'm working on a show I'm drawing all day every day and I become a bit obsessive about it. Music, podcasts, Netflix or something is always playing since the work can become monotonous and this part of the process does not involve a lot of decision making. Sometimes I get a song stuck in my head and play it on repeat until I finish the piece so I'll end up listening to the same song a couple hundred times in a row. That military torture technique would never work on me.

Storytelling and strong narratives, chain emails of crazy photos from around the world and the internet. I'm interested in the general pursuit of discovery. The amount of information out there these days can be overwhelming but it is fascinating how one subject can lead to another and in turn, how they relate to each other.

Grew up in New Jersey but currently living in Baltimore. Just turned 23. Graduated from MICA last May. www.laurajudkis.com.

Lately my work has taken a sculptural turn, but I come from a painting background. I make aggressive, psychologically charged abstractions. I'm interested in the tactile and sensual qualities of my materials, and I'm hoping for visceral reactions.

Lots of super fleshy figurative painting and sculpture, Abstract Expressionism (especially Clyfford Still), Gordon Matta Clark, Lee Bontecou, Louise Nevelson, Louise Bourgeois, Martin Puryear, Robert Rauschenberg, Lucas Samaras, Paul Thek. I'm also into the provisional/experimental formalism thing that's going on in painting right now. Ingmar Bergman's "Persona." David Foster Wallace, Dostoevsky, and D.H. Lawrence, for books. Samurai armor is cool as hell. I try to steal from everything everywhere.

Black bean burgers with cheese and avocado and spicy mayo, duh.

I haven't gone anywhere new in awhile, but San Francisco was nice.

I am an interdisciplinary artist with an emphasis in painting, sculpture and theater.

I moved to the United States from Taiwan when I was 14. This experience of being transplanted from my home, family, and culture had a huge impact on me and my works. After receiving my M.A. in studio arts from University of Iowa, I went back to Taiwan for my solo exhibition and a few set design projects. I plan to move back to the states in 2012.

www.joycehostudio.com, www.joyceho-art.blogspot.com

The images that I paint all have some disturbing quality, whether it's the angle of the character's head or the awkwardness of the distorted bodies. But in order to complicate these unsettling images, I use strong yellow hues to create a warm overall lighting that emanates throughout the entire space. I like this idea of “peaceful violence,” of seducing the viewer with bright colours, while simultaneously confronting them with the damaged characters.

I normally spend a few months developing a series of images and then over the course of an evening take a number of photographs and experiment with different compositions and lighting. For my works in my house, I usually choose rooms with more angular architecture and multiple lighting sources. There is something cold and inhuman about many of the new high rise apartments in Taipei, with their cold, reflective marble floors, fluorescent lights, and long corridors. These apartments seem more like conference rooms or hotels.

I usually work at night. ( late, late night ). I like listening to music when I work, but I always forget to turn it on.

Tom Betthauser, I draw, paint etc.

Untitled Land, 2011, 48"x60" graphite on paper

Detail

Detail

I'm 24, I was born and raised in the bay area, where I graduated from the indomitable San Francisco Art Institute in 2010. Currently I live in New Haven Connecticut where I'm wrapping up my MFA at Yale. (www.TomBetthauser.com)

Right now I just say that I make landscapes. It's vague, but I like the way it makes people (including myself) interact with the work, and it leaves me with a lot of room to explore the core of what I'm interested in.

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

I like the idea of creating a world from the ground up. I start very abstractly, with large areas of dark and light, and then try to pull a blank landscape out of that. Once that's built I'm free to explore and add elements of content as necessary.

Berlin, 28, MFA Fine Arts, www.annewoelk.de

I am a contemporary figurative painter, who creates mixed-media paintings with a penchant for bright colors, geometric shapes, and street-art forms. My work explores the relationship between cultural plurality and a recycling of pop-culture, by layering different motifs from Science Fiction film stills and quotations from an art historical background, like Symbolism and color-field paintings. Overall I am constantly studying the possibilities of oil paint as a medium and trying to push my boundaries.

I appreciate the work of Kai Althoff, Corinne Wasmuht, Daniel Richter, David Hockney, Franz West, Gerhard Richter, Pierre Soulages, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko.

I always get two with cheese.

In the summer of 2009 I undertook a journey by car for several weeks along the French and Spanish-Atlantic coast with stops in Paris, Bordeaux, Vieux-Boucau, Biarritz, San Sebastian and Bilbao. I enjoyed myself immensely.

Sometimes I like the sound and the noise of the studio building with its different characters, but usually I love to listen to: audio books, The Cure, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Costello, Erykah Badu, The Fugees, Faith No More, Jeff Buckley, Amy Winehouse, John Lennon, and Lassie Singers, (among others). Honestly I have no real daily routine, I paint when I am hot for my work. Late in the evening is the best time to concentrate. During the nighttime I get ready for new things and I have my best ideas.

Australia, 21, University Dropout, http://shidaart.tumblr.com/ - http://www.flickr.com/photos/shidaart/

Pictures of Crystallised Fractaly Inter-dimensional mystics.

Artist like Rodger Dean and Frank Frazetta, the graffiti scene around me. Australian Street Art Godfathers like Lister and Phibs.

Cheese burgers

Loved Vienna a place thats ridiculously cool for young people.

Try get to work on something every morning, whether its studio stuff or street work. Listen mainly to rap the cheesier the better and folk music.

With my art since 16.

Have a good coffee and get going no thought. Figure it out along the way.

Toronto, 22, BFA in drawing and painting, www.winnietruong.com

I usually tell them that I make really big drawings of hairy faces where hair becomes an unnatural extension of personality and whim of the subject. The work is about challenging those heavily coded ideas about the beautiful and the grotesque that exist in our culture. However, I find it’s much easier to just show them on my iPhone.

Right now I’m reading a lot of John Wyndham, H.G. Wells, Charles Burns, and revisiting the X-Files.

Double cheese burgers.

Most days I tend to wake up late, take shamefully long showers followed by making myself a hot breakfast. I ride my bike to my studio while running errands along the way. I’m usually in studio from early afternoon and into the night. While I enjoy the musical stylings of everything from Destroyer to the best of DMX, I prefer playing television shows on my laptop. Right now I’m in a three-way affair between Farscape, The Wire and Six Feet Under.

Art and abject frugality.

A good supply of pencil crayons, sharpeners, erasers, painter’s tape, paper towel, and my laptop.

Thinking about new things, and making new drawings for my next solo show in Toronto this September.

Copenhagen, Denmark, 31, Self taught, www.ingerscharff.dk

My work is about contrasts, both in technique and subject matter. Insistingly trying to assimilate happiness, violence and symbolism within each image. I often use both large and small brushes, toggling between faster and more concentrated painting sessions.

I love the playfulness of Asger Jorn, Martin Kippenberger, Picasso and Jeff Koons. The light of Turner and William Hammershøi. The patience of Elina Merenmies. The fleshiness of a Lucien Freud. The energy of a Throw Up or Molinex. The eclecticism of Wim Delvoye. Kristian Bust, when he points out things in a Martin Parr photograph that I did not see before. Old ornaments. Philip Guston's colors, Paul McCarthy's shapes, or Greyson Perry's textiles. Tal R's arrogance, the secrecy and conceit of graffiti - and Katharina Grosse when she paints everything with her huge spray can.

Greek Salad Burger

Novi Sad, Serbia, 47, self taught / no formal education, website: Facebook profile

I do not want to explain anything special to anyone through my abstract works. I ask the viewer to interpret everything the way they want and in their own way. As for experienced viewers, I am interested in their criticism of visual elements.

There are too many, and I do not know where to start with the listing. I am afraid I could confuse someone if I mention only a few that come to my mind right now. Lately, I admire new Chinese artists. They are great. There are, certainly, young American artists who are leading, then Europeans, and others – Asians, Korean, Indian... At my age, for me, younger artists are maybe a little better model than older ones. It is hard to explain why is that so.

The older I get, the staler food I have to eat. Tofu

I live in Milwaukee, I'm 23. I'll be 24 in 3 hours. I received a bachelor's degree in painting from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. My website is www.hueycrowley.com.

I would say that "They are dirty-Disney colored paintings from a tingling, nintendo-influenced dimension." I would mention that they speak to some 70's warped, screwball, acid-shit. Ominous things have always attracted me, and they show up in my work often.

Some artists- Allison Schulnik, Jose Lerma, Kim Dorland, Chris Johanson, Matthew Barney, Christopher Wool, Carroll Dunham, Luis Galvez, Santiago Cucullu, Terence Koh, Basquiat, George Condo…and many more....

Musically-Salem, Juiceboxxx, Liars, Aids Wolf, The Coughs, MTV Riff Raff...

London, UK, Quite a bit but none relating to the Art world, www.njcox.com

Given up on that . . I’d whip out my iPhone and show them . . . A picture paints a 1000 words, and all that.

I’m self taught. So much has influenced how/what I paint . . The Transglobe Expedition opened my eyes to solitude and vast landscapes then Yves Tanguy showed me how endless a background can be on canvas. . Vermeer and his peers got my full attention with their eye for detail and precision, Dali made me drool, Max Ernst told me to experiment, but Odd Nerdrum is the Master . . . my art GOD. But influences are everywhere.

Does a tofu have legs?

Up daily at 7am, in the studio by 9.30 and then look and see what I want to work on most. On a good day I can work till 9pm . . on a normal day I wind down around 6pm. Pretty much paint 7 days a week when working towards a show. Love painting in daylight.

I prefer to have about 6 paintings on the go (Unless working on a major large piece) I’m a mood painter and a bit of a butterfly.

Can’t paint without my music . . it creates a cocoon for me to work within and sets and nurtures my mood. Always start with something slow . . .Koop, David Sylvian, Enigma, Lee Oskar, Software, Air, Thievery Corporation etc

Lately I’ve been starting with Koop every morning and when the day grows old, get onto more motivating tunes . . . Steely Dan or Ziggy Stardust for a final push. I have about 2,000 Cds ranging from classical to punk . . so never stuck for good vibes.

Prefer direct debit . . . less to think about. ;)

Los Angeles, 31, Self-taught, www.bryanschnelle.com

Probably very poorly. I’m not much of a writer. I would much prefer to show someone my work and let it speak for itself, let them come up with their own meaning based on their own personal experience with the work. There’s a lot more power in that. But basically I’m just observing and reacting to what I see going on around me and in our society. Observing values and ideals and trying to create a realistic and honest visual document. And I love the idea of using something that is so empty and meaningless to create a work of art that is relevant and meaningful. I still use paint when I need to, but with the kind of ideas I’m exploring it seems a lot more honest and direct to use the images that we’re bombarded with daily as drawing/painting tools, the very things that are telling us what’s normal and not normal, what’s beautiful and not beautiful, what’s desirable and not desirable, what life is supposed to be. A kind of amalgamation of form and content.

In no particular order: Ingmar Bergman, Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Philip Glass, Michael C. Ruppert, John Baldessari, peak oil documentaries, Decasia: The State of Decay (A film by Bill Morrison), Chris Johanson, various types of Metal, Charlie Sheen’s recent vernacular.

Both. Simultaneously.

Philadelphia, PA. 25. BFA - MassArt, MFA - Tyler School of Art. www.erinmriley.com

I weave tapestries of the pictures you would delete if you ever uploaded that drunk night of debauchery from your camera.

I am influenced by old tapestry weavers that made huge gritty abstract tapestries, Helena Hernmarck who weaves images with incredible detail, skateboarder blogs where street art and huge consumptions of alcohol is mixed with shots of random girls' breasts, everyday life, and things that happen on a more personal or family level that can be related to it all.

Tofu burger with french fries and a diet coke.

Ideally I work from 2pm to 4am. I have music, npr, internet tv or nothing going. It depends on which part of the process I'm working on.

I pay my bills with residency stipends, selling some work and a part time job at whole foods market. Money is rough, but luckily Philly is cheap and I've got a low standard of living.

London, UK. 37. No formal education. www.caincaser.com

Hypnagogic portraits. I never set out to create a specific picture, I just keep abusing the same process until one appears.

Tudor sumptuary laws, Style Wars, The Sweeney.

Bacon rolls

I've been painting full time now for just over a year. Radio 4. I get up early and paint until it's finished. Then go over it the next day when I realise it's not. Then often ruin it on the third day.

Portland, Oregon. 32. Bachelor of Science in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, and a Minor in Graphic Design from Portland State University. www.garrettpriceart.com

Someone once described my work as cockroach art, meaning it looks like it has survived nuclear exposure. I would describe it as my photography and designs acid etched, or rusted, into the surface of steel plates. The framed steel plate hangs on the wall like a painting. My imagery is often desolate landscapes, with visual traces of human existence. The steel backgrounds, with their natural imperfections, add texture and atmosphere, as well as a direct physical and conceptual connection to the imagery.

The up and down cycles of my emotions. Industrial architecture, nature and history.

I'm more of a bean and rice burrito guy, honestly.

Into his first year at Cooper Union we wanted to see what Charles was working on and know how he was handling the big city and the school's heavy demands.

We get a lot of homework; we have a lot of classes. Most of our time goes to school. The toughest part for me has been time management which is a large part of what it seems we’re supposed to learn in this first year. People who can’t keep up get the boot. There are a lot of distractions in Manhattan, that if you can fall victim to, it only makes it harder. I heard some things before coming here that proved to be complete lies in my situation. It gets really nerve wrecking at times, but no pain, no gain.

It’s a lot different than San Francisco. If I could change one thing it would be the winter. I grew up in Buffalo, NY so I’m pretty accustomed to snow, maybe even TOO accustomed to the snow; me and old man winter have a love hate relationship. New York has been really overwhelming, but I am definitely enjoying myself.

This semester I have less foundation classes so I’ve been able to paint a lot more. From January fourth to 18th was winter break, so the school was open but NO ONE was here. It was AWESOME I just got to come to my studio everyday and make work, no assignments. I’ve been reading about black history and other radical organizations that make it their business to fight whatever injustices they face. I also have a book about Einstein and a couple of memoirs. When I can I work on my apartment. I just got some rolls of film, and I found out that my school has a color processor, so I'm going to check that out. There’s a yoga studio really close that I've been trying to take advantage of.

Las Cruces, NM (temporarily), 39, MFA in Printmaking from the University of Arizona, www.chrisdacre.com

Surveillance, the threat of nuclear attack, terrorism, ongoing wars in foreign lands; my work is a commentary on these sensitive issues. I use sarcasm, humor and cynicism to drive home my point-of-view and invite the viewer to question and explore the absurdities of war. My imagery is pulled from the eight years I spent in the Air Force, stories that are buried in the news, movies, documentaries and books on war.

Early on my influences were the Looney Tunes, especially Bugs Bunny. Artists I look to are Chris Burden, Red Grooms, Claus Oldenburg, Judy Pfaff, Alexander Caulder and Maurizio Cattelan – all for different reasons. I’ve always been fascinated by military aircraft and tanks.

Santiago, Chile. 21 years old. University, www.flickr.com/blokagain

I guess I couldn't describe it good in words, that's one of the reasons I create images. I think people have their own answer to this question.

I have many influences from friends and artist that I like. I like the way of creating comunity of Cinders Gallery. I really enjoy the work of Taylor Mcimens, works from friends like Sto and Eric Shaw... Also, the works of my hometown buddies Basco, Jose Benmayor, Martín Kaulen, Quillo, Lavina Yelb and Bimer.

Cheese Burgers!!! When it comes the veggie I prefer something like a real salad.

Literally equal time spent between Fairfield/SF/Oakland every week, 25, Working on a BA in Art History, www.ryandelahoz.com

I would say something like "Mostly it is personal reflection. I used to try to come up with ways to explain it with big words but lately I would rather hear what others think. I think a lot about loss, hope, isolation, freedom from oppression, the destruction of natural resources, myth, magic, the pursuit of happiness. Oh, I don't know" - I'm just testing the water of this crazy world and trying to do what I feel.

"Death of an Old Old Man","Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption", the ghosts that live in the upstairs rooms of my Grandmother's house, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, those people that are endlessly hopeful and positive (they usually love cats and or all animals)

Both, with basil and dijon mustard if I am lucky!

I'm 18 and I live in Melbourne, Australia. I'm currently studying Communication Design at RMIT. http://www.eugeneplotnikov.com/

My work is a dark, twisted reflection of self, each individual piece mirrors a part of me. My emotions and deep subconscious are cosmically distorted resulting in an inter-dimensional glimpse at who I am through pen and paper. My creations also narrate the words I know not to exist, to describe how I feel, my interactions with other people and often questioning perception, morality, fear and death. Recently I've been exploring themes of emotional connection, isolation and dependence. My past artwork intends to make commentaries on various issues in the world, such as government and religion. I aim to revert to these ideas in the future as right now my work is fueled by the inner-self, rather than my perception of humanity.

Painful nostalgia towards old school Console and PC games like Doom, Abes Odyssee and Full Throttle, childhood memories I can only slightly remember and seem more amazing than they really were, Basquiat, paint stained train-lines, Lady Gaga, rainy days, Yesir, Calma, Moonassi, Skinner, Alex Pardee, Panok, underground Hip-Hop and my puppy, Stella.

The 3 B's; Bread, Butter, Black caviar. Other than that I guess I'll indulge the cheese variety.

Chicago, IL - 26 - High School darkroom - flickr.com/photos/randypmartin

Travel documentation.

Friends, nature, adventure, big landscapes.

Chili soy cheese sauerkraut Tofurky beer brats.

I never leave the house without at least one camera at my side. None of my shots are staged so I try to always have a loaded camera and an extra roll of film or two on my hip for when that one scene pops out at me. I develop at whatever chain drug store is in the area, then run home to start scanning. This is the stage when music kicks in.

Literally just moved up to Portland, OR from SF. I'm 27. Graduated with an MFA from SFAI. And you can see more of my work at www.artbyadamfriedman.com

To keep in simple, I'm fascinated by geology, the natural world, and the relativity of time's duration. I try to show earthly processes that humans would consider "slow," happening really fast or instantly. The images are an optimistic view of the natural world, post human presence.

Oh man... so many. I love the Hudson River School painters... Casper David Freidrich, Thomas Cole, Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Church, etc. Contemporary painters like Paul Davies, Ricky Allman, Paul Wackers, James Chronister, and many many more. I have tons of talented friends, like Robert Minervini, Nicholas Bohac, Kevin E Taylor, Ben Venom, and Jon Casey Clary, who are killing it! I read a lot... Edward Abbey is my hero.

Stanich Burger in Portland (if you wanna get serious).

Portland, Oregon, 33, self-taught artist, www.davidstein-art.com

Detailed, slightly absurd, bizarre narratives.

I spent a lot of time at the Chicago Art Museum when I was younger. I found the works of the 17th century Dutch masters particularly interesting; I would try to dissect the paintings layer by layer in my mind. I figured that magicians must have made them. I wanted to be a magician too.

Tofu burger.

Toronto. 29. Alberta College of Art and Design -BFA in painting 2007. www.wilfordbarrington.blogspot.com

I draw people from direct observation. The conversation I have with them during the portrait sitting along with the different expressions and emotions they convey inform how the portraits look. I depict an array of attitudes that will give the viewer insight as to the true nature of the sitter thereby creating an image that holds significance beyond their name and identity alone. They are essentially about how we get to ‘know’ someone, how we connect and what we honestly see when we look at a person. People are fluid creatures that do not sit still and their faces act as a window into a constantly changing stew of thoughts and emotions. What I see in a few hours can say so much about a person’s entire life. They capture so much more than a photograph.

Right now I am super interested in the animation work of Chuck Jones and Max Fleisher.

Both. I love all food. I never turn down a meal.

Norwich UK, 22. Illustration at Norwich Art School. http://www.adambatchelor.co.uk

My work is about the influence of western culture on the rest of the world especially the developing world, I look at it as a constant work in progress, I like to look like a possible future or the shape of things to come. I like the idea of using pop icons and objects of consumerism as metaphors and I like to make stories for every image I create. I hate over complicating things when I describe my work, all that art spiel annoys me. Sometimes it's best to just show people and let them make their own mind up.

Shit that makes me angry or upset, it's important to know what's going on outside. I get influenced by so much and I change my mind all the time, one minute I'm obsessed with one thing and then 2 days later it's something completely different. But that's a good thing right. I think, because of the nature of my subject matter and the culture I live in, everything around me adds influence. Constant Growth. But I'm into Bill Murray films, Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch, Spike Lee, Stanley Kubrick and Coppola. I like films that look at themes of Madness, I've watched Apocalypse Now (Redux) about 20 times now, J.G Ballard, Arturo Herrera, Philip Guston, Claes Oldenburg, Tom Sachs, Sol LeWitt, Jean Michel Basquiat, Istvan Banyai, Rammellzee, hip-hop fucking music. I could go on forever.

I'm just finishing up reading The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick and I'm about to start reading Johnny Mad Dog by Emmanuel Dongala. Good shit.

Is this how to determine whether someone is a meat eater or vegetarian? (cheese)

Edinburgh, UK, 22, Edinburgh College of Art, BA (Hons) Drawing and Painting, graduated July of this year., www.matthewdanielswan.com

That’s a tough one; I’d say I make images, mainly through painting and drawings. My work is all character driven and I draw inspiration from a massive range of sources. For my Degree Show, I wrote this about my work... Recent works play on the frenetic visuals of heavily costumed live-action Japanese serials, pulp cartoons and the detritus of consumption as a manifestation of database culture and non-narrative. My work exists through an unapologetic embrace of the above and equally through the spontaneity of the mark making process as an embodiment of a fictitious and absurd arena.... I wrote that right after doing my dissertation (on designer toys and consumerism), It does the job but it’s quite heavy on the rhetoric.

Trenton Doyle Hancock is a massive influence. He had a show in Edinburgh a few years back (‘The Wayward Thinker’ at the Fruitmarket Gallery) and it was incredible. I’m really into the work of Todd Schorr, and Nigel Cooke too, and I’ve been watching a lot of power rangers recently, the really old stuff from the 70’s. I want to reference that in my work, it’s so good!

Cheese Burgers all the way, with bacon on top, and chocolate/raspberry milkshake on the side.

Bournemouth, UK. 29. wasted. www.soulofagiant.com

I would probably ramble on uncomfortably about how difficult it is to describe... until their eyes glaze over, and then add that it's maybe better if they take a look for themselves.

Everything around me, my dreams, people I meet, I listen to a lot of music too, which definitely influences the shapes of my thoughts and hi-5's my imagination.

In terms of other artist work... a few names that come to mind right now... Julie Mehretu, Kandinsky, Miro, Remed, Pete Fowler, Caravaggio, Will Sweeny, Patrick Heron, Zedz, Kuniyoshi, Doze Green, Delta, Michael Andrews, Kyffin Williams, Pablo Palazuelo, Thierry Martin...but there's many many more.

a) i'm living in new york and los angeles.
b) i'm 26
c) i took a photo class in high school.
d) http://thedirtiestlittlerainbow.blogspot.com

that's a loaded question. i guess it all started back when i first picked up a camera in high school. i remember my photo teacher believed i showed promise and would push me to shoot as much as possible and enter me in contests and whatnot. you know, like a "don't let school get in the way of your education" type thing which i didn't like at all cause i hated everything school. not cause i'm a fucking bad ass or anything, but cause i'm a special ed. kid so i guess every time the spot light was on me i thought it would just expose the fact that i was slower or that i was on "that team" (fyi: that team is the shit) it was one of the only classes i was in that was a normal class and i was still kind of getting put on the spot. in a super rad way, but still it made me uncomfortable. anyhow, she entered me in a studio lighting contest and i knew i didn't want to take a photo of a fucking wine glass or shit like that, so i thought how about shooting some nudes?

so by something like my tenth roll of film ever shooting i shot a naked girl with roserybead and a bible. after all that i moved up to san francisco to go to the academy of art which i dropped out of after about two weeks and i stopped taking photos all together.. i guess until about a year ago but right after i dropped out i moved in with the beautiful mr. alex pardee and his girlfriend at the time and we loved going to the magazine where we'd get old porn magazines and i started collected nude snap shots. i'm not really a porn guy, i don't know any of the big porn stars or anything. i'm down with that homemade shit. so a lot of the photos i was buying were taken with a disposable camera or polaroids where the girl didn't want to show her face and it seemed like they just told stories which intrigue me or at least i would drape little stories like ornaments on photo i really just liked looking at. like, maybe this woman always wanted to pose naked, but if anyone ever saw them her life would be over or maybe these photos were of some dudes mistress or this girl's just a hooker. so i found myself staring at these photos for more then just tits and i also loved that fact that everyone was so normal. some girls were big, some had little boobies, some had no ass, some were super skinny, some were moms and being a normal guy i'm alway curious on what women look like naked and most woman aren't porn stars so when i started taking photos again i've been taking photos of just about whoever will let me. it's super funny though, i opened the door wide open for anyone to walk through and most of the girls have been these gorgeous models and i've found lot of what people have been referring to as the more interesting women on myspace and shit. so at this point where i've shot so many nudes, i've got my system down. i never ask people to pose. i just ask them questions about their lives and after someone's been naked for an hour, talking about their job or their boyfriend(s) or the fact that they're insecure about their body and posing nude empowers them-i think magic happens. so when i'm saying i want to create a "porn type" book, i really do want it to be a porn type book, but my type of porn. everyday people and i also think i found some couples who feel comfortable with me shooting them having sex, but still for whatever reason if you're shooting photos that are deficient in taste, but with an old rolleiflex with black and white film it magically suggests "art work". so i've been searching for the perfect blend of making my mom proud and disgusted, but being 1000% kevin hayes.

a bloody steak from peter lugers and a few 40's.

Paris, France. 27. Duperré School Of Arts, Paris. - flickr.com/photos/julienlangendorff

Words are tricky, I'm never sure about how to describe my work. I actually kinda suck at that.. Well, I think there are both psychedelic and gothic vibes to it. It is colourful and filled up with dark figures. People often find it mystical, poetic and mysterious. There is obviously a certain feeling that refers to magic, tales, some kind of twisted romanticism maybe.. Recently I've been trying to work on less narrative compositions, focusing a little more on pure shapes and patterns.

All done with paper cutouts. It's easy to look at and think illustrator or something, but no, these are all hand done and done very well. -Fecal Face.

Black Sabbath, French director Philippe Garrel, Pre-Raphaelites, Edgar Allan Poe, Edvard Munch, haunted houses, Kenneth Anger, weird psychedelic shit, Gerhard Richter, Maya Deren, Symbolists, Only Theater Of Pain by Christian Death, Jean Rollin movies, Alice Cooper, 60's hippie art and music posters, Ash Ra Tempel, Sol LeWitt.

I grew up about an hour south of LA and moved up here in 2004 to go to UCLA. Half way through college I started working for Shepard Fairey and am currently gallery manager at Subliminal Projects and do some t-shirt graphics for OBEY Clothing on the side. I live in a crazy house of five girls, which always makes for a good time.

It's exciting to me. In an over-stimulated world this is the stuff the holds my attention and surprises me. I'm not sure if it is because I grew up in Southern California and I'm not used to dramatic weather but there is something very shocking but at the same time very beautiful about events like a thunderstorm. My mom and I where in Santa Fe one time when a huge thunderstorm broke out, we were absolutely captivated and watched it for hours like it was TV. As long as it has that ability, I'll be drawn to it. I am also interested in subject matter that is not tied to a specific time period and that can be relevant outside of the context of my personal experience. These naturally occurring events are much bigger than you and I and are something we have no control over. I think that is a nice reminder of our time and place here and understanding why things happen the way they do in the natural world can answer a lot of life's big questions. When I'm deciding what to draw for the larger pieces it is usually based on a current fascination that I've spent a lot of time researching. I pull a lot of photos and create folders for each subject and then it becomes a matter of piecing different elements together to create the image.

Seattle, 25, BA, I have one of these: flickr.com/photos/emmertwilliam/

When I was a kid I was really into wrestling. I would rent all the old pay per view tapes form Blockbuster and keep track of all the matches in a notebook. I so badly wanted to be Jake the Snake or the Million Dollar Man. I guess now I use wrestling imagery to speak about and engage my childhood perceptions of being a man. I also just think wrestling is great subject matter and the kind of stuff that my 8 year old self would really dig.

Brooklyn NY, 29, BFA at Emily Carr University, www.jodyrogac.com

How would you describe your work to someone?

Photographs that are made out of love.

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Location? Age? Education? Website?

Vancouver, 23, B.A. in Art, http://www.russellleng.com

How would you describe your work to someone?

Systems of geometric shapes falling into place.