I talian artist and former fashion photographer Tania Metalli has been painting what she calls her “creatures” for over twenty years. At university in Rome, Metalli studied a variety of loosely related artistic subjects: photography, fashion, and medieval iconography and symbology. The amalgam of these influences directed her work down a very idiosyncratic path; her paintings are not quite portraits and not quite fashion sketches, but an intriguing marriage of the two. Her subjects are costumed, with mask-like faces and elaborate headdresses. Elegant yet brutal, their flowing gowns are filled with primal colors and boxy, angular shapes. It is here we see the influence of art deco design, and in particular, interior roman architecture.

G ayl Sharabi’s diverse work, depicts signs of hope and regeneration, and although it can have overtones of sadness and suffering it transcends such references to pain. Her often figural art draws from scientific as well as philosophical and technological ideas and images, and is evidence of a bold and perceptive mind open to multiple sources of knowledge. Her paintings speak of movement and music, open wounds and the process of birth. Her canvases can resemble those of Susan Rothenberg in their use of delicate yet bold, gestural brushstrokes, however Sharabi does not limit herself to oil on canvas, instead working with sculpture, photography, and digital imaging, and utilizing media as diverse as string and glass, and even plastic and flowers.