All in Painting
Barbara Palka Winek occupies a singular place in contemporary art because she resists reduction. She is neither purely abstract nor purely figurative, neither wholly formalist nor narrative. Instead, she inhabits the in-between, the interstitial space where body dissolves into color, where cosmos enters form, where paint becomes both material and metaphysical.
To stand before the canvases of Amartya (Joëlle Zioga) is to encounter a field where material facture dissolves into an atmosphere of apparition. In her “Blue Collection,” a body of work she confesses is closest to her heart, color is not merely pigment but ontology: a register of being that presses beyond the retinal into the metaphysical. Blue and green, her chosen chromatic poles, are not incidental hues but coordinates of psychic orientation, elemental substances through which memory, dream, and infinity are refracted.
Maria Aparici’s oeuvre invites us not merely to look but to undergo an experience, a confrontation with the layers of truth that painting, when honest, can still uncover. Her canvases remind us that painting remains one of the few languages capable of resisting the anesthetizing effects of modern life. In a cultural moment obsessed with surface, Aparici’s work insists on depth; in a world that celebrates speed, she slows vision down to the viscosity of oil paint. Each brushstroke seems to demand accountability not only from the viewer but from the history that shaped our eyes.
Erna Klaus paints as one who listens to silence, to color, to the slow unfolding of form. In doing so, she reaffirms painting’s most essential truth: that the canvas is not a mirror of the world, but a field where the world is rediscovered anew.
My work explores the transpersonal: states of consciousness that move beyond the boundaries of the individual and into the shared spaces of spirituality, memory, and the natural world. I see art as both a healing practice and a symbolic language — one that allows us to translate emotions, intuitions, and experiences that cannot be captured by words alone.
Karen Bjerg Petersen is a Danish artist whose practice spans painting, bronze, ceramic, and concrete sculpture. With a long artistic career and formal education in the arts, she combines deep material exploration with a reflective approach shaped by her background as a researcher in pedagogy at Aarhus University, Denmark.
Through vibrant tones, layered surfaces, and the fluid dialogue between water and pigment I explore the reality of matter and “what lies beyond its veil”. Reality, to me, is a stratified space. I’m drawn to the most subtle, distant layers — the ones that whisper rather than shout — My work is an attempt to open doors within consciousness, to find entry points into these hidden dimensions.
Knudson, a self-taught painter, conceptual and digital artist, melds gothic and pop art aesthetics with techniques of collage and oil painting, often delving into surrealism. His unpredictable work uncovers novel expressions, reflecting an inherent diversity. Knudson's art symbolizes the eternal dance of beauty and ugliness, evoking a sense of discovery and transformation.
Orna L.Brock, a visual artist & a fine art photographer was born in Jerusalem, Israel. Her long lasting career includes exhibitions in Israel and across the globe, showcasing her work in both group and solo shows. Notably, her solo exhibitions have been featured at prestigious venues such as The Bar-David Museum of Jewish Art in Kibbutz Braam, Israel, and the “Uri and Rami Nehushtan Museum” in Kibbutz Ashdot Yaakov Meuochad, Israel.
Brigitte Thonhauser-Merk’s work radiates poetic elegance, shimmering with peace, joy, and a celebration of life. Rooted in the rich tradition of Viennese Art Nouveau and shaped by her early studies of modern art in Paris, her compositions fuse vibrant color, harmony, and striking contrasts. Critics have described her art as “elegant and poetic”—a visual dialogue reflecting the divine essence of humanity.
Iyad Almosawi Iraqi-Canadian Contemporary Artist For over four decades, Iyad Almosawi has been one of the defining voices of contemporary Arab art. Born in Baghdad and based between Canada and the Middle East, his work fuses the visual memory of Mesopotamia with a modern global sensibility.
Born in Kunming, Yunnan, and trained in the classical material intelligence of ink, water, rice paper, and mineral pigments, she has taken the language of Chinese brush painting and submitted it to a radical re-reading through Dzogchen Buddhism and Yogācāra philosophy. The result of her ongoing project, named The Color of Surupa, is less a style than an epistemology. It proposes that abstract painting need not stop at the revolution of form; it can move, as Pu insists, toward an awakening of consciousness.
The art of Daniel McKinley unfolds within a paradox. It is at once confined and boundless, meticulously constructed yet open to infinite interpretation. In his oil paintings, walls and windows, stairs and corridors, cities and interiors coexist in an ambiguous geometry of mind and space. To enter McKinley’s world is to move through layers of perception, to navigate not only physical structures but the architecture of consciousness itself. His paintings, rigorous in composition and rich in atmosphere, engage the viewer in a dialogue between presence and absence, the seen and the imagined, the finite and the eternal.
Beate Blume is an internationally recognized contemporary painter who explores themes of harmony, beauty and emotional transformation in her art. She has received numerous international art prizes and awards that underline the quality of her self-taught art. Blume‘s paintings are a powerful testament to the transformative power of artworks inspired by an interest in personal growth and finding inner meaning.
I've an impassioned sense of the symbolic and metaphysical, and imbue my work with esoteric images. I may deploy different styles and techniques to suit the many translations one makes of life. My preferred medium is with oil glazes, and I try to integrate (at the risk of sounding pompous) the multiple holons of our metacognitive realizations. My paintings are intended to elicit curious questions, rather than to provide explicit answers.
I enjoy abstract artwork that allows me to express myself though spontaneity, yet with some structure and poise. My creative process stems from what inspires me. I love adding texture, mediums, in an array of vivid colors together that add depth to each piece, with a bit of open interpretation. Pulling from a variety of influences like, Mediterranean/Middle Eastern expressions, some envisioned as abstract city scapes, or vocal waveforms.
"As a self-taught artist, I have always drawn intermittently since my childhood. It took me a long time and deep introspection to be able to express my emotions on paper and canvas. At 40 years old, just like we learn to draw letters in school to make words, I wanted to acquire the basic skills I lacked.
My path has been quite unexpected. I studied literature and built a career in event planning, later working independently with decorative objects. Surrounded by beauty and curated spaces, I felt a growing pull toward artistic expression. Last year, I finally decided to follow that calling fully, and it opened an entirely new chapter in my life.
Caroline Degroiselle was born in Paris, and at a young age, she moved to Nouméa in New Caledonia, on the opposite side of France. Immersed in the warmth and vibrant colors of her island and lagoon, Caroline draws her creative strength, her joie de vivre, the brightness of her palette, her emotional intensity, and her expansive gestures. Self-taught, this artist embodies the charm of freedom that transforms reality.
Aleksandra Ciążyńska is an artist who knew from a young age that art would be more than just a hobby for her. She was born in 1987 in Poland. Although she is an economist by profession, she found her true path in painting, which she sees as a way to communicate without words. She honed her skills under the tutelage of Professor Paweł Lewandowski-Palle, achieving success in national and international competitions.
