My work is inspired by and questions American society’s live-to-work mentality. I am concerned with the cultural and environmental impact of this obsession, as well as the physical and mental health ramifications.

 The Black people in Alexandria Couch’s work are strictly familiar—composed of multiple references, broken down and pieced together to reconstruct being. The use of found mediums, like recycled thread, fabric, and paper scraps, fuse imagery and materiality to create objects that exist on both physical and temporal planes. The friction that arises from abstraction mimics the reformation of marginal identities adapting to dislocation.

 My paintings imply a human presence through the depiction of accumulated collections. The items in each collection—including the contents of desk drawers, stacks of books, packed boxes, and objects on display—are united by systems of value shaped by mystery, sentimentality, and the matriarchal connection.

 My paintings depict psychologically infused narratives where the familiar is imbued with a sense of sublime mystery. Figures inhabit a world suspended between dreams and reality, transfixed by surreal aberrations, ethereal elements, and transported states of mind. Visual components are allusive reflections drawn in part from my past of growing up in an insular religious group, living in a milieu of end times prophecies, unsettling otherwise quiet perceptions of banal Midwestern normalcy.

 My paintings often feature strong female images, blending fantastical elements of seduction and eroticism with the apparent innocence of fairy tales and kitsch (think Disneyland meets Bollywood). Within these fabricated worlds, fairy tale–like paintings unfold but are unresolved and are not as wholesome as one might believe. My work does not imitate proper behavior, nor does it function like a monogamous relationship.

 My work explores the uncertainty of life through a Black lens. I highlight how absurd the world can feel for Black Americans by taking what can feel familiar and safe, and distorting it. The familiarity stems from my use of imagery from popular culture, such as cartoons, films, famous artworks, and myths and folklore. For many people, these media have offered representation, escapism, or a way to understand the world and bond with others.

 My work explores the symmetry between beauty and awkwardness, happiness and despair, the natural and the synthetic. Transformation and anthropomorphism interest me, as does our ability to turn any combination of shapes into a visual language.

 After moving his art practice into a warehouse studio in 2019, the inspiration and substrate of architecture and location for Rubén Aguirre’s public works shifted towards the natural land as inspiration for studio works. By building on the visual language of his murals, his current studio work has generated a new dialect, where reduced shapes and colors speak of terrestrial forms. Rendered as abstract topographies, his wood panel paintings invoke poetic contemplations on origin, self-awareness, one’s connection to the Earth, and our impermanence.

 I embrace distinctly “soft” aesthetics and subject matter, which have historically been dismissed as feminine and frivolous. Moments of intimacy and vulnerability are where my particular interests lie, as it is in these moments that we reveal ourselves. I illustrate these moments through embroidered images of skin, embraces between loved ones, portraits, and the like. My art often involves embellishments, lace, and lots of pink. In this way, my work is intentionally “girly,” to reclaim femininity as a source of strength and pride rather than a weakness.

 S.H.Kim is working on a “picture diary” project. These works recount his memories of everyday encounters such as with scenery, movies, or books. With ordinary scenes and popular images as his source, the artist constructs a subjective archive. Kim’s works show simplicity, sincerity, and authenticity. The materials he uses—oil pastels and oil sticks—give viewers intimate feelings when they see his paintings. With his paintings, Kim shows how contemporary film and literature with distinct characteristics are reduced down to uniform colors when processed through a consumer.