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Kris Graves (b. 1982 New York, NY) is a photographer and publisher based in New York and London. He received his BFA in Visual Arts from S.U.N.Y. Purchase College and has been published and exhibited globally. This piece above is one of his works called “A Bleak Reality”, where he went around to areas like Staten Island, Ferguson, and Baton Rouge to photography areas where black lives were shot and killed by police. He did this to search for insight and understanding to why these events happen, as well as spreading more awareness. 

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Amber Hawk Swanson (b. 1980) is a New York-based artist born in Davenport, Iowa. Her work deals with how the psychological debt of love animates us in a social-emotional economy. This piece is of herself and a doll she created that “perfects” the woman’s body. Her art really attacks the ideas of feminism and sexuality. The doll she created is made out of silicon and it’s face is Amber’s exact face. Her art is also very interesting and really sparks many emotions in people. 

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Ali Miller is a narrative painter whose recent work explores such themes as the fear of the unknown and the phenomenon of perfection. This amazing piece is called "The Falls" and rightly so. This piece really caught my eye with how she used really interesting elements and had the piece really pop with the colors she used. The painting really looks as if though it's falling into the fall, due to the slant in the back of it and it's physically slipping into the paint of the wall.  I also love how many of the colors on the canvas are neutral earth tones but then she suddenly adds a bright and bold purple hue and it really makes the piece pop. The sense of perspective is also really beautiful in this piece with her darker shades of blue in the back. 

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This piece can be found in the upper northern woods near the museum hill section of the land.It's a bit separate from the walk path and behind some greenery. It appears to be a large white ear and attached to it is possibly the ear canal. Its all pure white and it stands on the ear lob and tip of the ear canal. There was no sign that I could find so this was the most information I could provide. 

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This piece is by Kelsey Elder, a designer and artist whose studio practice investigates the overlaps of car culture, signage, and strip mall landscapes. The picture provided is a collaboration piece he did with 2 other artists named Kelsey Dunseka, and Johannah Herr. Titled “Casualties and Casual Tees” this piece stuck out the most to me.To start, it is 5 x 16′’ and is made of about 17,000 sequins, 17,000 pins, foam, latex paint, wire, and last but not least nails. The words on the front aren’t very clear unless you really focus. The words have some dark humor to them, playing with the similar sounds of the two words. To me, what is trying to be told here is how causalities are treated like a common occurrence.  

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Mark Gottesman is a photographic artist, teacher, and activist. For years, he has been working in and around the Middle East and Africa collaborating with communities to produce photographs and videos that often challenge preexisting images and perceptions of a culture and/or place as well as the concept of singular artistic authorship.In this series, “Africa is a Country”, this piece stood out the most to me. In the photo, we see someone’s eyes and mouth being covered by someone outside of the plan of view. This is a powerful statement, and really resonates with what Gottesman wanted to convey. He wanted to change the worlds opinion of Ethiopia, the country that we seen as “starving” and in shambles. The country is being given a label based on photographs some people took of a selected area. They had no say in the matter and can’t change it. Which is why, this shot is perfect for Gottesman’s message and really appealed to me.

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This work is by a artist named  Rob Swainston, which he made in 2015 titled “Who owns the Sky?” It is located in Randall’s Island Parks, Bronx Museum, NYC Park. 

Rob’s work varies in sizes and mediums, but it all revolves around print. He reminds us we are not just consumers of icons, but producers and observers of images. In a world where social knowledge and power have become pure image, the print technologies historically central to this transformation can act as double-agent.  Artists working in print media can be chameleons moving between image makers and image reproducers. Rob’s works have the viewers come to think deeply to themselves and realize, as Rob says,  “I see myself seeing myself.”His work is an inspiration for most people who get to see his work.