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Commissioned artist profiles
MIKE GRAY
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As an emerging film photographer with a spark for ingenuity, Mike enthralls the viewer with his cinematic stills, close up portraiture, and staged scenes. Although Gray recently began to focus more intently on photography, he embarked on an exploration into the creative/artistic realm a decade prior.
He is best known for elevating people of color by drawing on historic events of the past to inspire his concepts. In this vein, he molds his own narrative in each photo he takes, warping the past to weave a better future. His recreations of historical moments elevate ordinary people to compelling figures of power.
Gray’s images, layered with shock value and meaning, enable him to comment on the political and social systems of our current and past generations. With so much achieved from the first year and a half of his photography career, Mike will continue to push the narrative for the culture, and make it a priority that his voice is heard.
PIPER OLIVAS
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Piper Huntington Olivas is an up-and-coming mixed media artist whose work transcends the traditional boundaries of creativity. Born in the vibrant landscapes of New Mexico, hailing from the bustling creativity of New York City, and now residing in Los Angeles, the artist was raised in varying cultural hubs with a family that encouraged her inventive vision. Piper found her artistic calling early in life; Olivas discovered her passion when her mother gifted her a 35 mm Olympus camera, igniting her love affair with the lens.
Her preferred mediums include 35 mm and medium format cameras, but she also delves into the world of Super 8, extracting unique film shots from this vintage format. Piper's pieces are grand in scale, often reaching dimensions of 56 to 60 inches, demanding the viewer's attention and immersing them in the depths of her artistic expression.
Piper's journey into the realm of photography began in her junior and senior years of high school. In those formative years, she started experimenting with film, capturing the essence of the world around her. Her exposure expanded when she was recognized by National Geographic, propelling her into the world of professional photography. She further honed her skills at Santa Fe University. In Santa Fe, Piper was introduced to Bobby Beals, a renowned creative force in the industry who introduced her to the gallery world. This introduction led her to Beals and Company and Santa Fe Exports, where she served as an assistant creative director.
Continuing her education at California College of the Arts, Piper began experimenting with alternative texture in her work. The exploration she found in Oakland led her to dabble with varying presentations such as weaving, ceramics, and screenprinting. The intermingling of these mediums developed Piper's unique practice.
Her artistic exploration delves into the intricate and frequently unpredictable connection between nature and human identity. Through semi abstract creations, Piper captures the recurring themes of aging and growth, emphasizing the female form in her expressive pieces. Olivas ventures beyond the frame, transforming photography into a sculptural and textural experience. This is particularly seen in her Series, Pilot Snake, 2021, which was Exhibited at Art in General, and the Oliver Center.
Additionally, her work embodies femininity juxtaposed with raw energy, challenging the viewers to contemplate the complexities of existence. One of her most impactful projects, The Body is the Heaviest Burden, 2020, delves into the complexities of adolescence and self-acceptance. In this series, Olivas photographs herself, disguising her own body to become unrecognizable with gloves covering her tattoos, and tightly framed images of her own fleshy individuality. This deeply personal series confronts the viewers, challenging them to reject conformity, push boundaries, and stay true to their unique identity.
Piper’s creative process is deeply intentional, often sparked by a line of poetry that leaps off the page, compelling her to create a physical embodiment of its essence. She draws inspiration from literary giants like Walt Whitman and Mary Oliver, as well as visual artists such as Robert Maplethorpe, Rinko Kawauchi, and Francesca Woodman. Her art has evolved alongside her, mirroring the challenges and triumphs of adolescence and the human body's growth and development. Her work often explores themes of breaking free from containment, confronting societal norms, and embracing individuality.
Throughout her artistic journey, Piper battles the notion that her art might not always be relevant in a world of fast paced, consumable digital media. Yet, this very challenge fuels her determination to continue pushing artistic boundaries, encouraging others in the industry to embrace mixed media and step out of their comfort zones.
Through her art, Piper Olivas hopes to influence others to reject conformity, to question societal norms, and to embrace the beauty of individuality. In a world redefining itself, Piper stands as a beacon of creativity, inspiring others to find their voice and express it unapologetically.
KWONNY
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Kwonny is a Korean American artist, born in New York, but raised in over 20 cities. The artist now resides in Portland, Oregon, and defines her art on the multitude of experiences gained from a lifetime of new people, places, animals, and an absorption of culture in between.
Kwonny’s journey of discovering her artistic oeuvre began only recently, when the artist’s partner suggested she take an art class in 2021. In a jolt of creative clarity, Kwonny discarded the traditional path laid out by her bachelors in Political Science and embraced the life of a devoted artist. Her process is simple, the artist paints all day, either creating in complete silence or drawing from loud, energetic music to inspire her.
Beginning digitally, drawing rough, bold, and unorthodox works on her ipad, the artist graduated to tangible works, now painting on large scale, raw canvas with watered down acrylics in drip fashion.
In a matter of 2 years, Kwonny has gained a large following on social media, and accumulated a distinct style in her work. Desiring to stay true to the authentic experience of being an artist, Kwonny keeps her image and identity off of her artwork and online presence. Keeping her identity separate from her art maintains the purity of the work, and attracts an audience that sees her work for what it is.
Kwonny’s most recent project is her collaboration in the newest Zadig & Voltaire Fall 2023 line, where her unique designs will be featured on various avant garde pieces in the collection.
Depicting her artwork as “brute, naive, and raw” Kwonny’s eye catching paintings depict ferocious, bold imagery of nature and animals. These works are particularly striking given their use of monochromatic red base with white details and black borders. Kwonny explains that these colors are influenced by her love of punk music album covers. Oftentimes, the artist will add a string of words on top of her painting, such as “I ATE YOUR MANIFESTO”, “CHASING YOUR DEMONS” or “A LITTLE OBSCENE.”
Kwonny is hungry to have her voice heard. As an Asian American woman growing up in the United States and interacting with the world, her art is a vessel for the vocal expression she has not always verbalized. The artist claims, “there is a level of lets fight back,” which is where her undaunted phrases, imposing animal imagery, and sharp, jagged lineage comes from.
Truthful, genuine, and striking, Kwonny continues to absorb the world around her, expelling honest expression. Keep an eye out, Kwonny is definitely an artist to watch out for.
DANIELLE FOSTER
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Meeting at the intersection of horror and psychology, Danielle Foster creates beautifully haunted, wickedly intricate works of art that stem from themes embedded in her deep psyche.
Danielle Foster, born and raised in Southern California, has developed a unique style in her solely oil paintings, one that breaks free of modern conventions. The artist’s Victorian, gothic oeuvre “investigates memory, and exposes how unsettling the mind has the potential to be. It is an exploration of personhood, how we form our sense of self.”
Foster has a distinct understanding of why she creates. Much of her art is a physical vehicle that allows her to come to terms with the person she is now, while paying tribute to the experiences of her past. The artist’s upbringing is a fundamental inspiration in creating; painting helps her better understand herself.
Foster describes her process as “digging through personal archivals.” In doing so, the artist may leaf through old journals, write, and eventually take paint brush to canvas when inspiration strikes. Foster’s childhood in a faith-based Catholic home prompted her to weave motifs of Catholicism into her artwork. These recognizable symbols include bunnies, fruit, mirrors, and hands and are a way to reclaim her Catholic faith, yet link them to more than sainthood and holiness, but rather femininity and sexuality.
Foster’s choice to solely depict herself in her paintings, when drawing figures, purposefully places herself in the artwork’s narrative. This placement provides an intimacy that allows the viewer to have their own relationship with not just the painting, but also the artist.
Foster is currently working on a new series, which contemplates themes of home, in which she envisions the workings of her own mind as a home. She also plays with the idea of a circus, where deception and trickery take on figurative forms on her canvas.
To Foster, it is of utmost importance to slow the viewer down when contemplating art. In a fast paced world, content is replaceable, but Foster believes art shouldn’t be. Foster’s complex and weighted works pull one in, prompting her viewer to embrace the vulnerable, raw and personal questions we all consider.
NOEMI SAFIR
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Naomi Safir paints the world as she sees it- through a kaleidoscope of color, one that is saturated and fractured to divine imperfection. Safir has blossomed into a pivotal name in the art world, using her canvas to illustrate images that gyrate with vivacity. Safir’s tonal work exudes emotion; each brushstroke thickens the depth of her work. Utilizing acrylic on canvas, she focuses on the female form, weaving stills that embody experiences that have informed her identity as a woman.
As an artist who found her distinct approach later in life, Safir endured years of unconscious suppression that muffled her spark. However, like a rock under pressure, Safir’s innate vision eventually burst through, fostering a lust to make her vivid dreams an actuality. And so she did! Safir’s iconicism is in the individuality of her evolution as an artist.
Originally from Uruguay, now residing in Israel, Safir has generated an impressive volume of work that has seen the likes of galleries all over the world, such as New York, Miami, San Francisco, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Germany, Paris, Holland, Australia, Monaco and Israel. Continuing her tour around the globe, Heit Gallery (based in Los Angeles) and Curate International (based in London and Singapore) initially connected with Safir in the beginning of 2021. From the onset, it was clear that Safir’s work was indispensable to Heit Gallery and Curate International.
On June 2nd, Heit Gallery x Curate International is thrilled to release her collection, “Spring Series”, an ode to renewal, rebirth, and gratitude. In a virtual launch, this series will drop on both Artsy, Curate International and Heit Gallery’s website.
Safir started this incredible series in 2018, culminating her work in 2020. What came out of those two years is unlike anything Safir has done before. Referring to the figures in her works as “guardian angels”, Safir’s inspired pieces reflect various representations of her own growth and flourishment in the form of ethereal women. Each work is lush with rich hues, soulful depictions, and a story that lies within. To purchase a piece from “Spring Series” is to gain more than a visual feat, it is a unique rendering of life in its ephemeral state.
