Stephanie Burke was born in Nevada City, CA in 1984. She received her BA in Studio Art and Anthropology from Humboldt State University in 2007, and her MFA in Photography from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2009. Currently she makes work, teaches photography at Wilbur Wright College and Hyde Park Art Center, writes for Bad at Sports and works as Managing Editor for Art Talk Chicago and Chicago Art Magazine. When not making, teaching, looking at, or writing about art, she enjoys running around in the woods, drinking beer by bonfires, and target shooting.

Found: badatsports.com

Prolific Japanese artist Takashi Murakami recently launched his latest exhibition, Arhat at Los Angeles’ Blum & Poe – coinciding with the world premier of his first live-action feature film, Jellyfish Eyes. Melding together a myriad of styles, the exhibition brings together the common juxtaposition seen in his work — East meets West, historical with the contemporary — while also dabbling with various methodologies and abstract narratives. Murakami’s long-standing interest with Japanese nihonga painting and animation is evident, often infused with a stark sense of peculiarity, sometimes completely at odds with the original art form. Hence Arhat – which in Sanskrit translates to “a being who has achieved a state of enlightenment” — on the one hand conjures recognizable imagery, yet it also allows passage foreign lands where obsolete Buddhist monks confront decay and death with demonic monsters. Murakami’s versatility is on show too; with bright installations from his “Flowers & Skulls” collection offering an optimistic counterpoint in another room. Elsewhere, mounted sculptures and a series of painted self-portraits populate the show room, showing the artist’s diverse mastery of content and culture. Arhat will run from April 13 to May 25, make sure you drop by if you’re in town.

Found: hypebeast.com

The Alternative Limb Project is the work of Sophie de Oliveira Barata, who, taking her honors degree from the London Arts University studying special-effects prosthetics, went to work as a sculptor for a prosthetics company. In her eight years there, she created realistic limbs and digits for amputees who wanted their new limbs to blend into their bodies.

Found: www.news.cnet.com

Michelle Jader - Contemporary figurative artist based in San Francisco

Found: www.artspan.org

Jamie McCartney is a professional sculptor, now working from his new studio on Brighton seafront. Although English, he trained at the renowned Hartford Art School, the oldest art college in America, from where he graduated (Bachelor of Fine Art with highest honours) in 1991.

Found: www.secretthirteen.org