In Gary McMillan’s “Galapagos” series, the painter guides us into alien ecosystems, inviting viewers along as explorers to make any observations they can from the creatures and activity there. The work is rooted in the artist’s interest in both science and art. And McMillan says he is “interested in how one makes sense of new things through remembered experience of the familiar.”
“In this series of paintings, I am acting as a gentleman explorer, looking for new places to observe in order to think about things in a different way,” the artist says. “I like to think of the viewer as an explorer also, perhaps on a group expedition into these places of mine, where there are natural forms and situations that are unfamiliar. The color of everything around is strange but beautiful and the way all of these natural forms fit into a local ecology is a mystery, even to the scientists in the group.”
See more works from this series below.
Despite the meticulous control and calculated perspectives, Canadian artist 
Extracted from Baroque and Rococo paintings of the masters, figures painted by 
Blending painting and drawing, 
Sebastián Gutiérrez crafts two-layered portraits that reveal something less elegant beneath the surface. This particular series from the Puerto Rican artist, titled “Inner Beauty,” is a study in contrast. A statement says that “though his main medium is oil paint, its usually presented on everyday items such as doors, rugs, windows or toys; he wants to give the spectator an instant sense of familiarity.”