Santa Cruz, USA

Caia Koopman is a preeminent pop surrealism artist who has been featured in prominent galleries from California to Canada and France. Over the years, her paintings have graced the walls of Thinkspace, Spacejunk, and La Luz De Jesus Galleries as well as the pages of numerous books and magazines. The appealing symbols in her work evoke fundamental human emotions in exquisite, surreal detail making them well received in the action sports industry as well as the fine art world. Signature series Oakley sunglasses and goggles are adorned with her designs while her illustrations gild designer Rossignol snowboards, skis and more.

While attaining her BA in Fine Arts from the University of California in Santa Cruz, Caia was a skateboard enthusiast immersed in the punk rock scene of the ‘80s. She continues to live in Santa Cruz where the youthful vitality of a college town is an ever-present, pulsating force. Her professional career began by creating designs for skateboards and snowboards. Enchantingly beautiful female characters in her paintings are imbued with this fearless sense of defiance. As a second-generation conservationist, loving the environment and acutely aware that humanity is dangling our planet over a dangerous flame of pollution, nature is often woven into the haunting fabric of her images. Birds, flowers, plants, butterflies, animals and mythical creatures are interlaced with iconic symbols of love, mystery, soul searching and timeless values. Lurking throughout these visual fantasies are “Día de los Muertos” skulls, cute yet macabre reminders of the interlocking yin and yang of life and death.

Koopman’s popularity stems from the dazzling, intricate dreamscapes that depict deeply-rooted subconscious themes flavored with contemporary culture. Feminine energy infused with power and daring is blended with delicate elegance. An edgy juxtaposition of seemingly contrary ideas and emotions is persistent, and reflects the uneasy balance we maintain with our 21st century lifestyles. Technology coexisting with nature. Vulnerability accompanied by strength. Streetwise sensibility embodied in dainty, tattooed nymphs. Whimsy in spite of pathos. Vibrant life hand in hand with death. These fundamental aspects of the human condition, surrounded by the elements of modern life, all flowing through gorgeous imagery, are the essence of Koopman’s masterpieces.

David was born in Aspen, Colorado where he lived until he graduated from high school. Living in Aspen helped David develop a passion for art and the surrounding environment, and spurred his love for the outdoors. After high school David moved to Boulder, Colorado where he received his Bachelors Degree in Studio Art. His pursuance of art and design has led him from Colorado to San Francisco to Portland, Oregon where he now resides. In 2013 he met up with artist Blaine Fontana and began a rigorous internship for the next year. This experience gave him a huge insight into the professional art world and fostered his blossoming career into what it is today.

The goal of David’s work is to create environments that exist beyond the parameters of our physical world. His style blurs the boundaries between what should and shouldn’t exist together by bringing subjects into surroundings that they wouldn’t normally interact with. These scenes are often combined with graphic color and patterns in an effort to provide a harmony and balance to the opposing forces. His aim is to create new relationships between the subjects and the viewer.

David has done projects for many large companies such as Patagonia, WeWork, Wacom, and Radisson Hotels. He has also been featured in Contemporary Art print and online publications such as Hi-Fructose, Juxtapoz, American Art Collector and more.

Zoë Boston is an artist in almost every sense of the word. She was born in Los Angeles, raised in New York, and now lives in the Bay Area. Her inspirations come from God, life, love, music, and everything in between. Although she has been drawing all her life, she did not begin painting until she moved back to the West Coast in 2014.

Hannah Eddy is an artist based in Reno, NV best known for her colorful, bold, and imaginative psychedelic-pop aesthetic.

Her art encourages positivity and balance in life, and an appreciation for nature, connection, and community. She is influenced by the expressive graphic style and free-thinking approach of the skateboard/snowboard/surf culture that she grew up immersed in.

Through her paintings, illustrations, and murals she aims to help inspire her fellow humans to pick up a board, hop on a bike, feel the wind, laugh at stuff, appreciate the funkiness in nature, or to just give a hoot about each other and our planet.

Hannah combines her love of illustration, design, painting, and murals with a diverse list of clients and collaborators.

The Made Fresh Crew (MFC) is a collective of artisans from Santa Cruz, California who collaborate on projects together. MFC designs draw inspiration from street art, graffiti, calligraphy and the fine arts.MFC can be found vending at festivals all summer long. Recent festivals include How Weird Street Faire, Symbiosis, Northern Nights, Reggae on the River and Cali Roots.Recent festival mural productions include Enchanted Forest, Northern Nights and Envision. MFC’s most recent endeavor is laser cut wood pieces with their top-of-the-line laser machine. The creativity of their collective of artisans is expressed through their handprinted tee shirts, hoodies, and hats.

Alexandra Underwood is an illustrator, designer, and muralist. Born and raised in Maui, Hawai'i, she is influenced heavily by the saturation and beauty of the world around her.

Alexandra received her BFA in Illustration with high distinction at the California College of the Arts. After working as in house graphic artist and CMF developer, she is now making the dive into freelance illustration and public art. She is currently living in Emeryville, California.

Joey is a freelance muralist, illustrator, and painter from California. He grew up in Shingle Springs: a tiny town surrounded by golden fields and musty cows. He now resides in the Bay Area, where he received his BFA in Illustration at California College of the Arts with distinction. His whimsical magic-realist paintings are inspired most by nature. Joey has a strong emphasis on traditional media and loves painting large-scale. Joey's Mural works can be found in the Bay Area, CA, and Maui, Hawaii.

"The Austrian urban art and graffiti illustrator Nychos has been part of the international art scene for more than 15 years now. He is well known for his huge and technically outstanding art pieces in the urban environment as well as being part of gallery exhibitions.

Raised in a traditional Austrian hunting family, death and dissection were daily business for Nychos. The proximity to animal viscera had a profound effect on him visually. He explores the theme in different styles like dissection, cross-section, and translucency - pushing it to playful extremes.

Recent murals in San Francisco, Miami, and New York make him one of the most sought-after artists. Nychos’ paintings and drawings have been exhibited in galleries worldwide, including several solo exhibitions (e.g. Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York, Julian Kolly Gallery in Zurich, Open Space in Paris, …). The works on canvas serve as unique compliments to his massive public works that give character to cities all over the world.

2016 a cooperation with the Vienna Tourism board, brought him and his 10-foot-tall sculpture of Sigmund Freud to New York’s Flatiron Plaza, showcasing his focus and reinterpretation of dissected motives in a 3D matter. Nychos currently lives and works out of Rabbit Eye Movement, his studio and art space located in Vienna, Austria."

Max Ehrman is a muralist and live painter. At the age of 20, he had an unheralded, electrifying introduction to graffiti art when he wandered aimlessly past a wall in Gainesville, Florida. The wall had just been memorialized by three German artists after the sudden and tragic death of a child. Gripped by the experience, EON75 was born and the world has been indelibly marked by his influence on the street art scene since.

Max’s approach to art is founded in his advanced architectural education, setting a foundation of rigid structure which is then incorporated with the rhythm and harmony of nature in brilliant color schemes.

When he’s not painting, he’s listening to hip hop, supporting San Francisco's rich art culture, and scoring burritos in The Mission.

EON stands for ""Extermination of Normality."" Max was born in 1975.

"Lauren YS is a Los Angeles-based artist whose work is influenced by multiple stages of focus, both geographically and in practice. With dynamic bouts in academics, literature and writing, teaching, illustration, and animation leading up to their arrival in the urban art sphere, the influences of these phases of their own career add up to a robust style of murals and fine art.

Lauren's work is influenced by dreams, mythology, death, comics, love, sex, psychedelia, animation and their Asian-American heritage."

JEKS, graffiti/mural artist from Greensboro, NC, has made a name for himself globally with his hyper-realistic, monochromatic portraits as well as massive full-color pieces. The amount of meticulous detail, smooth gradients, emotion and saturation in his pieces set him apart from other artists in the realism field. He has painted hundreds of walls across the US as well as Colombia and Canada, which have become beloved community landmarks. Between painting commissioned and independent eye-popping new murals each month, technical graffiti burners and a relentless hunger to push the envelope, he is on his way to become a well-known and sought-after name in the public art world.

"Griffin is an internationally recognized mural artist based out of Oakland, California, born in Nairobi, Kenya. His work spans a variety of mediums, themes & surfaces. From the early days of the aerosol urban mural scene ( back in the mid- ’90s, while living in Seattle ), through the many cities he's lived in until the present day -- Griffin remains an active innovator in the aerosol mural movement & the live art festival scene at large.

Whether the final artwork is illustrative, abstract, or character-driven, his artistic style embodies a unique dreamscape story somewhere between time, function, the familiar, and the unknown! In his body of work, Griffin often infuses elements from our modern age with his love of nature, along with elements of the Old World. This signature dimensional approach, and creative exploration of imaginative possibilities, help to keep his work transformational, fun & timeless."

An influential figure in Bay Area public art, Oakland-based artist Jet Martinez (b. 1973) is known for creating vibrant works of art that engage the traditions of Mexican folk art with contemporary aesthetics. Originally from the small beach town of Tuxpan, Veracruz, Mexico, and raised in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Martinez takes inspiration from his native culture’s rich traditions of pottery, weaving, and embroidery, enlivening the rigid architecture of urban environments with ornate patterns and abstract forms.

Oakland based artist, Madeleine Tonzi, is a painter and muralist. Her work is focused on capturing the essence of ephemeral moments, and is a reflection of her investigation into memory and place and the relationships we form with the various environments we experience. Born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico, her aesthetic inescapably echos her time spent in the high desert landscape, and simultaneously gives way to her experiences traveling and living in California. Finding both solace and discomfort in the places that she goes, Madeleine creates vivid abstract representational landscapes, both organic and architectural, utilizing a distinct visual language in order to emote what can not always be put into words as we move through time and space.

I am Jimbo Phillips, an artist from Santa Cruz, California. Born and raised in the art world. My father, Jim Phillips, designed all the artwork for Santa Cruz Skateboards in the 70’s and 80’s and was the creator of the iconic “Screaming Hand” logo.

At an early age I began working for my father doing graphics for the skateboard industry, creating eye-popping artwork for t-shirt designs, decals, magazine ads, and skateboards. In the early 90s I started my own graphic art business continuing to work for skateboard companies as well as other major brands such as Toyota, Nike, Snickers, Volcom and so many more. Along the way I’ve won some awards for graphics as well as displaying in art shows internationally in Europe, South America and Canada. In 2005 my art was featured on Tony Hawk American Wasteland video game for the Xbox and Playstation2 where the game weaves in and out of my comic book format. I currently have signature artist series collaborations with Bell helmets, Electric visuals, Volcom clothing, Puma shoes etc. I also have a game app on Itunes called Skatetrash!

Art has been good to me so In my spare time I've donated artwork to Second Harvest Food Bank with a skateboard graphic where all the proceeds go to help “Grind out Hunger” feeding families in need.

I recently started an online store to offer high quality original art and limited edition clothing and prints directly to fans, collectors and consumers that want to buy products straight from the artist. I try to get all my products from local businesses using only high quality fabrics and materials. People are always asking me where they can find my stuff so I wanted a webshop where I could dream up anything I want without having to answer to a company and the response has been great. The products on my site are not available any where else and I have a lot of new ideas bubbling up that I am excited to show you. A lot of the rock posters and silkscreened prints on there are very limited so when they're gone, they are gone.

If you want art that stands out, is highly recognizable, very collectable and is a great conversation piece, then you’ve come to the right place. I am an artist who strives to push the envelope of what is possible on a skateboard, t-shirt, poster, sticker or any surface and continue to do so in a fluid yet eye catching style. Keep your eyes peeled for Jimbo’s graphic assault!

Shane Jessup lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Over the past 22 years as a graphic designer and illustrator, he has developed a resume that includes companies like Coca Cola, Beats by Dre, Live Nation Entertainment, Nike Europe, EA Sports, San Diego Zoo, Sanrio, Comedy Central and many more. His work in the vinyl toy world with Kidrobot and Thunderdog Studios led to the release of his first mini-series project, “Things That Hurt” in 2008 and numerous Dunnys with Kidrobot, including the coveted San Diego Comic Con Exclusive, 8” Lucky Cat Dunny.

As an artist, Shane works evenly between acrylic, spray paint, and digital media. With his fluid line work and flat application, he addresses his own issues with love, religion, and pop culture, using an obvious sense of humility and humor.

"Kai’ili Kaulukukui was born on the Big Island of Hawaii, and inspired by Hawaii’s natural beauty, abundant ocean life, and rich native culture, began drawing at an early age. He was a BFA candidate at the University of Hawaii Windward campus where he studied under Snowden Hodges who has a deep base in classical techniques of oil painting. Simultaneously, he was trained in oil by apprenticing with Dennis Morton. Later, he transferred to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Kai currently works as a painter and muralist in Honolulu, out of Lana Lane Studios in Kaka’ako and more recently has been acting as the Ground Operations Manager for PangeaSeed Foundation's Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans program.

He has been immersed in shark culture, imagery and information that has sparked his imagination. Based on his research, lately Kai’s works illustrate compromised sharks and aquatic environments. His paintings and murals tackle marine life, often sharks with a loose and flowing approach complimented with drips cascading down the work."

As much as the current paradigm wants us to believe, the world is not actually black and white. Humans are not black and white. We are nuanced and messy random lines on crumpled paper. By un-crumpling the paper and making the smallest sense out of graphite on a smooth surface I hope to re-contextualize the photos I use to tell a new story that shows the depth of humanity we can witness when we slow down and take in the strokes and lines that create us.

When I add color it becomes a contrasting element that shifts my internal narrative about what it means to be human in a world socially defined by polarity. My desire is for these emotive portraits reveal the truest human self: evolved and nuanced.