A series five years in the making, New York-based artist and illustrator Akira Horikawa’s 1000 Drawing Project is almost complete. The artist has spent half a decade rendering anything and everything within the confines of pocket size sketchbooks.

The artist is now closer than ever to achieving his lofty goal with the sketch count now at #963. Horikawa’s inspiration wide ranging, encompassing everything from the artist’s dreams, to unusual events he’s witnessed on the streets. And despite the potential for the project to come off as gimmicky, Horikawa certainly backs up his endeavour with some major talent and strong, evocative concepts, that render the drawings more as fine art prints than sketchpad doodles.

Some drawings, such as #958 (the drawings are numbered in order and dated), are incredibly dark and almost scary. Horikawa depicts an axe-wielding skeleton standing among an expanse of butched corpses. The artist’s more satirical work, such as #908, meantime, shows off Horikawa’s sense of humor, with a liberal interpretation of the Buddha flipping the bird. Slightly whimsical, slightly provocative and undoubtedly creative, we can’t wait to see what the artist has up his sleeve for #1000. Head on over to Horikawa’s tumblr to follow the final stages of the 1000 Drawing Project.

- James Lavapie

Baltimore-based artist Beth Hoeckel has our minds stuck in the 60s with her dreamy, found paper collages. Hoeckel studied painting, photography and printmaking at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has since transitioned to also work in collage and mixed media. The result is a collection of work that is at once retro and futuristic, while helping viewers re-imagine images in a new and novel way.

Take for example her latest series of collages. There is a very “analog” aesthetic to Hoeckel’s work, probably because each and every piece is created using scissors and archival paste rather than through digital manipulation. Hoeckel’s technique is certainly appropriate in terms of the artist’s chosen subject matter; many of the found paper images appear as if they were taken straight out of Don and Betty Draper’s family albums. But Hoeckel doesn’t seem to be trying to spark a full-blown 60s revival with her work. Rather, there is a very modern edge to the concepts behind her collages. Many of the artist’s figures are pasted to appear as if they are standing at the edge of a surreal apocalyptic abyss. We love the tension Hoeckel creates through her direct associations of the wholesomeness of the 60s with the end of the world… take a look at a few more of her images below because we’re sure you’ll love it too!

- James Lavapie

Toronto-based photographer Petra Collins has been attracting some much-deserved attention as of late for her voyeuristic and sexually-charged feminist imagery. Currently finishing her first year at the Ontario College of Art and Design, the 19-year-old’s work has been featured in numerous publications and several exhibitions, including blogger-Wunderkind Tavi Gevinson’s ROOKIE endeavor.

Although born and raised in Toronto, Collins draws a lot of inspiration from her Eastern European roots. “My family is from Budapest,” she told us recently, as we sat down for a quick chat in T.O. “I feel that is my real home.”

This interest in film is what initially turned Collins on to photography at the age of sixteen. “I was never good at making a solid story,” the photographer admits, noting Czech New Wave film Sedmikrasky, about the coming of age of two girls, as one of her enduring muses. “I could always think up a beginning but never an end.” Reinterpreting the notion of cinematic story-telling through a single evocative image appealed to her as an alternative.

Anyone who has seen Collins’ work will immediately attest to the dreamy, film-like quality to many of the images. The viewer feels almost as though they are witnessing a fleeting privileged moment in the subject’s life, many of whom are young girls.

It’s this intimacy-bordering-on-eroticism which has attracted criticism from those who consider Collins’ work more exploitative than feminist. She says it shouldn’t matter either way. “Sexuality is an important part of maturity and growth during your teen years,” says Collins in response to her critics. “Naturally I gravitated towards that,” as the still-in-her-teens photographer continues to encounter many of the same first-time adult experiences as her subjects.

The authentic and personal nature to the Collins’ work seems as through it will continue to serve as a source of inspiration for the artist’s future work. “I’m still finding myself as a feminist and feminism plays a big part in my work,” she concludes. “I think the female is a subject I’ll be studying for a long time.” And as avid fans of Collins’ work, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

- James Lavapie

The holiday shopping season may be over but there’s a new book out that just might make it onto our early year “must-have” list. A beautiful hardcover release from Assouline, “Pioneers of the Possible” honors twenty of the world’s most inspiring women, spanning the last century through today. Part photo tome and part history manual, the book profiles 20 women who have made a lasting contribution to society, whether through social activism, spiritual guidance, or artistic creativity. The profiles include stories on everyone from Ella Fitzgerald, Frida Kahlo, Simone de Beauvoir and Wangari Maathai, to Estée Lauder, Helen Suzman and Zaha Hadid.

Author Angella Nazarian – who previously penned 2009′s “Life as a Visitor” (a compelling memoir and poetry book – inspires again, celebrating the collective fearless spirit of these extraordinary women, while the accompanying artwork and photography serve to further promote their impact and stories. It’s the type of book that will look good on your coffee table, but will make you feel good once you pick it up and delve into its pages.

“Pioneers of the Possible” features more than 100 illustrations over 160 pages and is available in hardcover now at select Assouline boutiques worldwide and online.

- TC

Auckland-based photographer Geoffrey H. Short’s images are giving us a serious case of pyromania. Just one look at the artist’s innovative take on landscape photography and you’ll see just what we’re talking about. A graduate of the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland, Short’s ongoing series, entitled, “towards another (big bang) theory?” features shots of monumental explosions on the back sands of New Zealand’s west coast.

Short employs the assistance of Hollywood special effects technicians, fossil fuel and gunpowder to create each and every explosion. There’s no fancy computer wizardry here! However, the explosions take place mid-air in order to minimize damage done to the environment.

Short’s work hearkens back to the earth’s creation, and the dichotomy between the original big bang and the photographer’s notion of modern “big bangs” – the byproducts of nuclear and terrorist warfare.

By truly reinterpreting the notion of landscape photography, Short infuses an overt sense of violence and destruction into the characteristically serene and picturesque genre. There is just something so visceral about fire, and even in a technological context which seems limitless, he’s found the best way to simulate an explosion is with an actual explosion. Through his imagery, Short shines a light on human progress and why modernity may not necessarily be synonymous with improvement. More information on Short is available through his website.

- James Lavapie