Bushra Gill is an artist and curator who finds order within the chaos of everyday life through art. 

She was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and emigrated to Houston, Texas, with her family as a small child. Drawn to art from a young age, she graduated from Pratt Institute in 1994 with a BFA in sculpture. She has been awarded residencies at Pilchuck Glass School and Kala Art Institute. Gill spent many years working as a museum educator at various galleries and museums including The Museum of Modern Art, The Drawing Center and The Rotunda Gallery, while also working as a studio assistant to various artists including Maya Lin, Ursula von Rydingsvard, and Maria Elena Gonzalez. Currently living and working in northern California, Gill also curates, drawing on her experience from a long teaching career to be a visual storyteller. She is a member of the California Society of Printmakers, the Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art and Asian American Women Artists Association.

Having emigrated at a young age, I’ve often experienced the tension of feeling included while remaining somewhat apart. This sense of in-betweenness informs my work, where I explore themes of connection—particularly the hidden structures that link us to each other, to nature, and to the larger dimensions of time and space.

Inspired by Islamic geometric patterns, I tessellate everyday imagery, tiling small shapes to build richly layered surface structures using paint, print, and wood collage. Through this process, my subjects are both revealed and obscured, reflecting my interest in what is simultaneously visible and veiled—much like my hair, which I cover with a scarf in public. Layering—whether through pattern, imagery, or pieces of wood—has become a foundational strategy in my practice, allowing the work to evolve from low-relief surfaces into sculptural forms.

The repeated geometric forms I use create a visual order that helps me make sense of the natural world and my own lived experience.  The framework supports experimentation and lets me lean into flaws to make the work more human, and that pushes me to reconsider boundaries of color, texture and spatial perception. I'm especially drawn to the broken edges and missteps, because they automatically free me from perfection and allow my voice to be heard.

In her words:

Through my work, I desire to bring a sense of awareness and appreciation for the dedication and intricacy that lies at the heart of weaving. Each piece is a testament to the laborious process, where every hand-cut fringe is meticulously inserted, one by one, revealing the journey of each thread – coiled, warped, beamed, threaded, tensed, and finally woven. My work challenges the trivialization of the textile practice brought on by industrialization, by bringing together art and the common.

I use discarded materials or scraps of leather to echo this devalued textile practice. These materials are transformed through my hands as I hand-cuts then hand weave and sometimes hand stitch them with dead stock linen threads from shoemaking or bookbinding.

My process is not just about reclaiming materials ; I see my work as an exploration of landscapes both internal and external encouraging a reflection on our interactions with both our environment and one another.

Mark is a San Francisco based painter who uses painting as documentation and storytelling.  With a well practiced artist’s eye, Mark spends a lot of time capturing situations (mostly in California), curating the most paint-worthy moments into references for future series, and ultimately translating those moments with tremendous care and attention.

If he’s not painting, he’s drawing.  If he’s not drawing, he’s probably thinking about painting, or light, or shadows…

Michael McConnell was born in Michigan, where he used to watch squirrels from the front window. He studied art at the Columbus College of Art & Design, with an emphasis in lithography and painting. After graduating from CCAD, he packed up a U-Haul and drove across country to the Bay Area, where he now lives in San Francisco. In the past 20+ years he hasn’t found a good reason to leave.

Currently Michael’s art can be found at Poet and/the Bench in Mill Valley. Michael was represented by Braunstein/Quay Gallery in San Francisco for 10 years, but since their closure, he has been on the lookout for new gallery representation. He has enjoyed showing with Gauntlet Gallery in San Francisco, Marion and Rose’s Workshop in Oakland, and Abrams Claghorn Gallery in Albany. If not in his studio, you can find Michael drinking coffee at his Fayes Video in the Mission District, dancing, or playing light sabers with his family.

Making art is how Michael makes sense of the world and his forgotten childhood. Observing his own anxieties and awkwardness, he creates visual narratives that examine loneliness, responsibility, and choice. In his work, the innocence and vulnerability of children and animals are constrained. The stories unfold in the space between memory and nostalgia, and focus on the tension between youth and maturity.

Michael Hyun Gu Kang is a Korean American painter whose practice explores identity, cultural memory, and personal narrative. Raised in the suburbs of Southern California, Kang’s work is deeply informed by his experience as a first-generation American, navigating the space between Korean ancestry and American popular culture12. His paintings frequently serve as visual diaries, capturing self-reflection and daily observations through bold colors, mixed media, and textured surfaces.

For over a decade, Kang has lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area. His creative process is characterized by experimentation with diverse materials—ranging from old rugs and doors to wooden panels and collaged found pieces—resulting in a rich, tactile quality that invites viewers to contemplate both the seen and unseen layers of his compositions2.Kang’s approach balances intuition and intention, often reworking paintings until they feel “destined” to be complete.

He has exhibited his work both locally and internationally, including at venues like Vessel Gallery and the Roll Up Project34. By engaging themes of tradition, motion, and translation across cultures, Kang renders the complexities of life as transformative and healing experiences, infusing each piece with dynamism, humor, and poignancy142.

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1. https://www.artsy.net/artist/michael-hyun-gu-kang/about
2. https://www.artspanart.org/michael-kang
3. http://www.rollupproject.com/exhibitions/michael-hyun-gu-kang/
4. https://www.vessel-gallery.com/in-motion-with-michael-kang/
5. https://www.instagram.com/mikehkanga/
6. https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-hyperrealistic-portraits-of-hyung-koo-kang/zQUBouR4VXMlKg?hl=en
7. https://www.instagram.com/p/DCBartcTYcJ/
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kang_(musician)
9. https://www.artsper.com/ae/contemporary-artists/art-nouveau/south-korea?page=9
10. https://www.linkedin.com/in/hyun-gu-kang
11. https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2019/04/09/etc/ZOOM-KOREA-Portrait-artist-makes-a-big-impression/3061620.html
12. https://aaa.org.hk/tc/collections/search/library/33-korean-artists-by-33-best-critics
13. https://meridian.org/profile/hyunmin-kang/
14. https://www.macdowell.org/artists/michael-kang
15. https://www.instantcheckmate.com/people/michael-hyun/
16. https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/957683.shtml
17. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-hyun-b374943a
18. https://www.instagram.com/p/CESICg1BX3J/
19. https://www.threads.com/@mikehkanga
20. https://www.artsy.net/artist/michael-hyun-gu-kang

Raymundo, a renowned Mexican-American fine artist from Mexico City, has his work featured in private collections worldwide, including Buenos Aires, Dallas, San Francisco, and Palm Springs. He has also showcased his talent in numerous group exhibitions throughout the years.

Raymundo's passion for art ignited during a school visit to Mexico City's National Palace, where Diego Rivera’s murals left a lasting impression. Captivated by shapes and colors, he began studying art as a child. Encouraged by his father, who enrolled him in piano, painting, and soccer classes, Raymundo quickly gravitated toward art, dedicating a decade to honing his skills.

Frequent visits to iconic art museums like Frida Kahlo’s and Diego Rivera’s houses, as well as the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, deepened his admiration for Mexican artists such as Rufino Tamayo and Francisco Toledo. This early immersion in art shaped his creative foundation.

With a degree in graphic design, Raymundo launched a successful career in advertising, working as an art director. However, his passion for painting remained. It wasn’t until he emigrated to the United States in 2004 that he fully dedicated himself to his artwork, finding both the time and drive to explore his creativity.

Traveling extensively over the years, Raymundo drew inspiration from the masterpieces of global art museums and developed a profound love for Asian cultures, particularly India and Southeast Asia. These influences continue to enrich his artistic vision.

Victoria Veedell is a San Francisco-based painter known for her landscapes that explore the emotional impact of light and place. Inspired by travels through Japan, India, and Europe, her work evokes the mood and memory of natural environments — this piece was inspired by morning walks through the Presidio.

Veedell earned her BFA from Texas A&M–Corpus Christi and continued her studies in France and at NYU.

Hi, I'm Victoria Veedell. Midsummer Morning is part of an ongoing series of paintings inspired by my morning walks through the Presidio here in San Francisco. I cherish the quiet of those early mornings. The park feels hushed and alive all at once. Every morning, the light reveals something new. The atmosphere shifts constantly, so I never know exactly what I'll encounter in terms of light or color. I walk slowly, staying present and paying attention to the subtle changes. The way light filters through the trees, how fog might soften the landscape. I often take dozens of photographs, which serve as a kind of visual memory once I'm back in the studio. My process begins with a warm under painting, usually in hot pink, and sometimes yellow, to establish a glowing foundation. I block in the shades, lay in the darkest darks, and then wipe out areas to create highlights, leaving traces of that initial stain behind. From there, I build up the painting in successive layers of oil paint, working back and forth between dark and white. The goal is to create a painting that glows from within, one that holds the quiet, immersive energy I felt on the path that morning. I hope viewers feel a sense of stillness and connection when they look at midsummer morning. The painting isn't about a specific place as much as it is about a feeling of being present, of witnessing a fleeting moment in nature. I want the work to invite people to slow down and take a breath, to really look and maybe even recall a quiet morning of their own. In a world that moves so quickly, I hope this piece offers a pause, a moment of reflection, calm, and beauty.