M42 Subtle V1 cropped. One of the most well-known astronomical objects in our universe is the Orion Nebula and this image depicts the wider region of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex that is its home. This complex also includes another popular target for astrophotographers, the Horsehead Nebula, as well as Barnard’s Loop and the Running Man Nebula, which can be seen to the left of this photograph. (Photo by Patrick Gilliland)

A Japanese white-eye is seen on a branch of cherry blossoms at Kyoto Imperial Palace on March 26, 2010 in Kyoto, Japan. (Photo by Akihiro I/Getty Images)

A Lowrider rides on three-wheels on Sunset Blvd., in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles late Sunday afternoon July 18, 2021. (Photo by Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo)

Nose to Nose; Human/Nature winner. “Doug Gimesy was documenting work at the Joey and Bat Sanctuary near Melbourne when he met a wombat (Vombatus ursinus) whose mother had been killed by a car. Gimesy watched as a young veterinary student bottle-fed the orphaned joey, then touched her nose to the joey’s in a tender moment of interspecies bonding”. (Photo by Doug Gimesy/BigPicture)

Two journalists stand on the back of a horse-shaped statue on display to promote the art performance titled “Yu Ma” presented by Taiwan’s Paper Windmills Theater, during a photo call outside the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei on March 24, 2021. (Photo by Sam Yeh/AFP Photo)

“The Only Way Is Essex” star Yazmin Oukhellou, 27, showed off her toned figure in the minidress, which featured sеxy side cut-outs, as she headed out in Hertfordshire in southern Englandon on Saturday, August 14, 2021. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

Swedish music band ABBA's wax figures are displayed at the ABBA museum in Stockholm, Sweden on November 5, 2021. ABBA's first album in 40 years, “The Voyage”, was released on November 5, 2021. (Photo by Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP Photo)

Los Angeles native Mike Stilkey has always been attracted to painting and drawing not only on vintage paper, record covers and book pages, but on the books themselves. Using a mix of ink, colored pencil, paint and lacquer, Stilkey depicts a melancholic and at times a whimsical cast of characters inhabiting ambiguous spaces and narratives of fantasy and fairy tales. A lingering sense of loss and longing hints at emotional depth and draws the viewer into their introspective thrall with a mixture of capricious poetry, wit, and mystery. (Photo by Mike Stilkey)