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)

A sifaka lemur eats leaves at the Berenty Reserve in Toliara province, Madagascar, February 15, 2022. (Photo by Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters)

Indian security personnel adjust a uniform during full-dress rehearsal ahead of the 74th Republic day celebrations in Bangalore, India, 24 January 2023. The Republic Day of India marks the adoption of the constitution of India and the transition of the country to a Republic on 26 January 1950. (Photo by Jagadeesh N.V./EPA/EFE)

A woman visits the exhibition “Pop Air” at the Balloon Museum in Madrid, Spain, 22 March 2023. The exhibition, dedicated to balloons and inflatable arts, opened to the public in Madrid on 18 March and runs through 23 July 2023. (Photo by Alejandro Lopez/EPA)

Squirrels are seen on a tree branch at a park as temperatures rise with the arrival of spring season in Ankara, Turkiye on March 27, 2024. (Photo by Evrim Aydin/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Indian actress Ananya Panday poses for pictures on the red carpet on the day of the wedding of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant in Mumbai, India, on July 12, 2024. (Photo by Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters)

A view shows a church in front of a high-rise apartment building in Saint Petersburg, Russia on October 30, 2019. (Photo by Anton Vaganov/Reuters)

An exhibition staff member looks over artworks by Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz on display during a preview of the exhibition “Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope” at the Tate Modern in London, Britain, 15 November 2022. The large-scale Abakan sculptures have been brought together for the first time in the UK. The exhibit opens on 17 November 2022 and runs until 21 May 2023. (Photo by Andy Rain/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)