A diving competitor during a practice session at Tokyo Aquatics Centre ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan on Wednesday, July 21, 2021. (Photo by Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)

In this aerial view Haitian migrants queue to receive food at a shelter in Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila State, Mexico, on September 23, 2021. At least 50 police vehicles carrying more than a hundred agents are blocking the border crossing at the river that separates the Mexican city of Ciudad Acuña from the United States, AFP reported. (Photo by Pedro Pardo/AFP Photo)

Hannah Prock, of Austria, prepares to start the luge women's singles run 1 at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, February 7, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

A Palestinian protester runs past burning tyres amid clashes with Israeli security forces deploying during a raid in the old city of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, on December 30, 2022. (Photo by Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP Photo)

Filipino students performs during the parade at the 125th Philippine’s Independence Day at Dubai World Trade Centre on June 10, 2023. (Photo by Leslie Pableo for The National)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. compete during the ice dance short dance program at the ISU World Team Trophy in Figure Skating in Tokyo April 16, 2015. (Photo by Yuya Shino/Reuters)

“Tough Times for Orangutans”. Nature, first prize stories. Tim Laman, USA. Location: West Kalimantan, Indonesia. A Bornean orangutan climbs over 30 meters up a tree in the rain forest of Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, August 12, 2015. The lives of wild orangutans are brought to light. Threats to these orangutans from fires, the illegal animal trade and loss of habitat due to deforestation have resulted in many orphan orangutans ending up at rehabilitation centers. (Photo by Tim Laman/World Press Photo Contest)

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)