Vivid colors and bizarre shapes come together in a false-color image that could be an illustration for a fantasy story. This labyrinth of exotic features winds its way along the edge of Russia’s Chaunskaya Bay in northeastern Siberia, seen as a vivid blue half-circle at the bottom of the image Two major rivers, the Chaun and Palyavaam, flow into the bay, which in turn opens into the Arctic Ocean. Ribbon lakes and bogs are present throughout the area, created by depressions left by receding glaciers. (Photo by USGS/NASA)

A man drinks at a "colored" water cooler in a streetcar terminal in Oklahoma City, July 1939. (Photo by Reuters/Library of Congress)

People enjoy the color run in Guangzhou, Guangdong province of China on May 29, 2022. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Same-sеx marriage supporters kiss outside the Legislative Yuan Friday, May 17, 2019, in Taipei, Taiwan after the legislature passed a law allowing same-sеx marriage in a first for Asia. The vote Friday allows same-sеx couples full legal marriage rights, including in areas such as taxes, insurance and child custody. (Photo by Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo)

Karl Bang's paintings are unique because he combines totally different styles of painting within the same format. It is very difficult to design a balanced composition with realistic elements that are juxtaposed with flat colors and patterns. The faces of his subjects are painted realistically in the Western tradition with subtle gradations of color; while, his figures and costumes vignette into abstracted shapes, lines, flat colors and patterns that reflect Karl's background in China. It is as though there are different visual languages being spoken within his paintings.

American fashion model Simone Thompson, better known as Slick Woods walks at the Savage x Fenty – September 2018 – New York Fashion Week at Brooklyn Navy Yard on September 12, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York. (Photo by Presley Ann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)