Canadian artist Ellen Jewett makes extremely detailed animal sculptures that combine realism with curious elements of fantasy.

An internally displaced Afghan girl plays near their shelter at a refugee camp in Kabul January 13, 2015. (Photo by Omar Sobhani/Reuters)

Saul of the Cubacigar company repairs the largest cigar in the world at the Pipe and Tobacco museum of Sint Niklaas on November 27, 2008 in Brussels, Belgium. The cigar is 6.4 meters long, weighs 460 kilos and is made of approximately 9900 tobacco leaves. (Photo by Mark Renders/Getty Images)

A saddle-billed stork stands in the grassland at the Nairobi National Park near Nairobi, Kenya January 23, 2017. (Photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

Musician “Girli” poses for a portrait during London Fashion Week in London, Britain February 21, 2017. (Photo by Neil Hall/Reuters)

People take photos with the skyline of the central business district in Singapore on September 10, 2015. (Photo by Edgar Su/Reuters)

Light is the sole reason why life exists. It provides us with warmth; it allows us to see; it nourishes all the living things on this planet. Many painters, especially the masters of Old Renaissance Period, have recognized the importance of light and its intimate connection with nature and life itself. In their paintings they gave tribute to light, giving the impression that their paintings had a light source hidden within them. Al Hogue, the artist who created the paintings that you see before you, has studied their techniques for many years. As time went by, light permeated not only his paintings by also his life, becoming his sole philosophy.

Illuminated Cut Paper Light Boxes by Hari & DeeptiDeepti Nair and Harikrishnan Panicker (known collectively as Hari & Deepti) are an artist couple who create paper cut light boxes. Each diorama is made from layers of cut watercolor paper placed inside a shadow box and is lit from behind with flexible LED light strips. The small visual narratives depicted in each work often play off aspects of light including stars, flames, fireflies, and planets.