Explore the fresh art work of our juried, distinguished artists and writers
View the full bodies of work, artist profiles and art pricing in the ArtAscent Art & Literature Journal magazine issues. For commission and purchase inquiries, contact artists directly.
Explore the fresh art work of these talented artists
View the full bodies of work, artist profiles and art pricing in the ArtTreasury Collector’s Annual magazine issues. For commission and purchase inquiries, contact artists directly.
Nastya Akimova
Actions transform into photographs, intertwining gestures, images, and words. Nastya Akimova’s art is both raw and powerful. It represents a process of resolutions that resembles survival, extending beyond the “here and now” to become daily practice.
Actions transform into photographs, intertwining gestures, images, and words. Nastya Akimova’s art is both raw and powerful. It represents a process of resolution that resembles survival, extending beyond the “here and now” to become a daily practice.
Polaroids, digital prints on office paper, and marker texts are the privileged medium through which Nastya tells of a moment of personal collapse. Stability trembles, and her works document this state of impermanence. Like a triptych, the three selected artworks outline the emotional pain embodied in the physical one. They show the verbose uncertainty of intertwining possibilities, creating a mental fog. They represent a scrawled statement drawn in one go on a plastic bag. Nastya’s works are urgent confessions rather than explicit requests for help. They are personal stories that are not confined to individualism. Her art practice is intimate but not individualistic. It speaks to the public by resonating with shared experiences, arousing empathy, and creating a bond. We’ve all felt bleeding, confused, and scared at least once, wishing to see ourselves reflected and held in another human being.
Fragility and distress can also be perceived at a tactile level. The techniques and choice of precarious materials echo the issue of impermanence: wrinkled paper, smudged ink, plastic packaging, handwritten text on paper, and collaged debris mirror the rebuilding process, blurring the line between tactile artifact and fragmented memory.
The artist’s mixed media works reject the resolution narrative as a final goal, the successful end of a struggle; instead, they counterpose the concept of healing as a process to be integrated into everyday life. Resolution is never something concluded in Nastya’s art. It is experienced in everyday life, in our choices with our bodies, emotional states, and actions. There is no completion: only a collage of debris and scattered words which compose a larger and more complex picture.
Nastya’s artistic production follows the path of other great diaristic and confessional female artists, who have made their biography and ability to investigate personal emotional states their stylistic signature. Like Nan Goldin, Nastya’s polaroids are immediate; they share unpolished situations with the public. The bloody faces of Gina Pane and Ana Mendieta also echo in some images. In common with these great names of the art scene, Nastya’s works are also brutal in their truthfulness and tactile immediacy.
Nastya Akimova’s exploration of trauma and its disruptive effect on the perception of identity makes her a promising artist and interpreter of our times. Emerging from the grassroots photographic community in Moscow, she founded the art collective Paduga and organized independent exhibitions in Russia and Serbia. Her unrefined sharing of personal moments reminds us of the unresolved nature of healing. Resolution is not tidied up but a question traced with a black permanent marker on a transparent, ephemeral surface.
Nastya Akimova is the Gold Artist of the ArtAscent Resolutions call for artists. To see the full body of work and profile, get a copy of the 2025 ArtAscent Art & Literature Journal Resolutions issue.
http://akimovanenastya.com
Mike Stengl
Mike Stengl’s artwork captures the essence of human experience, drawing viewers into the hidden stories within each canvas. His paintings have a distinct ability to evoke emotion, blending soft and vibrant colours to create captivating compositions. Mike’s creative process begins when he meets the model at the coast or the river to spend an afternoon in a pleasant natural setting. While exploring the area and conversing, he documents the day with a camera. Mike doesn’t ask or look for poses but captures the woman acting naturally. Working from photos he has taken, the creative process begins by first eliminating most of the photographic information. Mike finds a detail or two that can anchor the figure, the model, the woman, and his impressions to the canvas. He combines traditional techniques with his distinctive artistic vision using natural hog bristle brushes and oil pigments. Each brushstroke applied now attempts to add light and shadow, personality and predicament, memories and experiences to the canvas and the figure. These artistic expressions reveal our struggles and victories, the love we’ve shared, the pain we’ve endured, and the lessons we’ve learned. They resonate with viewers, evoking emotions that remind us of our own journeys.
When experiencing Mike’s work, one may think of artists like Picasso and Klimt. All three demonstrate a sense of creative freedom and a desire for experimentation in their artistic ways, fueled by a genuine curiosity about society and the human figure. They use paint to convey insights about the world around them.
Mike’s art emphasizes both the strength and vulnerability of his subjects, providing audiences with a space to reflect and connect. His work is notable for its ability to turn everyday experiences into lasting impressions for those who take the time to look more closely.
In his painting Here We Are Again, a figure appears to be lost in thought while also on the verge of experiencing clarity and new insights. The balanced colour palette enhances the reflective atmosphere, inviting viewers to discover their own sense of stillness within the piece.
In Spirit, Mike expresses a sense of movement and discovery. The figure seems to float through a forest of ideas, seeking that one inspiring thought to enrich the day. The painting blurs the boundaries between the figure and its surroundings, creating a fluid, almost spinning sensation that invites viewers into a contemplative state.
Lily evokes a sense of a captured memory. The subject appears lost in thought, enveloped in an atmosphere of truth and contentment. Soft colours and a light, airy quality give the painting a dreamlike essence, inviting viewers to fully immerse themselves in its gentle serenity.
Mike Stengl has been showcasing his work in solo and group exhibitions throughout Eureka, California, and has held a solo show in Portland, Oregon. With over 30 years in the art world, his passion remains in creating timeless works that celebrate the beauty and complexity of the female form.
Mike Stengl is the Silver Artist of the ArtAscent Resolutions call for artists. To see the full body of work and profile, get a copy of the 2025 ArtAscent Art & Literature Journal Resolutions issue.
https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/mikestengl
Aaron Krone
The world is shaped by action, and personal resolutions emerge from deep reflection, where individuals carefully weigh their options before committing to a course of action. The Thinking Man by Aaron Krone visually encapsulates this intense moment of contemplation.
Aaron’s artwork naturally invites comparison with the bronze sculpture by Auguste Rodin, one of the most iconic representations of intellectual reflection. While both artworks focus on an individual lost in thought, their stylistic approaches and emotional impacts differ significantly. Rodin’s piece is muscular and idealized, emphasizing physical strength as a metaphor for intellectual power. The figure in Rodin’s sculpture is hunched over, with furrowed brows and clenched toes, reflecting both mental and physical tension. In contrast, Aaron’s version is more introverted and subdued.
Krone’s piece depicts a man contemplating his next moves, gazing into space with his chin resting on his hand—a classic pose for someone immersed in thought. The slightly off-center positioning of the figure draws our attention to this gesture. The artist chose charcoal for the portrait, which helps create a dramatic chiaroscuro effect—an interplay of light and shadow that reinforces the weight of the subject’s thoughts. The monochromatic palette enhances the atmosphere of absorption and focus. As the famous American commercial and documentary photographer Elliott Erwitt noted, “Colour is descriptive. Black and white is interpretive.”
The contrast between deep blacks and smudged grays creates depth and texture, avoiding a rough sculptural form while overlaying angular, geometric lines with a certain haziness. The interplay of dark and light defines the contours of the figure’s face, emphasizing wrinkles and an intense stare that reveals an ongoing inner monologue. The image merges stillness with the expressive texture of charcoal, capturing the essence of personal resolution—the unfolding transition from thought to action.
Aaron Krone is a visual artist and educator with a B.A. from Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, and an MFA from Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas. He is an Associate Professor of Studio Arts at Friends University, teaching compositional design, painting, art history, and life drawing. Krone has an extensive exhibition record, having participated in over 270 international competitions and numerous national exhibitions between 2019 and 2023. His work has garnered multiple awards, including First Place in the Gallery Ring Open International Competition, Talent Prize Awards in the Taravarna Figurative and Portrait Exhibits, and Fifth Place in the 2023 World Art Awards (Impressionism: Human Category). Additionally, he has received multiple Judges’ Choice honours, Crystal Awards of Merit, and Honorable Mentions in juried exhibitions such as the Blue Koi Gallery Nature Competition and the Grey Cube Gallery Faces Competition.
Aaron Krone is the Bronze Artist of the ArtAscent Resolutions call for artists. To see the full body of work and profile, get a copy of the 2025 ArtAscent Art & Literature Journal Resolutions issue.
https://kroneaaron.wixsite.com/aaronkrone
Vasu Tolia
Distinguished Artist of the ArtAscent Resolutions call for entry. To see the full body of work and exhibition, grab a copy of the 2025 ArtAscent Art & Literature Journal Resolutions issue.
http://www.vasutolia.art
Kenneth Wilan
Distinguished Artist of the ArtAscent Resolutions call for entry. To see the full body of work and exhibition, grab a copy of the 2025 ArtAscent Art & Literature Journal Resolutions issue.
https://www.kennethwilan.com