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“Genderqueer and non-conformist are two of my roots,” writes Ansastasio Wrobel (known in the art world as aung robo) in their recent artist statement. “The former being a newly-worded shorthand for my identity and the latter, the original and the one that resonates most deeply.” These roots are in constant interplay throughout their artwork. Each painting forms a kind of visual record of that engagement: testing and changing lines, dragging paint across canvas, repainting, bringing in different media.

Few biblical narratives deal with separation from God and from others in so vivid a way as the story of Jonah in the belly of the great fish, depicted in this wood panel painting by Lyuba Yatskiv. Yatskiv belongs to a circle of Ukrainian Greek Catholic artists from the city of Lviv in western Ukraine who are revitalizing the ancient art of icon making. They create their holy images using traditional techniques in a style that resonates with modern viewers. An anxiety-ridden Jonah dominates this claustrophobic, cruciform composition, but he is framed by depictions of liberation.