Russ Rubin is an artist and writer from New Jersey who creates escapist color-block worlds that speak to the collisions between nature and civilization. Inspired by whacked-out old cartoon backdrops, Nike ACG, and artists from Stuart Davis to Nina Chanel Abney, Russ's 'Dream Lands' dare us to hurl ourselves inside them and explore the possibilities of beauty beyond rationale. From doodles in little notebooks and on spare bill envelopes to finger-drawn digital mockups, Russ's images creep onto the canvas, ever-evolving as he slaps on layer after layer, tweaking curves and hues, building up dimension in the paint as he sweats and squints and rubs out his eyes in his basement lair, making and breaking the rules as he goes, hunting down that ever-elusive balance around the bend.