The Underground

The artwork of Chicago artist Clare Rosean packs a psychological wallop that leaves viewers confused and uneasy. Rosean's ink and pencil works feature images of transportation gone awry, stairways that don't lead anywhere—a dream gone bad. Hers is a world in which narratives are suspended. About her series After the Bomb, she writes, "My original intention was to map out a city devastated after an enormous bomb. I assign no time period to this setting; past, present and future are meshed into one hazy era. It is a gray place, and you cannot trust anyone here. Your neighbor is a wolf in sheep's clothing; behind every mild-mannered gentleman is a salivating dog."

—Lil Copan