Ricky Swallow, Younger than Yesterday, 2006
Australian-born LA-based artist Ricky Swallow’s wooden bones and body parts play with the connection between the body’s flesh and the grain of wood. His work hovers between death and life, interior and exterior.

Joss Mckinley, from the series 6 Rue de Vaux, 2006

Young British photographer Joss McKinley is drawn towards the mysterious shadows of daylight. His haunting images are often filled with minute taxidermy and touches of the gothic.

Ken Kagami, Angie, 2006
Courtesy the artist, gallery.sora., Tokyo and Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna

Brimming with black humour, Japanese artist Ken Kagami’s playful gothic toys highlight the dark side of childhood. This is playtime at its most violent and mischievous.

Amie Dicke, Isabelli, 2004
Courtesy Peres Projects, Los Angeles/Berlin

Dutch artist Amie Dicke dismantles the images of perfection and beauty in the fashion and style press and transforms them into images of decay and darkness. A spiderous subversion of pop culture.

Sue de Beer, Black Sun, Willy Rachow (still), 2004–5

Drawing on horror films, American artist Sue De Beer has recently looked at the witch trials of the 17th century as inspiration for her lo-fi cult aesthetic.

James Aldridge, Given to the Rising, 2007

Based in the woods of Norway, James Aldridge makes images that fuse the beauty and horror of nature. His graphic paintings and silhouettes are filled with crows, skulls and a sense of mortality.