Unconventional Portraits by Red

Hong Yi is one of my favorite artists to have discovered this year. The talented Malaysian hottie, who often goes by the nickname Red, likes to paint... but not with a paintbrush. Instead, she uses everyday objects like socks, sunflower seeds, melted candles, coffee cups, and chopsticks to create stunning pictures.

Who wouldn't be amazed by the portrait of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg that Red created out of 36 books by carefully slicing off the sides of the pages, or the rather unusual image of famed Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou made of 750 pair of socks?

Red could do almost anything with her hands but the most remarkable work she did was with food. Among her most impressive pieces was a coffee cup stain portrait of Italian singer Lucio Dalla. "Patience has developed overtime," she said. "I studied architecture for six years, and it trained me to work very hard until late at night. There was a certain discipline in my life during my university years. If I didn't go through that, I think I wouldn't be as patient as I am now."

Follow Red on Instagram and see more of her work here.

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Stencils and Subtlety

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For readers who love Basquiat

It's been thirty-one years since Jean-Michel Basquiat 's tragic death, but his work still remains in our art consciousness. Now, a new book explores the other side of the graffiti artist turned painter. "Basquiat-isms is a collection of essential quotations from this godfather of urban culture. In these brief, compelling, and memorable selections, taken from his interviews as well as his visual and written works, Basquiat writes and speaks about culture, his artistic persona, the art world, artistic influence, race, urban life, and many other subjects. Concise, direct, forceful, poetic, and enigmatic, Basquiat's words, like his art, continue to resonate." Basquiat-isms , edited by Larry Warsh, is out now.

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