Indifference and beauty can be a terrifying combination. I think, as a society, beautiful things are allowed to exist in two ways: with arrogance or with complete innocence. Beauty any other way falls into the uncanny valley—recognizable, but a bit off. Veronica Mortellaro’s stony, beautiful figures are frightening in that their beauty is something accepted and not to be dwelled any further on. The medium they are portrayed in, watercolor, makes them feel so fragile, so permeable, that you halfway hope they’ll manage to soak into you. by Jas Keimig