BRADENTON – Local photographer Brian David Braun will be one of the featured artists at Basha Maryanska's show, Antidote, at the New Century Artists Gallery in the Chelsea district of Manhattan. Braun will be showing work from his Organic Ghosts series, which is part of his Myakka State Park collection. Braun's girlfriend, multidisciplinary artist Marcile Powers, will have her digital art collection of mandalas featured in the show as well.

A sun mandala by Marcile Powers

Powers, a Booker High VPA and UCF Art School grad, has worked across the artistic spectrum, from film to digital, to conventional photography. Powers' work with mandalas is highly-regarded in the medium, and she says her multi-discipline background has had much to do with her success.

”I believe that art and storytelling can create catharsis for the audience,“ said Powers. ”In my artistic endeavors, emotional healing is always the most profound goal. I believe that it is the greatest achievement of art itself. Perhaps this is from my film and storytelling background. I hope that people will find a little inner tranquility when they look at my work.“

Marcile's passion for mandalas is apparent in her heavily-varied portfolio.

”When I think of mandalas, in the way I use them as an art form, I create from more of the Native American thought than the Buddhist four-fold path,“ she explained. ”That each circle is more of a journey and that I hope I can make it seem complex yet beautiful and somewhat rhythmic. I like to think that they are positive thoughts that I have hidden in geometry for others to translate in their own psyche.“

Waiting for the Storm by Brian David Braun

Braun's work also covers spacious ground. From rock stars and supermodels, to abandoned ghost trains and natural landscapes, Braun shows a keen eye for the sublime. A prolific artist who also got his start in movies, he quickly found his true niche as a self-taught photographer.

Braun's known for his wizardry in post-editing, as well as his deft skill in transitioning from vibrant beauty to foreboding darkness on a dime. For his Myakka project, the Sarasota-based artist lived in the park, often capturing as many as a thousand shots in a day.

”Photography is more than mere reportage with a mechanical device," explains Braun. ”I feel that I capture the world around me through the corners of my eyes and present it with interpretive bold colors and compositions that tell a real story that is bigger than static images.“

Antidote opens on June 8 and runs through the 23rd of this month. Visit the gallery's website for more information.

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Photo Gallery: Ringling by Brian David Braun