"We get away with a lot weirder stuff," says artist Pearl C. Hsiung of the creative scene in Los Angeles versus the creative scene in New York. "I think it's also more collaborative than competitive." Hsiung's paintings are a phantasmagorical mishmash of real and imagined dreamscapes that weave together the earthly and otherworldly. "I use a lot of natural and geological forms like volcano and cactus as a starting point," explains Hsiung. "During the process, they become more anthropomorphic. But in the end, I think what I do is about explosion -- whether I'm doing a landscape or a portrait, it tends to be about different levels of tension and pressure." A few months ago, she curated a show called "Scorpius" with fellow Scorpio artists at ACP (Artist Curated Projects), and in the coming months Hsiung will be exhibiting in several group shows in L.A. and abroad.

Hsiung grew up in and around Los Angeles from the age of four months, when her family moved from Taiwan to the States. Her family's first apartment is only a few blocks away from where she lives now in L.A.'s Koreatown. She has rarely moved outside the SoCal zone, with the exception of living in London for a time to attend Goldsmiths University for her Masters in art. Hsiung briefly contemplated a move to New York but ultimately vetoed the idea. "I have bad circulation. I was always cold there."

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