Into the Jungle: A Duo Exhibition

Installation shot, (Left to Right) Hypocrite & Sheep by Ken Higaki and When the Sky Turns to Earth by Aleza Zheng, Image courtesy of the gallery

By GARY BREWER November 4th, 2025 

“Myth must be kept alive. The people who can keep it alive are the artists of one kind or another.”                                                            —Joseph Campbell

It is fascinating to watch the shape-shifting of the Los Angeles area unfold: a chimera of endless cultural possibility. As a new slew of internationally recognized artists emerges from this city of angels and more galleries open in its environs, this shimmering constellation in the contemporary art world continues to grow. The newest addition to this flowering of creative venues is Sabbatikal, a DIY gallery in the garage and apartment of Sacha Cohen, a young thirtysomething who was raised in the New York art world working with his father, gallerist Ethan Cohen.

His space is a charming mix of casual intimacy and urban sophistication. The openings spill out into the warm nights of Santa Monica in his outdoor garden area, situated between the garage gallery and his apartment, where more works are displayed. 

Sabbatikal has been open for less than a year, and Cohen told me that with this exhibition, “Into the Jungle,” he is beginning to define his aesthetic vision. “In this show I am interested in highlighting artists exploring mythic narratives in their work. I am interested in the overlap between human and animal realms, nature and culture, stories that bring together human experience with ancient mythic themes.”

After the long siege of an art world that railed against emotion, imagination and metaphor, it is refreshing to see mythic and surrealist trends surfacing in the work of younger artists. Indeed, romanticism is returning to the arts and bringing with it metaphors that mine ancient narratives to address the complexity of our tumultuous times. The two artists in this show explore these realms of the fantastical and surreal with fresh, powerful vision. 

Ken Higaki, Cattle, 2025, Oil on canvas, 40 x 60 in, Image coutrtesy of the artist

In Ken Higaki’s painting “Cattle,” two minotaur-like creatures are entwined, one over another, dramatically filling the canvas. Their powerful bodies carefully rendered, the bulges of the muscles, the flesh painted in warm earth tones, are beautiful. One seems to be sleeping, while the other peers back over his shoulder, looking out at us. There is a tenderness and vulnerability to his demeanor. We do not know if this is the aftermath of a battle or if they are lovers in a state of postcoital bliss. The artist is clearly influenced by Caravaggio, the dark backgrounds accentuating the volume of the muscular bodies, the dramatic tone of the painting emboldened by the chiaroscuro. The theme triggers ancient myths and the current emotional chaos of our world, now embroiled in so much war and strife. 

The story of the Minotaur explores the dark side of human nature; this monstrous offspring is a punishment, divine retribution for offending the gods. The monster represents unrestrained human desire and the destructive forces of unbridled lust for power. In this painting, these seem to have been appeased, the darkness abated. Maybe here Higaki is creating a new myth of metamorphosis, of the monstrous dark impulses of human nature being subdued and transformed.

Several of the artist’s other paintings are cropped close ups of faces and bodies, less portraits of individuals than efforts to find in the flesh and skin a presence, a representation of the thin veil that separates the corporeal and the spirit.   

Aleza Zheng uses a lush, painterly approach in her work. Bold passages that fluctuate between pure abstraction and representational imagery create ambiguous narratives with an open fluidity. Private reverie, memory, references to classical Chinese painting, expressionist gestures and surrealism commingle freely in these beautiful amalgamations of pure stylistic intuition and storytelling.

Aleza Zheng, Curtain Parts, 2024, Oil on linen, 56 x 78 in, Image courtesy of the artist

In the painting “Curtain Parts” an Asian woman reads from a book, or maybe is pausing, lost in thought, while writing. She seems to be from another era. Zheng’s paint handling captures her bound-up hair with a gestural flourish. Her face and hands are conveyed in fluid sinuous strokes. Beneath the table where she leans, dark earthy passages of loosely applied paint hold the bottom left corner, which is a small abstract painting in itself. To the right a classical nude in the style of classic Western painting emerges from loose passages of paint. Her face is in shade, partially covered by the curtain, her breast and belly are sensual and erotic. Below the nude, a chessboard where two small animals move the pieces, is an allusion to surrealism and the strange fate that life is in part a game. Above this menagerie hangs a birdcage, beyond it the shadow of the bird flying off, free from the roles and expectations of our world.

“When the Sky Turns to Earth” is a lush, richly colored landscape, a reference to the terrible fires that destroyed so many homes in Altadena and the Palisades. The luminous intensity gives it a visionary quality: the radiance of flora returning, growing and filling the parched earth with renewal of fresh verdant life.    

Both Higaki and Zheng use ambiguity and the intrinsic power of painting to open up new possibilities within their respective artistic languages. The myths and metaphors from ancient stories and the surrealism of the early 20th century can be felt in their images. It will be a pleasure to see how these two young artists’ work develops as they continue to grow and deepen their unique approaches to painting.

They make up a part of the rich mix of talent unfolding in Los Angeles. Sabbatikal is a part of this story, a new gallery embracing this excitement and freedom, adding to the zeitgeist of this moment. WM