By Christopher Harrity

Originally published on Advocate.com June 06 2012 3:19 PM ET

Gestalt, organized by Lia Halloran, showing now through July 7, is an examination of identity and cultural expression through the work of two graduating Chapman University BFA candidates at the Advocate and Gochis Galleries at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center at Ed Gould Plaza.

Andy Macasil's rich feminine-style nude paintings (above and on the next page) investigate self-representation and examine components of masculinity in the "chubs" and "bears" gay subculture.

The larger-than-life wood sculptures of Kellan Shanahan address the relationship between identity and Western ideology, challenging the established tropes of traditional figurative sculpture and pulling apart their cultural rhetoric.

Pixelated Bust, and Standing Figure, by Kellan Shanahan