My cousin, artist Nathan Schultz, 26, stands in front of two self portraits at his home in Lawrence, Kansas. He's created a menagerie of contemporary characters, including this image of "Dimebag Darrell," former lead guitarist for Pantera. Darrell was murdered in 2004 while performing onstage with metal band Damageplan.

Most of Schutlz's work is in acrylic but last winter he made this collage using a cherished photo of Kurt Cobain. Called "Kurt has a posse," it features cameos from girlfriend Evie, friend Chris and the artist.

"I think in America where you have the luxury of not worrying about politics, there's a lot of tension," says Schultz. There are a lot of people who just do art that's internal. That's what most of my art is. And then there's people that just do art that's political.

"The art world is definitely changing," he adds."  But right now "I think that has more to do with technology than politics."