Artist Adrian Cox's latest oil paintings tell the story of mythical creatures hoping to take over the world

"My paintings chronicle the lives of these hybrid beings that live in the verdant wilderness of the Borderlands," Cox explains. "This personal mythology draws on a myriad of references and blends elements of art history, science fiction, mythic archetypes, and my own experience of growing up in a closeted queer family."

He adds: "The Border Creatures exist in symbiotic harmony with the natural world, but are antagonised by the Specters, spirits of pure energy that casually burn the landscape that they walk upon. When these spirits first appeared, the destruction that they brought to the ecosystem of the Borderlands drove the creatures into hiding. The Border Creatures eventually triumphed over the Specters when Healer, the leader of the creatures, transformed many of the Specters into rainbow-hued Spectral Witnesses."

It's an incredible backstory to the artist's ongoing body of work. His latest series, Into the Spirit Garden, will go on show at LA's Corey Helford Gallery on 7 March, where we'll see the remaining 'Specters' unite in their desire to establish dominance over the world, and band together to form the 'Spectral Brotherhood'.

Cox adds: "Into the Spirit Garden is a story of finding a space between heaven and earth, soul and flesh, a space in which the ties of community are the very soil in which our spirits grow."