To Krakow-based artist Dawid Planeta, the jungle is a metaphor for “the mysterious world of [our] emotions”; as children, we explore the jungle with joy and curiosity, but as we age, we detach; the landscapes become alien and filled with fear.

Last year, when Planeta became depressed, he turned to art. He began “Mini People,” a series of digital paintings of dark worlds inhabited by lonely human wanderers and colossal animals that emerge out of the mist like silent gods. The grainy texture and gray tones are an accurate depiction of what the world looks like to a depressed person—out of focus, dull—but there is usually a point of illumination: blooms of light from an animal-god’s eyes, or glowing sigils etched on stone. For Planeta, these illustrations became his way out of himself and back to the jungle. As he writes, “The jungle is patient. One day you will realize that the real enemy is not out there. It’s here. It’s you. And that day, the jungle will live again.”

Images © Dawid Planeta