“Everyone carries a Shadow. And the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.” These are the wise words of the Ljilja, a mysterious Switzerland-based artist. She is referring to Carl Jung’s conception of the Shadow: the unconscious “dark side” of the personality driven by our more unenlightened […]
Category: Surreal
Fear, Beauty, and the Abject: Handcrafted Art Dolls by Emilie Steele
Emilie Steele is a multidisciplinary artist based in Stockholm, Sweden, who creates handcrafted posable art dolls. Each doll’s body is first sculpted in clay, then silicone molds are made, and the pieces are cast in resin. Steele also makes all the clothes, wigs, and accessories by hand. These are far from your ordinary dolls, notable […]
As Seen Through the Darkness: Digital Art by Lente Scura
Lente Scura, Italian for “dark lens,” has a working name reflecting both the atmosphere and meaning within his art. As he explains in an interview with Urban-Muse, his lens—his point of view—is expressed in a manner that is “surreal and mystical with dark emotional tones.” By combining photo-manipulation with digital painting, he submerges the subjects […]
Transgressive Portraiture of Historical Icons by Mathieu Laca
Mathieu Laca is a Montreal-based artist creating “deliciously appalling” oil paintings that transgress the conventions of traditional portraiture. The majority of his recent work focuses on various historical figures throughout the realms of art, literature, philosophy, and science. Whether he’s painting the face of Vincent van Gogh, Franz Kafka, or Frida Kahlo, there are always […]
Welcome to Faunwood: Enchanting Beasts by Miranda Zimmerman
Miranda Zimmerman, working under the title Faunwood, is a freelance artist currently based in the Pacific Northwest. With a bachelor’s degree in Evolutionary Biology, a graduate certificate in Science Illustration, and experience working on paleontological reconstruction in Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, it is clear she has a vested interest in the transformations and […]
Shadowy Magical Realism in the Artwork of Sail (Useless Arm)
“Everything is beautiful, even the ugly,” observes Sail, an artist operating under the curious handle, “Useless Arm.” His paintings are as moody as they are playful, depicting solitary figures bedecked in flowers and masks and pierced by arrows. Various cultural and literary references can be seen throughout—most notably, Asian aesthetics—but Sail’s characters are born of […]
Exploring the Senses in Uncanny Sculptures by Ronit Baranga
Ronit Baranga, who we featured previously as part of our anatomical sculpture list, is an Israel-based artist creating uncanny body-part hybrids out of clay and porcelain. Shown here are works produced by the artist in the last three years. In addition to her brand of sentient kitchenware, Baranga harnesses the unseen emotions of different parts—i.e., […]
Queen of the Double Eyes: Paintings by Alex Garant
After suffering a heart attack in 2012, Toronto-based artist Alex Garant had a renewed perspective on life and decided to devote herself to art full-time. Now, she is known internationally as the “Queen of the Double Eyes,” and aptly so; she paints faces as seen through a daze, with double sets of eyes and lips […]
Midnight’s Illumination: Night Photography by Elsa Bleda
The world is truly a different place at night; submerged into stillness and shadow, familiar places become as otherworldly as the bottom of the ocean. Elsa Bleda is a photographer and visionary who captures the haunting power of this nightly transformation. A focus of her work is her home, the city of Johannesburg. “There are […]
Presence & Void: Serenely Surreal Paintings by Victor Grasso
The paintings of Victor Grasso are both surreal and ordinary, erotic and innocent, eerie and filled with light. Based in Cape May, New Jersey, Grasso’s work is heavily influenced by the sea, one of his principal muses. One of the many things that makes Grasso so fascinating as a contemporary painter—in addition to the complex […]