Flowers have long held symbolism. In the Victorian era, for instance, learning a bloom’s meaningful metaphor was a popular pastime and a physical way to express feelings that couldn’t be made public. But just as language evolves, so does the meaning of flowers. Now, as a whole, they evoke themes of beauty, strength, and resilience. Some florals grow despite harsh conditions, and others—annuals—bloom, wilt, and reappear year after year. Artist Jess Currier finds meaning in flowers and fuses them with portraiture, combining the human spirit and the inherent symbolism of beautiful blooms.

Currier’s dreamy oil paintings feature portraits of women donning knowing glances. They look like they’ve discovered something, or are coming to a realization that changes everything. The telling expressions are made more layered with her addition of flowers. Big blooms cloak the composition, obscuring her subject’s faces—but not totally. Currier overlays them on the skin with some transparency, as if she’s adjusting the opacity. We can see the people behind the flowers, and the message is that the two are one; the flowers’ symbols represent the women themselves. The result is poignant but ultimately optimistic and empowering. They can’t be kept down.

“In my darkest moments, I’ve returned to flowers as symbols of resilience,” Currier told My Modern Met in a 2025 interview, “of making the choice, again and again, to keep living, to keep finding beauty even when we know it’s fleeting.”

If you are a fan of her work, you can actually learn to paint from Currier. She loves teaching others and has two online courses; one is titled Intro to Oil Painting and her newest class is Expressive Portraits in Oil. “These courses are designed to guide you from the foundations,” she says, “into a more personal, expressive approach, helping you build skills, confidence, and a deeper connection with your work.”

To see what she’s creating next and for more news about her classes, follow Jess Currier on Instagram.

Artist Jess Currier finds meaning in flowers and fuses them with portraiture, combining the human spirit and the inherent symbolism of beautiful blooms.

Currier’s dreamy oil paintings feature portraits of women donning knowing glances.

They look like they’ve discovered something, or are coming to a realization that changes everything.

The telling expressions are made more layered with her addition of flowers.

Big blooms cloak the composition, obscuring her subject’s faces—but not totally.

Currier overlays them on the skin with some transparency, as if she’s adjusting the opacity.

We can see the people behind the flowers, and the message is that the two are one; the flowers’ symbols represent the women themselves.

The result is poignant but ultimately optimistic and empowering. They can’t be kept down.

Jess Currier: Website | Instagram | Facebook

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Jess Currier.

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@haleygrecoartwork Some of my latest paintings! I’ve been obsessed with painting clouds and water lately and I can’t wait to keep going. #oilpainting #arttok #cloudscape #cloudapainting #artistoftiktok ♬ Alchemised (Dark Fantasy Inspired Theme) – Mr. Pianoful

Artist Haley Greco’s paintings begin with light. Working in oil and based in St. Augustine, Florida, she treats illumination not simply as a visual effect, but as a force that shapes the atmosphere and structure of a painting. Beams cut through dense clouds, horizons glow with suspended color, and ocean surfaces fracture light into shifting reflections. Her compositions, built around expansive skies and open water, position light as the central subject, suggesting that it can hold narrative, memory, and a quiet sense of revelation.

Across her work, Greco returns to a consistent visual language of towering clouds, glowing horizons, and reflective ocean surfaces. What distinguishes these paintings is not just their subject matter, but the way illumination is constructed. Light does not rest on the surface. It cuts through, diffuses, and radiates. In several pieces, a vertical beam breaks through dense cloud cover and extends from sky to sea in a direct, almost symbolic gesture. In others, light settles along the horizon line, dissolving into gradients of peach, violet, and gold. These moments feel less like documentation and more like translation, as if the artist is working from an internal experience of nature.

Her handling of oil paint reinforces this approach. Greco builds her skies through layered transitions, allowing color to shift gradually while maintaining depth. The clouds are volumetric and structured through careful control of value and edge. Highlights emerge slowly and integrate into the surrounding atmosphere, creating the impression that light originates from within the painting. This is especially evident in her depictions of water, where the surface breaks into small planes that catch and scatter reflected light.

There is a clear balance between intensity and stillness. While the skies often appear dense and active, the compositions remain controlled. The horizon line anchors the image and provides stability against the shifting atmosphere. This balance reflects the nature of light itself, which is both fleeting and constant. Greco’s work aligns with a longer tradition of artists concerned with light and atmosphere, including J. M. W. Turner. Like Turner, she treats light as an active force rather than a descriptive detail. At the same time, her paintings remain direct and legible, relying on clear visual structures rather than fragmentation.

If you’d like to own an original painting, prints, or ornaments, they are all available to purchase online at Haley Greco’s Etsy shop.

Haley Greco uses oil paint to explore light as the central subject within expansive skies and seascapes.

@haleygrecoartwork This one felt like painting my deepest dreams, like something deep inside coming to fruition. This was for a commission and I hope you enjoy the process! #artprocess #oilpainting #paintingprocess #haleygrecoartwork ♬ Divine Intervention – Angelical Voices & Dee Piano & Melodia Simples & Dy Kamylle

@haleygrecoartwork This felt so dreamy to create! I hope the process makes you feel at peace. “Lunar Haven” is available ✨ #cloudpainting #oilpainting #cloudscape #arttok #paintingprocess ♬ ICARUS (Ambience) – Ted D'Souza & chillØut

@haleygrecoartwork This is the process for my latest painting “Divine Light.” I love how this one came together, I felt so at peace painting this. #oilpainting #cloudpainting #arttok #cloudpainting #paintingprocess ♬ THE MOON – Camargguinho

@haleygrecoartwork I’ve had so much fun creating the light in this one! #oilpainting #artprocess #seascapepainting #paintingprocess #haleygrecoartwork ♬ Love story – Afalnisme.

@haleygrecoartwork My biggest sale of the year is here! All of these paintings and more are 25% off for my Black Friday sale going on now. #haleygrecoartwork #oilpainting #artistoftiktok #cloudpainting ♬ INTERESTELLAR – Kore Blanco

She also shares her process on social media.

@haleygrecoartwork Here is the tutorial for my new painting “Glistening Seas.” I hope this brings you peace today. #arttutorial #oilpainting #artprocess #paintingprocess #arttok ♬ Finitude – Gabriel Albuquerqüe

Through layered color and controlled transitions, she constructs beams, reflections, and atmosphere with precision.

@haleygrecoartwork It’s finished!! This is “Luminance” #oilpainting #artprocess #arttok #artistoftiktok ♬ Genesis – Grimes

@haleygrecoartwork I’m so excited about this one! Adding lots of details today. #oilpainting #artprocess #paintingprocess #cloudscape #cloudpainting ♬ I can't describe what I'm feeling – lyrλmbient

@haleygrecoartwork I love working with these colors! Dreamy sunset clouds are my favorite to paint. #cloudpainting #oilpainting #cloudscape #arttok #paintingprocess ♬ Heavenly Rapture – Sublime Vocal & rest of the soul & ChillØut & David Souza

@haleygrecoartwork Painting this one felt like stepping into a dream. ✨ #cloudpainting #paintingprocess #cloudscape #artprocess ♬ Manifestation – Perfect, so dystopian

Her work positions light as both a structural and emotional force within contemporary landscape painting.

@haleygrecoartwork This is the tutorial for “Golden Drift.” I hope you enjoy watching as much as I did creating it! #oilpainting #arttok #artprocess #paintingprocess #arttutorial ♬ Finitude – Gabriel Albuquerqüe

@haleygrecoartwork Here’s the tutorial for “Scattered Gold.” I loved creating the glowy effect in this one and I hope you enjoy watching! #haleygrecoartwork #oilpainting #artprocess #paintingprocess #arttok ♬ Finitude – Gabriel Albuquerqüe

Haley Greco: Instagram | TikTok | Facebook

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Self-taught painter Tom D. Smith creates expressive oil paintings that translate emotion into color, movement, and form. As a result, his compositions emphasize energy and sensation, and they feel both immediate and reflective of shared human experience.

Beginning with an internal concept or feeling, Smith develops his paintings through a process of visualization and refinement. “I have to be able to visualize this intangible thing as something physical,” he tells My Modern Met, noting that this process can take months. This careful translation of emotion into visual language is evident in his use of saturated color and continuous brushwork, which together suggest movement, transformation, and exchange.

Working primarily in oil, Smith takes advantage of the medium’s slow drying time to build soft transitions and layered surfaces. The resulting compositions often appear fluid, with edges that blur and merge rather than define fixed boundaries. This material quality reinforces recurring themes within his work, particularly the idea of connection. Figures frequently overlap or blend into one another, suggesting emotional and psychological bonds, while broader compositions reflect relationships between individuals, the self, and the surrounding world.

As a self-taught artist, Smith approaches painting through experimentation and iterative learning. His process balances structure with intuition, allowing compositions to evolve as he works. This openness extends to how he considers audience engagement, as his paintings are intended to resonate within personal spaces while maintaining the integrity of his own expression. At the same time, digital platforms have expanded his reach significantly, enabling his work to connect with a global audience.

My Modern Met had the opportunity to speak to Smith about his process and evolving practice. Scroll down to read our exclusive interview.

Your work emphasizes capturing energy and emotion through color. How do you translate something intangible like a feeling into a specific palette or composition?

I have to be able to visualize this intangible thing as something physical, which isn’t always easy to do. I can have a concept in mind or human experience I want to capture and it can take months thinking of the best way of doing this. For me, using vibrant and bold colors conveys energy well. I combine this with fluid brushstrokes which represent the continuous flow and conservation of energy. The colors I use evoke different emotions in the viewer and help with the storytelling aspect of my work. I think imagination is key in terms of the composition.

As a self-taught artist, how has your learning process shaped the way you approach experimentation and risk in your work?

I think being self-taught has helped me massively. It’s allowed me to work freely without any constraints and ultimately learn through personal failures and successes, over and over again. I’ll try new things that will work and then some that don’t. Each time I take these experiences with me to improve my craft. The more risks I take, the more ways I’m finding to paint and create new things.

Many of your paintings feel very immediate and expressive. Do you plan your pieces in advance, or do they evolve more intuitively as you paint?

A mixture really. Often I’ll come up with an idea or experience that I really want to express or to resonate with people and I’ll create sketches of it but this changes a lot as I go along. There’s always elements that evolve intuitively as I paint. One of the things I like most about being able to paint is the freedom and expression of it, so I never like to follow an exact plan. When I paint like this, I see it as the energy flowing in me, flows through my brush, onto the canvas.

Can you talk about the role of oil paint in your practice? What does that medium allow you to do that others might not?

The blending, the slow drying, and the thinning of the paints all allow me to achieve that fluid movement in my work. It also allows me to experiment easily. I love the way oils move and the feeling I get when I can move the paint smoothly across the canvas.

Your work is described as bringing “joy” and “character” into people’s spaces. How do you balance personal expression with the awareness that your work will live in someone else’s home?

It’s not always easy as my experience isn’t always someone else’s. So I have to put myself in their shoes, think about what they can connect with and find a way of combing this with what I want to paint and what people want in their home. I can’t lose the essence of my expression but I want people that view my work to be seen.

How has selling prints and original works online (through platforms like your shop) influenced the way you think about audience and accessibility?

I’m so grateful that modern artists have access to the internet and are able to sell online. In the first three months of 2026 from Instagram I reached over 10 million views from people around the world. I couldn’t have done this without social media. It’s allowed me to expand my audience and the use of technology has made my work accessible to people all around the globe.

Are there recurring themes or emotions that you find yourself returning to, even subconsciously, across different pieces?

Connections is the main one. Connections to each other, to yourself, and to the planet. To me, the most important thing in people’s lives are their relationships. We need to nurture the relationship with ourselves and with the people close to us.

What does your studio process look like from start to finish, do you work on multiple pieces at once, or focus intensely on one?

This changes depending on what I’m currently working on. I won’t have more than two pieces on the go at once. As I use oils I need to wait for layers to dry and this can sometimes leave me with some extra time which allows me to focus my attention on another piece.

How do you know when a painting is finished, especially when working in a loose or expressive style?

It’s easier to know if I go into it with more of a plan and a destination in my mind. I can’t always see an immediate finish when I’m painting loosely and with more expression, but I usually know when I’m done when I get there. Very rarely do I look at my work and think I need to keep on adding more after thinking I’m done.

Looking ahead, how do you see your work evolving—are there new techniques, subjects, or scales you’re interested in exploring?

Definitely. I always want to try different things and explore new ideas. Through experimentation I find new ways of creating and stumble upon new ideas. I’m sure as I grow and experience new things in the world first hand, this will impact my work too. My style and work will grow with me.

Tom Smith: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Tom Smith.

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“Swimmer,” 2025. Oil on masonite panel. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

It takes care to observe the quotidian. In many ways, we must intentionally train our eyes to see what might otherwise strike us as ordinary or as a given. This act of observation anchors Claudia Keep’s practice, which revolves around everyday subjects and moments inspired by her personal archive of photographs. For her latest solo exhibition, the artist turns her gaze toward water, one of the most essential yet ubiquitous elements in our lives.

Now on view at Parker Gallery in Los Angeles, Water, Water, Everywhere gathers a slate of oil paintings whose sole focus is water. As with much of Keep’s work, the small-scale compositions explore their subjects across disparate but nevertheless mundane settings, whether it be a cafe, pool, or beach. Several canvases unfold within vehicles, with the artist filtering lush, seemingly tropical landscapes through car windows that are splattered with rain. Night drive in the rain captures this effect best, offering an expressive and highly-textured portrait of oncoming headlights abstracted by dots of rain. It’s an incredibly familiar scene, one that most viewers can resonate with and embody. That sensation is enhanced by Keep’s mastery over perspective, which is typically eye-level, as if encouraging us to experience the world through someone else’s point of view.

“Painting a road is always going to make me feel good,” Keep admitted in a 2025 interview with The Creative Independent. “It’s satisfying, it’s easy, and it always comes together compositionally.”

Keep’s car-and-road-inspired paintings are certainly interesting, but Water, Water, Everywhere finds most of its strength from her depictions of swimmers. The aptly-titled Swimmer, for example, shows a woman diving through blue-green water, her legs furiously kicking behind her. The painting is almost Futuristic in its dynamic brushstrokes and sense of movement, transforming a fleeting and perhaps banal moment into one of enchantment.

“I’m interested in capturing a sense of movement because I’m trying to paint what it feels like to see something,” Keep has said. “I think sensation comes with movement or at least a certain suggestion of physicality.”

In Water, Water, Everywhere, Keep also plays with these themes at a greater scale. The exhibition features five multi-panel paintings, a panoramic format that, as Parker Gallery says, “heightens the immersive quality of her compositions.” Particularly effective are River swimmer and Pool swimmer, once again depicting women slicing through water. In both, we see Keep distorting her subjects as they float beneath the waves, their bodies rippled, sliced, and in constant movement, propelling from one panel to the next.

What’s especially delightful, though, are the frames in the exhibition. Each painting is accompanied by a frame that mirrors its primary color palette, seamlessly extending the canvas beyond its natural borders. Sunset, at the beach, for one, boasts a peach frame reminiscent of its titular sunset, while Afternoon coffee is surrounded by a yellow frame, mimicking the painting’s plaid tablecloth.

“I think that my life is not really so different from other people’s lives,” Keep continued in her 2025 interview. “My experiences are shared, and I think that in that hyperspecificity, people find points of connection.”

Water, Water, Everywhere is on view at Parker Gallery in Los Angeles through May 30, 2026.

In her new solo exhibition, Claudia Keep explores water across everyday moments and transforms them into enchanting encounters.

“Afternoon showers,” 2025.

“River swimmer,” 2025. Oil on 3 masonite panels. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

Detail, “River swimmer,” 2025. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

“Glass of water at le dive,” 2026. Oil on masonite panel. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

“Driving in the rain, early evening,” 2025. Oil on masonite panel. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

“Sunset, at the beach,” 2025. Oil on masonite panel. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

“Pool swimmer,” 2025. Oil on 3 masonite panels. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

Water, Water, Everywhere is on view at Parker Gallery through May 30, 2026.

“LA sunset,” 2026. Oil on 3 masonite panels. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

Detail, “LA sunset,” 2026. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

Detail, “LA sunset,” 2026. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

“Night drive in the rain,” 2025. Oil on masonite panel. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

“Moonlight over the ocean,” 2025. Oil on masonite panel. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

“Tea,” 2025. Oil on masonite panel. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

“Shells and beach rocks,” 2025. Oil on masonite panel. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

“Afternoon coffee,” 2024. Oil on masonite panel. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

“Waves,” 2025. Oil on 7 masonite panels. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

“Dark waves,” 2025. Oil on 5 masonite panels. (Photo: Paul Salveson)

Exhibition Information:
Claudia Keep
Water, Water, Everywhere
April 18–May 30, 2026
Parker Gallery
6700 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038

Parker Gallery: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Parker Gallery.

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“Body,” 2026. Oil on canvas. (Courtesy Lisson Gallery)

Last year, Liu Xiaodong visited Detroit with the intention of painting its various residents—perhaps he would portray retired workers from the motor industry, he thought, or maybe rappers from the city’s prominent music scene. Instead, the figurative painter decided to significantly narrow his scope. For the first time in his career, he honed in on a single subject: John Mcintyre, a Detroit-based tattoo artist and a member of a local medieval fighting team. Now, this documentary project is the basis of Liu’s latest solo exhibition, currently on view at Lisson Gallery in Los Angeles.

Aptly titled Host, the show offers a kaleidoscopic glimpse into Detroit as told through Mcintyre’s life. Across Liu’s expressive, highly textured canvases, we follow Mcintyre into a snow-covered forest, where he dons full armor and reenacts battles with fellow combatants; we watch from afar as he approaches a building towering above a desolate, midwinter street; and we trace his hands as he tattoos a man’s calf, his brow furrowed in concentration. These scenes may appear disparate at first glance but, when taken together, they still provide a singular portrait of a city and the many ways it is inhabited.

Perhaps nothing encapsulates this better than Mcintyre’s ties to Detroit’s subcultural world. Since 2019, he has been a member of Knyaz USA, a Michigan-specific medieval reenactment club that partners with a similar group in Ukraine. Alongside his team, Mcintyre participates in “buhurt” or “historical medieval battles” (HMB), a full-contact, armored sport in which opponents attempt to strike each other with blunted steel weapons. Snowlight in Detroit grounds Liu’s examination of Knyaz USA, depicting Mcintyre with other fighters also decked out in intricate armor. They wield swords and axes; they clutch shields emblazoned with a sun sigil; and they wade through the thick snow that defines a Midwestern winter.

The monumental canvas is completed by something of an easter egg. Toward the back of the composition we can glimpse the artist himself wearing a blue jacket. He’s turned away from the duels unfolding behind him, his focus entirely reserved for painting en plein air. In this way, Liu is merely an observer, documenting the unexpected moments that lie beneath the city’s industrial surface.

“Chancing upon the figure of [Mcintyre], embedded in Detroit subcultures and historical battles, allowed Liu to train his brush on one ‘host’ individual, somehow representing the wider communities he embodies,” the gallery explains in a press release. “Even in the heat of the battle, Liu’s main subject is recognizable, seemingly stepping out of the twenty-first century into a pre-Raphaelite fantasy.”

The exhibition’s other paintings are equally intimate, including Backyard. Here, we see Mcintyre submerged in a hot tub, the landscape behind him blanketed by snow. Similarly, in John and His Tattoos, we encounter Mcintyre without his shirt; his chest, arms, and stomach decorated with countless tattoos—another reminder of the subcultures in which he participates, and another reminder that, even without his chainmail, his skin has its own armor. In these compositions, Liu takes us into Mcintyre’s domestic reality, one that would otherwise be kept private and out of view.

“Rather than heroicizing this painted knight,” the gallery contends, “Liu considers the importance of outsiders and individuals in society, as well as the communities and camaraderie that both create and encircle any one person.”

Liu Xiaodong: Host will be on view at Lisson Gallery in Los Angeles through June 13, 2026.

In his newest solo exhibition, figurative painter Liu Xiaodong hones in on one single subject: a Detroit-based tattoo artist and member of a local medieval fighting team.

“John and His Tattoos (John与他的纹身),” 2025. Oil on canvas. (Courtesy Lisson Gallery)

“Painter John (画家John),” 2026. Oil on canvas. (Courtesy Lisson Gallery)

“One Person on a Snowy Night,” 2025. Oil on canvas. (Courtesy Lisson Gallery)

“John in his Armor (戴着铁甲的John),” 2025. Oil on canvas. (Courtesy Lisson Gallery)

Now on view at Lisson Gallery in Los Angeles, Host offers an intimate—and, at times, unexpected—glimpse into Detroit through the lens of one of its inhabitants.

“One man, One city (一个人，一座城),” 2025. Oil on canvas. (Courtesy Lisson Gallery)

Installation view of “Liu Xiaodong: Host,” on view at Lisson Gallery in Los Angeles. (Courtesy of the gallery © Liu Xiaodong)

Installation view of “Liu Xiaodong: Host,” on view at Lisson Gallery in Los Angeles. (Courtesy of the gallery © Liu Xiaodong)

Installation view of “Liu Xiaodong: Host,” on view at Lisson Gallery in Los Angeles. (Courtesy of the gallery © Liu Xiaodong)

Exhibition Information:
Liu Xiaodong
Host
April 15–June 13, 2026
Lisson Gallery
1037 N. Sycamore Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038

Lisson Gallery: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Lisson Gallery.

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“Love Bite”

Artist Alison Friend shows how contagious happiness can be through her quirky oil paintings. Love Bite, a recent portrait from her growing portfolio of extraordinary work, offers her signature style of anthropomorphizing an adorable animal with a unique twist. As she tells My Modern Met, “I paint funny contemporary portraits of animals with modern relatable vices, like snacks, booze, and cigarettes.”

The juxtaposition between the subjects and the style emphasizes the characters and how unusual or out of place they seem, which can be disarming yet alluring. “They are the complete opposite of the dour porcelain-skinned human subject in the Old Masters,” Friend explains, “but something about painting my characters in this traditional way gives them more gravitas and makes them even funnier.”

From the subjects’ expressions to their random array of objects, Friend sets the scene in each painting to feel a range of pleasant emotions—be it joy, whimsy, or even nostalgia. In a piece titled U Ok Bun?, for instance, Friend evokes a tender sense of empathy and a gentleness that’s reminiscent of childhood as two doe-eyed bunnies share a tender moment reading a book together. Meanwhile, another painting titled The Agony and the Ecstasy relies on visual irony and situational humor. In this artwork, the subject is a dog with an outstretched tongue that falls just short of licking the ice cream cone in his paws because he’s wearing a cone himself.

“I make these paintings because I love the act of painting,” Friend admits, “but I also love being entertained by these animals as characters and how they unfold as the paintings progress.” She leaves the story behind each piece open to interpretation. They can have as much or as little meaning as the viewer wants, making them accessible and digestible for anyone, regardless of whether they are an art lover or not.

Her book Dog Only Knows contains more of these adorable, anthropomorphized animals, each with its own story for the viewer to indulge in. “Looking back at the pieces from the show that really resonated with people made me realize how important storytelling is in my work,” the artist says. “It can be something as simple as a side glance or a tight squeeze of a toy, but even these small things make the viewer think about that character’s bigger story.”

Artist Alison Friend combines contemporary pet paintings with traditional stylings of the Old Masters to create something extremely charming.

“The Agony and the Ecstacy”

“Rosie”

Her oil paintings anthropomorphize animals, giving each of them a distinct personality, as well as hints at their interests.

“Rabbit Had Bad Habits”

Each portrait gives the viewer the freedom to imagine an entire backstory for the quirky character featured.

“Falconry for Beginners”

Friend discovered the significance of storytelling through her art and believes every little detail can be another Easter egg in a much bigger story.

“Crowned Prince of Squirrel Chasing”

“She Followed Him Home”

Though her subjects often have a prop or two with them, even those without any have very expressive faces that are sure to make you smile.

“Crystal”

“They Called Him The Big Fondue”

Friend now has a book, called Dog Only Knows, featuring over 125 of her animal portraits.

“Self Help and Pickles”

“U ok Bun?”

Alison Friend: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Tiktok

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Alison Friend.

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Surrealism has only been around for a century, yet it’s had an outsized impact on the art world. In its relatively short lifespan, the movement has inspired countless creatives working today. Brazilian artist Rafael Silveira is one of them; he creates fantastical portraits of people that use objects, animals, and places as a way to delve into the human psyche.

Within Silveira’s works, you’ll find figures whose faces are replaced by a bouquet of tropical florals or surreal vistas, such as a swan, with a human brain as its body, swimming in the water. Beneath the bird, in a cross-sectioned composition, a human heart rests on the lakebed. All of Silveira’s imagery is created in colorful, candy-coated hues, making the strange scenes feel inviting as they envelop you into their world.

Silveira is always searching his surroundings for signs, which helps him create his surreal imagery. “It is a very intuitive process,” he tells My Modern Met. “These signs somehow connect with my thoughts, creating bridges that open doors. It is something very organic and difficult to explain in words. And when I say ‘surroundings,’ I do not just mean what happens in my home or city. I mean something broader, anything that passes before my eyes.”

Anything can be a source of inspiration for the artist, no matter how unlikely. “A flower in the garden, a pastry shop window, a product package, old books (physical or digital, since there are incredible library archives online). Everything that crosses my gaze can create this energy and send a signal that opens a kind of portal in my mind, from which these surreal images emerge.”

Like his search for signs, Silveira’s paintings come together in a very organic way. “[Ideas sprout] chaotically in the fertile soil of imagination,” he shares. “The next step is to try to organize them a bit and find the best way to bring them into the material world, to show them to others, since until then only I can see them.” His planning process for the final piece is a meticulous one, in which he creates layouts, compositions, and color studies to explore all possibilities that match the visual energy he has in mind.

“Once this ‘project’ feels right,” he continues, “I use it as a guide for the painting. I work mainly with oil paint, strongly influenced by the old masters, and also by what is called ‘paper ephemera,’ vintage printed matter, which for me is a very rich part of the soil of the collective unconscious.”

Silveira is starting his creative process to prepare for a solo exhibition at KP Projects in Los Angeles, which will happen in 2026. See what he’s working on next when you visit his Instagram.

Brazilian artist Rafael Silveira creates surreal portraits of people that use objects, animals, and places as a way to delve into the human psyche.

“Magnetic”

“The Artifice of Eternity”

“Recanto”

“Bloomspell”

All of Silveira’s imagery is created in colorful, candy-coated hues, making the strange scenes feel inviting as they envelop you into their world.

“Burning Desire”

“Flora Instimista”

Silveira is always searching his surroundings for signs, which help him create his surreal imagery.

“Extravaso”

“Vapores da Mente”

“It is a very intuitive process,” he tells My Modern Met. “These signs somehow connect with my thoughts, creating bridges that open doors.”

“Ebulicao”

“Free Mind”

“Polyphonic Nature of Existence”

Rafael Silveira: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Rafael Silveira.

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The mountains, rivers, and forests of our world have watched countless generations come and go, and if the land could speak, it would definitely have some stories to tell. Exploring humanity’s connection to the land—past, present, and future—Melbourne-based artist Jack Rowland creates vibrant landscapes that celebrate nature’s ancient beauty. He’s painted a number of different landscapes over the years, but his most recent work focuses on Australia’s vast deserts and mountainscapes.

Rowland’s series, titled Euphorica, reimagines the wild Ikara-Flinders Ranges of South Australia as a dream-like utopia. The typically hostile environment is rendered in saturated hues, capturing the intense energy and heat of the area. Through his art, Rowland aims to visualize our spiritual connection with nature, drawing on the idea of the “sublime.” Using vivid colors and intricate detail, he explores the powerful, almost psychedelic feeling of being at one with nature.

“Watching the sunset over the breath-taking landscape of the Ikara-Flinders Ranges, a sense of just how ancient this land is came to the forefront of my mind,” Rowland recalls. “And how irrelevant the human drama back at home can be. This land has seen it all. And will continue to long after we are gone.”

For another series of oil paintings, titled Un-Earth, Rowland renders otherworldly landscapes inspired by Lake Mungo, a dried-up lake in western New South Wales where the oldest human remains outside of Africa were discovered. The site’s eerie terrain of skeletal sand mounds and its deep connection to the ancient past inspired Rowland to depict a future, post-climate crisis world. His dark, cinematic landscapes invite us to picture two futures—one where we’ve been left behind as ancient remains, and another where we’re discovering new worlds beyond our own.

Check out some of Rowland’s fantastical landscapes below and find more of his work on Instagram.

Melbourne-based artist Jack Rowland creates vibrant landscape paintings that celebrate nature’s ancient beauty.

He reimagines the wild Ikara-Flinders Ranges of South Australia as a dream-like utopia.

Through his art, Rowland aims to capture our spiritual connection with nature.

Jack Rowland: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Jack Rowland.

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Blending surreal elements with detailed realism, Lara Hochreiter’s oil portraits explore our intrinsic connection to the natural world. Each colorful painting is like a portal into the subject’s inner world, revealing lived experiences through nature-infused symbolism. Hochreiter explains, “I create from the space where vulnerability and resilience coexist.”

In two separate works, Hochreiter paints her subjects holding oversized hearts with plantlife growing from their fleshy surfaces. Just as Frida Kahlo used hearts to symbolize emotional pain in her paintings, Hochreiter uses the human organ to capture emotions that we all hold but often struggle to put into words.

“I explore the heart not just as a biological organ, but as a fertile vessel—a place where pain, memory, identity, and beauty all take root,” she says. “The flowers sprouting from it are not ornamental, but evidence of emotional labor: growth through struggle.”

In other works, Hochreiter explores themes of mythology. One piece depicts a modern Tiresias, a blind prophet from Greek mythology known for his extraordinary gift of foresight. The male portrait features birds carrying flowers with eyeballs in the center, symbolizing his ability to look into the future.

“Though sightless, Tiresias ‘saw’ more clearly than others, interpreting omens, dreams, and nature’s signs, such as the flight and song of birds,” explains Hochreiter. “His wisdom and prophecies often served as crucial guidance in the mythological tales of figures like Oedipus and Odysseus, blending divine insight with a profound understanding of human destiny.”

Hochreiter’s stunning paintings are gaining the attention they deserve. She recently won First Prize in the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize’s Catherine K. Gyllerstrom Emerging Artist Award for 2025, and her work is currently on display at the Haven Gallery in New York.

Check out some of the artist’s recent work below and find more by following Lara Hochreiter on Instagram.

Barcelona-based artist Lara Hochreiter’s stunning oil portraits explore human emotions and our connection to nature.

Each colorful painting is like a portal into the subject’s inner world, revealing lived experiences through nature-infused symbolism

Lara Hochreiter: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Lara Hochreiter.

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Mexico City-based artist Alexis Mata, has been drawn to distortion throughout his creative career. He has explored this visual concept across a wide array of media, including collage, sculpture, and installation, allowing him to ponder beauty and perception. But instead of going deeper, he has chosen to part with it, opening new creative channels and offering a lesson in spiritual renewal.

“There’s beauty in [mirages], in how the mind decodes what it wishes to see, almost like magic,” Mata previously told My Modern Met, when his series Fata Morgana was on view at The Hole in New York. Now, he’s getting a full circle moment, as his latest endeavor, titled Sublime Paraíso (“Sublime Paradise”), is exhibited in his hometown at Maia Contemporary gallery.

For his latest exhibition, Mata lets go of the melancholic atmosphere of his previous work to go on a journey of self-discovery. To do so, he explores natural landscapes from a warped lens, as if looking at them through a broken glass. The plants and skies that inhabit his compositions are more than nods to their earthly counterparts; they signal to an inner oasis among the emotional desert that can sometimes surround us.

Mata describes these new compositions as visual poems, where innovation and growth take the shape of blooming cacti and meteors breaking through the atmosphere. Here, the alluring psychedelic aesthetic is not a way to disguise reality, but rather to take it all in and see what could be beyond it.

We recently spoke to Mata about his creative process, the allure of illusion, and the meaning of bringing his work home. Read on for My Modern Met’s exclusive interview.

What draws you to the glitch motifs that appear throughout your work?

I’m drawn to visual errors. I feel there’s a certain beauty in them, and I’ve explored that idea in my body of work from the very beginning. I’ve tried to refine it up to where I am now. However, in this exhibition, there’s a part where I move away from the glitch and the error, to begin a new stage.

What inspires your compositions and the themes in the works that make up Sublime Paraíso?

In this series, Sublime Paraíso, I’m reflecting many intimate things—a deep dive inward, an inner landscape, so to speak. It’s a very surreal series, playing between dreams and reality. There’s a part where cacti intertwine with skeletons, but in reality, it’s a very beautiful visual poem. I tried to represent the moment when a cactus blooms—that instant when it dies to give new life to another—and that sparked much of the exhibition: life and death as a cycle.

There are also sculptures I’ve been drawing for many years. I even have them tattooed as amulets, and in this show I let them take form as sculptures for the first time—something very new in my practice.

There’s a cloud with thorns and a lightning bolt that I dreamed about long ago, a cactus with a snake ascending, which gives me the idea of moving forward, of rising, and meteorites falling as symbols of change, detonation, and explosion.

I feel these represent three stages of the series—speaking of a paradise. I think it’s a very mystical body of work, at least from my perspective. I tried to make each painting feel like a poem.

How did your creative journey begin?

In this exhibition, I revisited ideas that I’ve carried with me for a long time, letting out my more mystical and spiritual side. It’s a very mental show.

I struggled quite a bit with color—I changed the entire palette compared to my previous exhibition. I was also reading a lot about symbols, archetypes, and Bosch. I felt identified with The Garden of Earthly Delights; these works carry a lot of layered information.

What does your creative process look like?

It really varies. Some days, I sit down and make sketches while listening to music, and time just disappears. I try to connect to that world called “the idea” (haha).

I love walking and riding my bike; those are very intimate moments with myself, and I feel that’s when good ideas are born. I’m in a phase of my life where I can spend hours watching a sunset or a landscape without rushing, and that sparks all kinds of ideas —and, of course, imagined landscapes.

Having experimented with different media, what draws you to oil painting?

I’m fascinated by the experimentation with pigment and how it changes when you mix tones, colors, and varnishes. It’s a challenging medium.

I love painting because my process often begins digitally, and bringing it into the physical, analog world feels like giving it life.

That’s also why I experiment with other media—I still believe ideas can travel through different formats. Recently, I’ve made sculptures and paintings, and now I want to return to working with stained glass, ceramics, and textiles.

How does it feel to have your work exhibited in your home country compared to abroad?

I was very nervous—it’s my home, my country. It had been three years since I last exhibited in Mexico, so I wanted to give it my best. I felt very supported by my gallery in Mexico City and by my assistants, who are also an essential part of the process.

Mexico is a place full of artists and culture that continues to grow. Because of that, the level keeps rising in every aspect, and as a Mexican, that motivates me to work harder and raise the quality of my production.

What do you hope people take away from your work?

An adventure, a game, mixed emotions. Honestly, I don’t like to expect anything—I like to feel that anything can happen.

Of course, we all hope people enjoy the work, that it’s seen in more places, that it reaches museums. But these days, being in Europe for a residency, it feels really good to see so many people visiting the gallery and sharing stories. I’m so grateful to all of them!

Exhibition Information:
Alexis Mata
Sublime Paraíso
From October 25, 2025
Maia Contemporary
Colima 159, Roma Norte, Mexico City, Mexico

Alexis Mata: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Maia Contemporary.

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