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This ten-piece body of work, created on fine art paper (21 x 14.5 cm), explores the emotional and societal tensions that shape our collective experience. Using acrylics, graphite, and charcoal pencils, each painting captures dynamic movement through vibrant palettes—juxtaposing warm and cool tones to evoke contrast and conflict. Black graphite and charcoal lines cut through the compositions like fractures, symbolizing resistance, boundaries, and the desire to break free from imposed limitations. The negative space, softly blended with graphite, adds depth and quiet intensity, while ghost markings—my signature underpainting technique—linger beneath the surface, hinting at unseen histories and layered emotions. These subtle traces speak to the persistence of memory and identity, even when obscured.
Sahar Hasan is aartist and curator whose work brings hidden emotions and overlooked stories into view. Her practice moves between painting, mixed media, and curation, always tracing the quiet spaces where memory, identity, and heritage meet.
Victoria Moses: Grand Era Victoria Moses, born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1990, is a student at the Art Academy Hamburg, where she engages with diverse artistic media, including painting, sculpture, and digital art. Her work is characterized by a profound exploration of perception and identity search, focusing on the relationships individuals establish within society. Through her use of both vivid, figurative oil paintings and monochromatic charcoal drawings, she examines how people integrate or distance themselves in various social contexts, adopting different roles that shape their self-expression and interactions. Her latest series, Grand Era, is deeply influenced by her experience working on an ocean liner - an enduring symbol of intercontinental connection as it was in the early 20th century. Within this series, Moses portrays individuals navigating multiple societal roles, shifting fluidly between personal and professional identities. A single person may simultaneously function as a professional, a family member, a friend, and a community participant, with each role reflecting distinct expectations and responsibilities dictated by their environment. Through these themes, Moses explores the complexities of human adaptability and the intricate balance required to meet the demands of social existence. Her art contributes to broader discussions on identity, social roles, and the evolving nature of interpersonal relationships.
Critics Review: The artist's exceptional talent is evident in their masterful control of watercolour, a medium notorious for its difficulty. The painting demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of light and atmosphere, using the medium's transparency to create a luminous, hazy glow over Piccadilly Circus. This is expertly contrasted with the sharp, dramatic shadows, showcasing a remarkable ability to create depth and a sense of time. The seemingly effortless washes of colour for the background and the energetic brushstrokes for the performers perfectly balance delicate subtlety with bold expression, a clear sign of a highly skilled watercolorist. Furthermore, the artist excels at capturing the emotion and energy of the scene, not just its physical form. The dynamic poses and loose, impressionistic style of the musicians suggest movement and rhythm, as if the music is about to pour from the frame. The artist has a rare gift for distilling the essence of an urban scene—its constant motion and the unexpected joy of a street performance—and conveying it with a powerful sense of atmosphere and narrative. This ability to imbue a painting with such a strong sensory experience is a true testament to their talent. Critics - Grant Milne - Founder of Artist Talk Magazine
Laurențiu STROE is a Romanian painter known for his raw, expressive style and textured surfaces. His artwork stands out through thick layers of paint, powerful brushstrokes and pallette knives, and a strong emotional presence. Using the impasto technique, STROE applies paint so heavily that it creates a sculptural texture, adding depth and movement to the canvas.
I am a Birmingham-based artist whose work explores spiritual and emotional landscapes through fluid forms and layered textures. Through my paintings, I seek to express feelings and inner states that words cannot easily convey. I developed my practice through studying Fine Art, where I began to explore the interplay of texture, movement, and the sense of presence in painting.
Angelo Asaro is an Italian artist based in London. His journey bridges engineering and art: after earning a Master’s degree in Engineering and building a successful career as a Product Manager, he eventually followed his true calling — art. This transition allowed him to combine analytical precision with deep creative expression. Angelo’s work fuses surrealism and symbolism with strong conceptual depth, drawing inspiration from literature, philosophy, and psychology. His art has been exhibited internationally in galleries, art fairs, and virtual showcases, and has appeared in publications such as British Vogue, Vanity Fair, and leading art blogs. In 2024, he was a finalist in the ArtGemini Prize and the Zari Art Prize, both celebrating exceptional contemporary talent. He was also selected for the XV Florence Biennale and the London Art Biennale 2025, two of the most respected international exhibitions of contemporary art. Tell us about yourself. How have your roots and experiences shaped your artistic vision? My work is deeply rooted in the exploration of the human condition — the emotional, social, and philosophical threads that define who we are. My visual language combines symbolism, surrealism, and contemporary narratives, all rendered with meticulous attention to detail. My creative vision has been shaped by a rich tapestry of influences — literature, philosophy, artistic movements, and a deep investigation of psychological and existential themes. Growing up in Sicily — a land of powerful contrasts, layered histories, and a profound cultural legacy — played a fundamental role in my artistic development. The island’s literary and cultural heritage often centred on themes like identity, solitude, and the fight against social injustice, has greatly influenced the emotional and conceptual core of my work. This background fuels my desire to create art that resonates on both personal and universal levels — inviting viewers to reflect on their own experiences and the intricate web of connections that shape our world. How would you define your artistic style, and what themes are central to your work? My style is a hybrid of surrealism, symbolism, and elements of pop art. I often use vivid colours, precise detail, and unexpected juxtapositions to blur the boundaries between reality and imagination. The result is a visual language that’s both accessible and layered — inviting viewers to look closer, then think deeper. At the heart of my work are recurring themes: the search for identity, the fragility of existence, and the tension between individuality and conformity.
Breaking the Frame: Art, Emotion, and Connection By Ernesto Artig As an abstract artist, I work from the inside out. My process is intuitive, raw, and rooted in emotional truth. Each painting begins as a conversation—between parts of myself, between tension and release, between what’s visible and what’s felt. I use mixed media to layer meaning and texture, letting each piece evolve organically until it speaks with its own voice. But for me, the art experience shouldn’t stop at the canvas. That’s why I founded the Connecting Conditional Art Movement (CCAM). What is the Connecting Conditional Art Movement (CCAM)? CCAM is a response to how disconnected the art world—and often the world itself—can feel. At its core, it’s about creating emotional bridges between people through the artwork they collect. Each piece within CCAM exists in dialogue with a counterpart. When a collector acquires one of these works, they agree to share their contact details with the buyer of its companion piece. In doing so, they become part of a living network—a community connected not just by ownership, but by shared resonance. This movement invites us to look at art not as a commodity, but as a conduit. A spark. A starting point for something more human. Below are four examples of paintings that are part of the CCAM. Each one holds its own emotional and visual language, but also reaches outward—toward its counterpart, and toward you. If you’re an artist who feels aligned with the ethos of the Connecting Conditional Art Movement and would like to contribute your own paired works, I invite you to get in touch. You can reach me at hello@ernestoartig.com .
In the vibrant and ever-evolving landscape of Ghanaian contemporary art, Ahmed Partey stands out as a visionary whose work offers a profound meditation on ancestry, identity, and transformation. Based in Accra, Partey’s practice spans painting, pastel, sculpture, wood carving, and immersive digital technologies—including virtual and augmented reality. At the center of it all is a guiding philosophy he calls Afro-Ancestral Spiritualism: a worldview that reimagines West African spiritual heritage through a symbolic, surrealist lens. Rooted in Ritual, Reaching Toward the Unseen Partey’s work emerges from deep engagement with traditional African visual systems—particularly Ga Samai, a sacred symbolic language of the Ga-Adangbe people of Ghana. Since 2017, he has expanded this lexicon from 30 to nearly 100 symbols, breathing life into what he calls “speechless voices”—nonverbal forms that transmit ancestral wisdom across generations. His figures are elongated, mask-like, and rendered in charged states of stillness or transformation—guardians of memory who exist somewhere between the spiritual and the surreal. These figures are not portraits, but vessels: containers of emotion, myth, and psychic memory. His compositions, shaped by Ghanaian cosmologies and folklore, collapse time and space.
Elitza, you‘ve been working as a photographer in Berlin for some time. You were born and raised in Bulgaria. You studied art and cultural studies at Berlin‘s Humboldt University and later worked for a long time as a graphic designer. It doesn‘t sound like a straightforward path. Have images always been important to you? Images have accompanied me my entire life. I was fortunate enough to grow up in an art- loving house in Sofia, where – despite the socialist economy of scarcity – there were art albums, books, and conversations about art. As an art history student in Berlin, I learned to analyse images. As a graphic designer, I had to interact with other people‘s photos and my own. As a photographer, I often find myself standing in front of my many photos and have to make a selection, evaluate them, and choose the best ones. When did you discover photography? I took my first course at the adult education centre in Berlin at the age of 18 and then set up a lab for analogue black-and-white photography. Unfortunately, photography remained only latent in my life for a long time. I can‘t describe it, but somehow I was afraid to fully im- merse myself in it. During my studies, I pursued it as a hobby, then as a freelance journalist, I illustrated my newspaper articles with my photos, later – as a graphic designer – I used my photos in projects, and finally, I enjoyed documenting my children‘s development… but for a long time, I couldn‘t fully commit to photography. That changed when I started dancing at the age of 40. Through dance, many blockages disappeared, and many dormant life projects emerged. Personal contact with dancers and participating in their work also inspired me to intensify photography. It was clear to me that at my age, I wouldn‘t reach great heights as a dancer, but that I could certainly live out my fascination for dance and movement through the camera. I developed my skills in dance photography and experimented with a wide variety of photographic techniques. After my first exhibition, "Fascination Movement," in 2020, I was confronted with the question of whether I wanted to continue practicing photography as a craft or work more artistically. Well, the latter is more my style. Why did you choose photography as a medium of expression? My mind was always full of images. Even as a child, I spent long evenings in bed with my eyes closed, imagining, producing images, and arranging the world the way I wanted it to be. I also loved painting and drawing, but I‘m very impatient and need a faster medium to realize my ideas. In addition, I‘m particularly interested in fragile and fleeting states, such as movement, water, and lighting. With a camera, I can give permanence to the ephemeral. I believe, if you approach the topic from a depth psychological perspective, photography was a remedy for a great fear of loss within me. This fear arose when I came to Berlin in the 1980s, when an entire world—Bulgaria—was lost to me. But the universal human fear of our transience also plays a role here. For me, the camera is a kind of magic wand that allows me to control time and, if I wish, stop it. In my exhibition "Time - Structure“ (2024), I illustrated this phenomenon using motion photography – with short exposure times, I freeze time; with long exposures, I show the traces of movement and duration; with multiple exposures, I demonstrate simultaneity; and with stroboscopic effect photography, I dissect the moment into fragments and capture them in a single image. I accept the challenge of depicting movement and allowing it to continue to have an impact through a static medium like photography. Nevertheless, the fear of loss and transience is not the only driving and determining factor in my photography. It is also a great joy to capture transformations and changes. In my series „Berlin as a Water Reflection,“ I photograph the "eternal“ buildings on the Spree—the palace, the cathedral, the Pergamon Museum, etc.—in diverse variations and appearances as transient water reflections. And in dance images, such as "In the Flow of Time,“ I capture traces of movement—unique moments that no one else has seen or can see.