Surrealscapes and Surreal Portraiture

As an angst-ridden teenager, I felt fascinated yet weighed down by the paradoxes of life and the universe. Since then, I have gradually come to embrace those paradoxes and deliberately evoke them in my artwork. Surreal art challenges us to stop, think, question, interpret and connect, even with visually-difficult-to-convey themes such as mental health, or the climate crisis. Most of the surrealscapes below are painted onto three dimensional canvases, adding to the warping of time, space and reality that they depict. I use a mixture of still-life set-ups, visualisation and digital mock-ups to create playful juxtapositions of imagery inspired by many of my favourite themes: nature, music, astrophysics, quantum physics, fairytale. I invite the viewer to step out of their comfort zone into a world that is unfamiliar yet full of relatable elements. 

The Eye of the Paradox, white coloured pencil on A3 black paper, 2025
Eye of the Paradox, 2025

Inspiralled by Nature is a paradoxical surreal-scape painted on an elephant statue for a public art trail in Lyme Regis, 2025, celebrating spirals in nature, from sub-atomic to cosmic.
       

The Witch's Garden - coloured pencil on black paper, 2025
Inspired by poisonous plants, Hebrew and Indian mythology and 'Tiny Planet' photography.


Silent Language
Acrylic on canvas, 2025. A surreal-scape composition composed of human hands.



Safety Nets Reimagined - Surviving Domestic Abuse as a Migrant
Coloured pencil and papercut, 2019
Safety Nets Reimagined, 2019


Graveyard Orchestra, 2015
Scalpel papercut, approx. A1 size, cut by hand using a surgical blade out of a single sheet of black paper.
Happy Graveyard Orchestra - "Welcome" (original scalpel paper-cut, for album cover artwork)Happy Graveyard Orchestra - "Welcome"
(original scalpel paper-cut, for album cover artwork)

Scalpel paper-cut
Approx. 60 x 50 cm
April 2015

Gaze of the Green Man, 2015
Scalpel papercut, approx. A2 size, cut by hand using a surgical blade out of a single sheet of black paper
Gaze of the Green Man (papercut)

Foliate portraits combine elements of human or animal facial features with foliage and flowers, symbolising our dependence on plants, our vegetable nature, the urgency of the climate crisis, or a potential vision of an empowered future in which humans use technology to harness the sun's energy through photosynthesis. Foliate faces can be serious, serene, or playful in their expression.

Eric Idle surreal foliate portrait, 2023, acrylics
Eric Idle


Wonderland - Luton, 2024
A playful fairytale surreal-scape painted on a giant Hare statue for a public art trail in Luton, linking Luton's hat-making heritage with the tea party of the 'Mad Hatter' and the March Hare of Alice in Wonderland.

  


Ziggurat - painted onto a giant Rat statue for a public art trail in Hull, 2025

A ziggurat is a step pyramid. In this dramatic yet playful surreal-scape, the Ziggurat connects Rats, Mars and Stardust. To quote David Bowie: "I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring." Surreal art is naturally thought-provoking, open to interpretation, and a powerful aid to exploring themes of mental health. Imagination is the key to our future. 

Note: Mark Ronson ('Ronno'), originally from Hull, played in a band called The Rats before later playing with David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars.

 

  
Elephantasmagoria - Southend, 2023