German artist Eckhart Hahn’s paintings are surreal in subject matter, but the artist’s decidedly realistic aesthetic makes for a final product which forces the viewer to reassess their own personal conceptions of reality.

Much of Hahn’s most recent work involves the reimagination of everyday items such as garbage bags and light bulbs by placing the household objects in interaction with various animals.

We really like Hahn’s depiction of the interaction between the natural and the artificial; from the bird perching on a tree covered in wrapping paper in one painting, to the spontaneous combustion of another subject, the artist almost seems to suggest an incompatibility between these polarizing forces.

Is the artificial beginning to permeate every aspect of our lives so as to become natural? As the lines begin to gradually but undoubtedly blur, Hahn’s paintings almost function as prophecy, masking the artist’s future between layers of acrylic paint on canvas.

- James Lavapie