Charming Surrealist Paintings by Kazland

Welcome to Shadowland by Kazland

One evening I was mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, like most of us do these days, when something spectacular caught my eye. A video of a painter adding finishing touches to one of his paintings, and its charm drew me into his world of creativity.

I'm talking about Kazland, a Guildford-based painter, author, and musician. Clearly a very creative person with a lot to offer the world. The piece in question is called "Welcome to Shadowland" and it's a painting that blends a few different art movements: abstraction, surrealism, and modernism. Although these are the movements that I see as most fitting with his work, and this piece in particular.

It has a sense of depth, an intriguing palette, and a story from a mysterious world yet to be discovered. The shadowland is composed of abstract red graphical shapes that could resemble trees and rocks standing tall with their shadows behind them. What gives this an element of surrealism is the hollow shape creating solid shadows, which goes against the laws of physics or science of any kind. These surreal arrangements are placed in a perspective that gives them an illusion of 3D form. The objects have been placed in a way that allows the viewer to explore the piece, or the shadowland, without missing a landmark. The limited colour palette of red and grey tones brings this piece up to date with 21st century modernism and graphical trends. The dark space highlights the objects that create the narrative behind the painting's title. The focal subjects of this story. Overall, the painting tells a story of a mysterious but inviting dark place that is not to be feared, but to be explored.

Kazland's other paintings and drawings also consist of an abstract world with a more refined surrealist version of what we find familiar, such as figures, structures, and landscapes. His work highlights a more simplified and modern concept of the world, with a narrative never too far away. Whether it be fine lines and organic shapes, or a vast colour palette mixed with an illusion of form, Kazland's work has one thing in common: a soothing charm.

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Art is very subjective, as we’re constantly told, but nonetheless it’s true. I really enjoyed taking the time to analyse a piece that wasn't a historical or classic painting. Though I can’t help but think, what do others see? What do you see that I may have missed? There are no right or wrong answers, only an emotional experience.

R x