Street / Urban Art
I painted this piece on the back of an Elysian Space Dust IPA beer carton as part of my ongoing effort to repurpose materials that would otherwise be thrown away. Working on discarded cardboard is important to me because it turns something overlooked into something intentional, and it keeps one more piece of waste out of a landfill. As I painted, I thought about the kind of world I want to leave for my children, one where creativity and responsibility can exist together. The surface itself carries that story before a single mark is even made.
This painting presents a frontal, mask-like portrait that feels both intimate and symbolic. The face is rendered in bold, flattened shapes, split by contrasting color fields that suggest duality—inner versus outer, seen versus felt. Turquoise skin is outlined in confident white strokes, with expressive red accents marking the lips, eyelids, and hair, giving the figure an emotionally charged stillness. The asymmetry of the features and the layered textures create a sense of vulnerability, as if the subject is suspended between self-awareness and transformation.
Surrounding the figure, rhythmic patterns of circles and stripes pulse across the background, evoking movement, sound, or memory. These repeating motifs contrast with the solidity of the face, framing it within a vibrant, almost musical visual field. The combination of raw mark-making and deliberate structure lends the work a contemporary, neo-expressionist energy. At once playful and contemplative, the painting invites viewers to consider identity not as a fixed image, but as a layered, evolving presence shaped by emotion, environment, and time.
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Private Collection
IG: @ElvisSantanaArt