Los Angeles-based artist Kwanchai Moriya paints colorful portraits of heroes and heroines, and animals, too. His illustrative work teeters between realism and abstraction, and he uses this style as a way to define the most important aspects of an image. Many times, Moriya will articulate the features of a face or someone's hands, while the background remain largely undefined. The artist treats us to every brush stroke as he layers and chisels a mosaic of vibrant hues that include ultramarine, magenta, fiery red, and more. Color, paired with lines and shapes, makes us believe that these lively works are in motion.
Moriya's paintings use lines sparingly to tell science-fiction themed stories. He doesn't imagine hyper-futuristic scenarios, and instead adds jet packs and laser guns to everyday dresses and blazers. The middle of the 20th century depicted the future in a similar way with cartoons like The Jetsons, and posited that life in space isn't that different than the present. It's comforting to know that in the future, we'll still be playing baseball, even if we have to wear a helmet to do it.
