When I Dream, No One is Home

A captivating and enigmatic urban dreamscape painted in a surrealist style, executed in oil onto board and dated 2007.

The painting unfolds where rows of identical arched windows form undulating red facades that seem to stretch endlessly under a restless sky. A lone man in a tan suit stands solemnly in the lower foreground, his pallid expression contrasting against the architectural rhythm that engulfs him. A towering streetlamp looms large, nearly intrusive, disrupting the visual symmetry and deepening the sense of alienation.

The style leans toward Surrealism, with echoes of de Chirico in its spatial disquiet and uncanny atmosphere. The artist uses bold outlines and flat planes of colour to render the buildings, giving them a graphic, almost theatrical quality. The colour palette is dominated by deep reds, burnt siennas, ochres, and stark whites, under a blue sky dotted with stylised clouds.

Brushstrokes are precise and deliberate, creating smooth surfaces and crisp contours, particularly in the architecture and sky. The textures of the suit and hair of the figure are more softly layered, offering subtle contrast. The overall effect is dreamlike and contemplative.