Where Fairytales Shift from Forests to Inner Worlds
The dark fairytale has always thrived on ambiguity. Its characters move through symbolic landscapes, facing forces that are both external and psychological. In contemporary art, this terrain has shifted inward. Instead of forests, witches, or labyrinths, the narrative unfolds through faces, colours, and symbolic elements. In my surreal portraits, the figures become modern dark fairytale protagonists—not through narrative scenes, but through emotional presence. Each portrait feels like a doorway into a private myth, shaped by tension, intuition, and the atmosphere surrounding the figure.
Archetypes Reimagined Through the Feminine Gaze
Classic fairytales often present archetypes as rigid forms: the maiden, the witch, the shadow figure, the guardian. In my work, these roles dissolve and transform. The figures are neither heroines nor villains; they exist in a liminal space, holding multiple archetypes at once. A mirrored face may carry the duality of protector and threat. A calm expression may hint at inner fire or hidden vulnerability. Through symbolic portraiture, archetypes are rewritten from the inside, showing emotional complexity instead of flat roles.
Botanical Symbols as Emotional Spellwork
Dark fairytales rely on objects—keys, flowers, thorns—to convey meaning. In my artworks, botanicals inherit this narrative function. Flowers glow with an inner pulse, vines wrap like threads of memory, and petals open in ways that feel both tender and uncanny. Instead of illustrating a specific story, these botanical forms behave like emotional spells. They become extensions of the figure’s psyche, carrying symbols of growth, danger, secrecy, transformation, or longing. The floral elements guide the viewer through the portrait’s inner myth without the need for literal storytelling.
Eyes as Portals to Mythic Inner Worlds
In traditional fairytales, eyes often reveal truth or hidden knowledge. In my surreal portraits, the eyes act as portals rather than windows. Their enlarged, stylised forms suggest awareness that extends beyond the physical world. They hold the stillness of someone who has crossed a symbolic landscape and returned with a quiet understanding. This gaze creates the sense that the figure is both character and narrator—someone shaped by the myth they inhabit, yet aware of its deeper emotional logic.
Multiplicity and the Shape of Inner Characters
Fairytales often hinge on transformation: a girl turns into a creature, a shadow becomes a guide, a double appears to reveal a hidden truth. In my work, multiplicity takes this symbolic role. Three faces sharing one body, or mirrored expressions fused seamlessly together, evoke a kind of mythic metamorphosis. They represent the fragmented or multiplied self—protector, dreamer, wounded child, intuitive guide—coexisting within one emotional portrait. This multiplicity mirrors the structure of dark fairytales, where identity is fluid and every character carries several truths at once.
Colour as the New Fairytale Atmosphere
The classic fairytale palette—forest greens, midnight blues, crimson warnings—reappears in my art through contemporary tones. Acid green becomes the colour of heightened instinct, soft black creates a quiet shadow realm, fuchsia glows like emotional intensity, and deep blue sets the stage for intuition. Each colour becomes an atmospheric element that replaces the traditional fairytale setting. Instead of a dark forest, the character stands inside an emotional landscape shaped by chromatic tension and inner symbolism.
Soft Horror and the Beauty of the Uncanny
A modern dark fairytale doesn’t need monsters. Its unease lives in ambiguity: the flower that looks too alive, the gaze that feels too knowing, the stillness that carries too much meaning. My artworks use this soft horror to shape emotional depth. The figures are not meant to frighten but to unsettle gently, reminding the viewer of the complexity we often bury. This sense of quiet disturbance is what ties symbolic portraiture to fairytale mythology—beauty softened by strangeness, familiarity tinged with mystery.
Portraits as Living Mythic Figures
The characters in my portraits are not drawn from existing stories; they arise from emotional states rather than plotlines. They behave like archetypal figures created by the subconscious—part dream, part ritual, part internal dialogue. Their botanical elements, mirrored faces, symbolic colours, and charged stillness transform them into modern fairytale beings. They hold secrets without revealing them, and they invite the viewer into an intimate myth where meaning grows intuitively rather than logically.
The Dark Fairytale as an Inner Landscape
In contemporary surreal art, the dark fairytale no longer belongs to distant woods or ancient kingdoms. It belongs to the emotional world we navigate every day—its contradictions, desires, shadows, and transformations. Through symbolic portraiture, these inner myths gain faces. They become characters shaped by intuition, fear, softness, insight, and the quiet tension that defines the modern psyche. By merging fairytale symbolism with surreal portraiture, the artwork becomes a mirror for the stories we carry internally—stories without clear endings, but rich with emotional truth.
