Grace Green's Surreal Portraits of a Recurring Girl Explore Emotional Baggage

Grace Green, an artist based in Lecce, southern Italy, creates surreal images featuring a single recurring girl placed in impossible, emotionally charged scenarios. The girl, who has a black bob, blunt bangs, blue eyes, and freckles, is depicted walking a tightrope, standing before a vending machine, or dragging a shadow on a leash. Green's painting style yields a thick, slightly waxy surface reminiscent of oil paint that has not fully dried. Her primary subject is feelings: she transforms anxiety, tenderness, and internal burdens into strange yet recognizable scenes. Her series Emotional Baggage directly addresses this theme, with some works giving voice to children who cannot articulate their emotions and providing a safe space for those feelings to be seen. Working from southern Italy, Green combines collage, photomanipulation, and digital painting, and in recent years she has incorporated AI into her process. She describes her practice as making beauty out of her fragilities. More of her work can be found on Instagram at @grace_green_space.