Surreal Works by Longlisted Artists in the 2025 Aesthetica Art Prize

The 2025 Aesthetica Art Prize longlist features artists creating surreal works that distort figures in landscapes and blend them with flora, while clouds appear blurred and stretched. Karl Roberts produces handcrafted, dreamlike self-portraits using physical props and real locations, drawing from literature, music, and cinema. Ellen Jantzen explores perception and truth through photography influenced by multiverse theories, questioning the medium's historical claim to truth. Kseniia Antipina, based in Berlin, crafts photographic narratives about belonging, obscuring faces to emphasize body language and symbolic objects. Olana Light, a multidisciplinary artist with an MFA from Goldsmiths, uses natural materials in sculpture, performance, and film to examine human relationships with the organic world. Katerina Belkina, a Hasselblad Master from Russia now in Germany, creates mystical self-portraits merging painting, photography, and digital collage to delve into human psychology with feminist narratives. The prize is open for entries with a 25% discount in January 2026, as posted on 13 January 2026. These works invite viewers to question representation, authorship, and reality, blending playfulness with unease.