2019 - 170cm x 100cm - oil on canvas

This powerful work juxtaposes figurative realism with raw abstraction to question the boundaries between joy, chaos, and spectacle. At the base of the composition, four figures are depicted with expressive faces caught in moments of intensity, ecstasy, or struggle. Their bodies, fragmented and layered with gestural strokes, seem to dissolve into the background—caught between visibility and erasure.

Above them, a large, violently painted red smiley face dominates the canvas, its thick impasto strokes dripping across the surface. Both playful and unsettling, this symbol recalls the iconography of digital culture and consumer happiness, yet its aggressive scale and messy execution transform it into something ominous—a mask for collective emotions, or perhaps a warning.

By layering hyper-expressive portraiture with graffiti-like marks and gestural abstraction, the work blurs the line between control and disorder. It challenges the viewer to confront the contradictions of contemporary life: joy and pain, individuality and conformity, authenticity and performance.