Arriving for a studio visit with Eli, I entered the nature-surrounded pink-painted home. I immediately noticed the softness of the light, and the earthly warmth of the living room before peeking into the studio tucked just to the left. Attached to the studio is a closet emptied of everything except an easel, a chair, a paint-soaked air filter—and an open window that floats like a glitch within the its wall like a gentle portal in the matrix.

The delicate details and fragile way light glimmers across the objects in Eli’s worlds echo his past practice as an oil painter, while in recent years his work has fully transitioned to airbrushed acrylic. At first glance, Eli’s paintings suggest a quiet, nature-oriented sensibility—peaceful skies, smooth gradients, serene landscapes. Beneath lies a faint scent of digitality embedded in the sunsets and atmospheric vistas, a presence that becomes far more palpable in his most recent body of work.

While Eli’s paintings are meticulously airbrushed by hand, his reference images are generated through in-depth engagement with AI tools. Though AI remains a divisive topic among artists, there are a growing number who are embracing its creative potential. In Eli’s practice, it becomes a means of expanding perception and contemplation, a tool to help navigate our present, and art as a space where small gestures can be made toward a future that feels less cynical and perhaps even quietly optimistic.

Listen to his thoughts and process in the video above.