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 earthy warmth of the living room before peeking into the studio tucked just left of the front door. 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 within the wall like a gentle portal—or a small glitch in the matrix.

The delicate details and fragile way light glimmers across the objects in Eli’s worlds echo his earlier practice as an oil painter, though in recent years his work has fully transitioned to airbrushed acrylic. At first glance, his paintings suggest a quiet, nature-oriented sensibility: peaceful skies, smooth gradients, and serene landscapes. Yet, beneath them is a subtle digital presence woven into the sunsets and atmospheric vistas, one that becomes far more apparent in his most recent body of work.

While Eli’s paintings are meticulously airbrushed by hand, many of his reference images emerge through deep engagement with AI tools. In his practice, AI becomes less a shortcut than a space for exploration—a way of expanding perception, generating unexpected visual possibilities, and contemplating our relationship to technology. The resulting works occupy a space between the digital and the deeply human, using painting as a site to consider how we navigate the present and imagine futures that feel less cynical and perhaps even quietly optimistic.‍ ‍—Field notes by Casey Alfstad