Artist Pepijn Schermer‘s *Chained / Unchained* exhibition bridges the gap between two parallel worlds. For this conceptual series, Pepijn created fifteen paintings that delve into the depths of human emotion — where a set of seven paintings explore the dark realm of  “Ammocualli,” a mirrored set recreates each painting in the *Unchained* universe of “Cuahuitl,” and a single ” Flight of the Phoenicians” painting symbolically represents the neutral ground between these two opposite worlds. Signature of Pepijn’s creative style, this series combines detailed graphics with dark surrealism to invite viewers into an introspective journey.

Chained

You have now entered the realm of Ammocualli. Dark beasts and unpassable obstacles are plentiful. Any negative emotion you bring here will be amplified a thousandfold, and these feelings will chain you down. That is the fiction behind it.

Flight of the Phoenicians

Unchained

Out of the pits and into the wild of Cuahuitl is where you are headed now. This world can be harsh but at least there is nothing that holds you down. Letting go of your old habits and trusting in your own judgement is the successful way to survival here.  

This series was created by scanning pencil drawings, digitally coloring them, and printing the artwork out on dibond, on a 60x80cm canvas to display at an exhibit inside the Amsterdam Westcord Art Hotel. Pepijn comments:

On a personal level I want to tell you that I made these paintings to help me cope with depression and other dark trains of thought. The seven illustrations below each delve in a different emotion that I’ve gone through. I am telling you this because I believe openness about  mental issues is the first step in solving them and/or learning to live with them.

For more artwork by Pepijn Schermer, check his website or portfolio.