Anyone who’s ever played the computer game the Sims knows the strange, God-like feeling of watching miniature people living their lives from above. Brazilian artist San Poggio’s paintings create a similar sensation. Poggio’s works feature flat, fantasy landscapes whose attributes sometimes turn into abstract patterns with outlandish colors. Within them, dozens of minuscule characters carry on with their separate activities, interacting with the bizarre surroundings they find themselves in.
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Despite what we may sometimes think, our memories are extremely faulty, open to influence from new information, and seen through the lens of our current emotions. This is the concept used by 
Whether working in the streets or in the studio, Russian artist 
Iranian painter Ali Esmaeillou reveals haunting parallel universes beneath the pleasant facades of everyday life. In each series of paintings, Esmaeillou explores the psyche of specific archetypes, such as warriors, or digs into the personalities of the characters that compose a particular story, like the great 10th century Persian epic, the Shahnameh.