Swiss artist Till Rabus crafts realistic oil paintings that exhibit both a whimsical and darker side to nostalgia. His version of a “Transformer” may consist of household objects, and his combined Disney dolls hint at the toll time takes on the icons of youth. The artist’s striking style may make viewers mistake the works for manipulated photographs, at first glance.
“Till Rabus is a hyperrealist with a keen eye for the beauty of banality,” says a Torch Gallery statement. “His subject matter ranges from fast food to porn, but all his works refer to, and are firmly based in Art history. … These playful pieces celebrate the seductive surface and almost convince the viewer to disregard their darker themes such as overconsumption, objectification and the steady dilution of local culture into global uniformity.”
Rabus has had solo and group shows in his native Switzerland, as well as France, China, England, Germany, the U.S., and the Netherlands.
Canadian artist 
When painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo portrayed figures made out of every objects, fruits, and vegetables, he presented the idea of life as living riddle or jigsaw puzzle. Living and working in Warsaw, Poland, 
Justin Fitzpatrick’s oil paintings blend influences from Art Nouveau, illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages, anatomical drawings, and elsewhere. The actual subjects in the works likewise move through time, from using the construction workers as visual motif to creatures of the natural world rendered with Victorian flavor.