I created the Heads Series as a way to explore the many layers of identity and emotion we carry within us. In this series, I draw from Cubism’s fractured forms and shifting perspectives, breaking the human head into angular planes that reveal more than a straightforward portrait ever could. The faces I paint are not just likenesses—they are landscapes of feeling, thought, and memory, each one alive with color, texture, and movement.

Working in mixed media allows me to merge chaos and structure, to layer meaning the way life layers experience. These heads are not static; they are constantly reassembling themselves, just like we are. Through this work, I’m asking viewers to sit with complexity—to find beauty in fragments, and to see the wholeness that exists within what is broken. - Ryan Shava