{"id":735705,"date":"2026-06-14T06:56:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T06:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/735705\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T06:56:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T06:56:38","slug":"cacti-and-clouds-glitch-in-alexis-matas-fantastical-landscapes-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/735705\/","title":{"rendered":"Cacti and Clouds Glitch in Alexis Mata’s Fantastical Landscapes \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere was a moment when I was walking between forests and mountains in Tepoztl\u00e1n, Mexico, while dandelions floated across my face,\u201d Alexis Mata<\/a> says. \u201cIn that instant, I experienced a strange sensation, as if I were standing on another planet, in another time, confronted with an entirely new landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the dainty seeds drifted through the air, Mata began to think about the ways life forms travel and embed themselves in new ecosystems. He was drawn to the idea of landing, of rooting and growing, which quickly became the basis for a poetic exhibition at Thinkspace<\/a> in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cLost Landing\u201d (2026), oil on canvas, 160 x 160 centimeters<\/p>\n

Titled Lost Landing, the show features Mata\u2019s glitched landscapes<\/a> in which familiar terrain appears otherworldly. Plants, skies, and stones slide into a sort of visual glissando<\/a>, overlapping and converging in abstracted forms. \u201cLanding functions as a metaphor for discovery, but also for reconnecting with the creative impulse and with the capacity for wonder,\u201d the artist adds.<\/p>\n

Dandelions gone to seed appear in several works, alongside cacti of various sizes and shapes. Thriving succulents that can live for centuries are contrasted with the dying flowers, collapsing time in an already surreal and fantastical geographic plane.<\/p>\n

The exhibition \u201cultimately proposes a space where forms seem to mutate, drift, and slowly colonize their surroundings,\u201d the artist says. \u201cEach piece functions as the trace of an unknown landscape, a fragment of an expanding world where ideas disperse, float, and find new ways to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lost Landing is on view through June 27. Explore more of Mata\u2019s works on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cLa Noche De Los Cactus Voladores\u201d (2026), oil on canvas, 160 \u00d7 120 centimeters<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cCactus From The World Of Delight\u201d (2026), oil on canvas, 80 \u00d7 80 centimeters<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cPurple Night\u201d (2026), oil on canvas, 160 \u00d7 100 centimeters<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cGarden Of Crystals And Dandelions\u201d (2026), oil on canvas, 130 \u00d7 150 centimeters<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cLion\u2019s Teeth Growing Among Quartz\u201d (2026), watercolor and wash on cotton paper, 49 \u00d7 53 centimeters<\/p>\n

\"two<\/a>\u201cCrows In The Cave\u201d (2026), oil on canvas, 100 \u00d7 110 centimeters<\/p>\n

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