{"id":547225,"date":"2026-04-23T22:53:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T22:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/547225\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T22:53:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T22:53:14","slug":"water-samples-from-around-the-world-melt-into-dima-rebus-dreamy-paintings-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/547225\/","title":{"rendered":"Water Samples from Around the World Melt into Dima Rebus&#8217; Dreamy Paintings \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The act of painting is often seen as a solitary pursuit; we picture the artist alone in a studio, working through compositional puzzles and experimenting with materials of their own choosing. For <a href=\"https:\/\/dimarebus.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Dima Rebus<\/a>, the process is collaborative, although she may or may not know the other participants. In her large-scale works, the London-based artist adds new meaning to \u201cwatercolor\u201d as she incorporates water samples collected from strangers around the globe.<\/p>\n<p>In her series Floaters, Rebus processes these crowdsourced units by freezing them with watercolor pigments, which she then allows to melt across the substrate, creating abstract color fields. She then adds figures and elements of landscape, often with a fluid, rippling effect evocative of light glinting off the surface of a lake, as aquatic themes emerge in the form of pools and swimmers.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rebus-7.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-473242\" title=\"\u201cNoon Floaters\u201d (2025), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, rainwater, and water samples from strangers, 140 x 300 centimeters\" data-rl_title=\"\u201cNoon Floaters\u201d (2025), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, rainwater, and water samples from strangers, 140 x 300 centimeters\" data-rl_caption=\"\u201cNoon Floaters\u201d (2025), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, rainwater, and water samples from strangers, 140 x 300 centimeters\" data-rl_><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2289\" height=\"1070\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rebus-7.jpg\" alt=\"a mixed-media watercolor painting of two swimmers in a dark body of water\" class=\"wp-image-473250\"  \/><\/a>\u201cNoon Floaters\u201d (2025), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, rainwater, and water samples from strangers, 140 x 300 centimeters<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNearly every sample arrives with a letter, opening a dialogue shaped by place, mood, memory, and time,\u201d Rebus says. \u201cOver the years, I\u2019ve built an archive of waters from rain, rivers, seas, oceans, and glaciers, each preserved as both material record and human message.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Find more on the artist\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nevantuznetubus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rebus-6.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-473242\" title=\"Detail of \u201cNoon Floaters\u201d\" data-rl_title=\"Detail of \u201cNoon Floaters\u201d\" data-rl_caption=\"Detail of \u201cNoon Floaters\u201d\" data-rl_><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1668\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rebus-6.jpg\" alt=\"a detail of a a mixed-media watercolor painting of a swimmer in a dark body of water\" class=\"wp-image-473249\"  \/><\/a>Detail of \u201cNoon Floaters\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rebus-1.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-473242\" title=\"\u201cAfterimage VII\u201d (2025), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, and rainwater, 110 x 200 centimeters\" data-rl_title=\"\u201cAfterimage VII\u201d (2025), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, and rainwater, 110 x 200 centimeters\" data-rl_caption=\"\u201cAfterimage VII\u201d (2025), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, and rainwater, 110 x 200 centimeters\" data-rl_><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1399\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rebus-1.jpg\" alt=\"a mixed-media watercolor painting of a garden glass house interior with huge lily pads in a pool and potted plants\" class=\"wp-image-473244\"  \/><\/a>\u201cAfterimage VII\u201d (2025), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, and rainwater, 110 x 200 centimeters<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rebus-8.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-473242\" title=\"\u201cNothing Matters Until An Empty Sofa Says Otherwise 1\u201d (2026), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, rainwater, and water samples from strangers, 110 x 86 centimeters\" data-rl_title=\"\u201cNothing Matters Until An Empty Sofa Says Otherwise 1\u201d (2026), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, rainwater, and water samples from strangers, 110 x 86 centimeters\" data-rl_caption=\"\u201cNothing Matters Until An Empty Sofa Says Otherwise 1\u201d (2026), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, rainwater, and water samples from strangers, 110 x 86 centimeters\" data-rl_><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1938\" height=\"2481\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rebus-8.jpg\" alt=\"a mixed-media watercolor painting of a member of the King's Guard in a pool\" class=\"wp-image-473243\"  \/><\/a>\u201cNothing Matters Until An Empty Sofa Says Otherwise 1\u201d (2026), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, rainwater, and water samples from strangers, 110 x 86 centimeters<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rebus-3.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-473242\" title=\"\u201cIntuitive Course VII\u201d (2025), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, rainwater, and water samples from strangers, 42 x 80 centimeters\" data-rl_title=\"\u201cIntuitive Course VII\u201d (2025), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, rainwater, and water samples from strangers, 42 x 80 centimeters\" data-rl_caption=\"\u201cIntuitive Course VII\u201d (2025), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, rainwater, and water samples from strangers, 42 x 80 centimeters\" data-rl_><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2099\" height=\"1111\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rebus-3.jpg\" alt=\"a mixed-media watercolor painting of a meadow with trees in the background, centered on shimmering carousel horses\" class=\"wp-image-473246\"  \/><\/a>\u201cIntuitive Course VII\u201d (2025), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, rainwater, and water samples from strangers, 42 x 80 centimeters<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rebus-5.jpg\" class=\"swipebox\" data-rel=\"lightbox-gallery-473242\" title=\"\u201cMorning Floaters\u201d (2025), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, rainwater, and water samples from strangers, 140 x 300 centimeters\" data-rl_title=\"\u201cMorning Floaters\u201d (2025), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, rainwater, and water samples from strangers, 140 x 300 centimeters\" data-rl_caption=\"\u201cMorning Floaters\u201d (2025), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, rainwater, and water samples from strangers, 140 x 300 centimeters\" data-rl_><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2297\" height=\"1076\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rebus-5.jpg\" alt=\"a mixed-media watercolor painting of a swimmer mostly submerged in a green body of water\" class=\"wp-image-473248\"  \/><\/a>\u201cMorning Floaters\u201d (2025), watercolor on paper, chemical solutions, rainwater, and water samples from strangers, 140 x 300 centimeters<\/p>\n<p>Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/members\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"118516\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Colossal Member<\/a> now, and support independent arts publishing.<\/p>\n<p>Hide advertising<\/p>\n<p>Save your favorite articles<\/p>\n<p>Get 15% off in the <a href=\"https:\/\/colossal.shop\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Colossal Shop<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Receive members-only newsletter<\/p>\n<p>Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms<\/p>\n<p>\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The act of painting is often seen as a solitary pursuit; we picture the artist alone in a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":547226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,188361,96,12787,56,54,55,26399],"class_list":{"0":"post-547225","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-dima-rebus","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-painting","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom","18":"tag-watercolor"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}