Virginia Mori Twists Everyday Anxieties into Dreamlike Illustrations

A gif of a swimmer jumping into a pool on a larger figure's face

All images © Virginia Mori, shared with permission

Through pen and ink renderings, Virginia Mori continues her elegant and surreal interpretations of the prosaic. The Italian illustrator and animator (previously) gravitates toward the everyday and turns moments of relative simplicity into strange otherworldly scenes. Plucking a book off of a shelf reveals a figure lurking behind the volumes, for example, while an enormous detached head plummets to the earth where a team awaits with a cushion for a safe landing. Often featuring minimal palettes of pastel colors, the introspective works meld relatable feelings of anxiety, hesitation, and fear with dreamlike inventions.

Currently, Mori has works on view in a group exhibition through May 7 at the Seoul Museum and is preparing for another opening in September at Jiro Miura Gallery in Tokyo. Shop prints of her illustrations at Librera di Fursaglia and stay-hop, which also sells t-shirts, cards, and her latest book Feeling Bed. You can follow her projects and collaborations on Instagram.

Two illustrations, one of a person peeking through a gramophone, and another of a giant head tumbling toward the earth, with a group of people stretching out a cushion to break the fall

An illustration of a person doing yoga, with their head on their hand

An illustration of tiny figures sitting on a larger figure's ear

Two illustrations in yellow, blue, black, and white, one of a man reading a book from a shelf with a person peering out from the books, and another with a woman hanging her head over the edge of a bed to reveal a celestial expanse

An illustration of a person doing yoga, with their head split in their hands

Two illustrations in yellow, black, and white, one with a woman seeing her shadow in leaves, and another of a man sitting on a bench with a leaf on his face

An illustration of a person sitting in a box on a blanket with a cat nearby

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