British painter Mark Ward's hyperreal tropical landscapes portray the African influence in his work, formative experiences translated into minute stages for toys and trinkets. Ward dots these bright landscapes with plastic vegetation and articulated wild animal figurines, accentuating curves and smooth surfaces with a searing color palette and spectacular shadows cast on bold backdrops. With this aesthetic, Ward represents his experience of being an outsider during life-changing visits to Africa, a sense of being overwhelmed and fascinated, but also inescapably aware of being from elsewhere.

Beyond the satiric inclinations inherent to such colorful pop landscapes, Ward's paintings also exemplify a bubbly, playful optimism. His models (which Ward often creates in his studio to observe before painting) are invariably peaceful and calm, portraying nature as a playground for sweet animals and soft surfaces. With a combination of detailed hues and shading, and the kind of magical realism that invests quirky objects with uncanny inner lives, Ward portrays his still safari scenes with bustling energy and vitality.