A selection of recent work by Sacramento, California-based painter Uma Tufekcic. Working in oils, ink, and concentrated fabric dye, Tufekcic’s practice includes large scale canvas works and painting on clothing. She works intuitively, drawing inspiration from the flora and fauna kingdoms of the natural world (paying special attention to butterflies as a central motif), as well as the folk art of her Bosnian and Yugoslavian heritage.

“My practice is intrinsically organic and flows through me without forethought,” she says. “My work has an esoteric character to it, which I love. I like to paint the things we can’t see but I imagine are there. In childhood, I was very interested in fairies and spirits that lived to be seen by only those who believed they were there. I paint my feelings, transforming emotion with my work, casting to canvas the things I see that others can not.”

See more from Uma Tufekcic below!