Eric Zener's Underwater Paintings (Not Photos) - 16 Total

Cascade

Looking through artist Eric Zener's underwater paintings, you start to immediately remember what it feels like to be immersed in cool, clear water. That moment when the world's worries wash away and a sense of calmness overtakes your body. Zener calls that shared feeling our "quest for refuge and peace beneath the chaos of life."

What was his inspiration?

Zener watched his wife give birth to two children. He nearly drowned on the Rogue River in Oregon. He has watched friends and family battle illness. "Where do I put my energy? It shows up in my work," Zener said. "I paint these images as a cathartic relief for myself. And hopefully, the viewing of the paintings is cathartic for other people."

"My work is about psychological turning points and transformations and risk, taking that proverbial leap of faith, balanced with that quest for finding refuge, finding quietness and stillness and escapism," he said. "Some [paintings] are very, very introspective escapism. Some are just the joy, the pool full of people in this temporary oasis. The 10 minutes when you hit the water for the first time and the smell of sun tan lotion hits your nose. You really don't think about anything for those first few minutes."

Through the Layers

Reprise

The Passage

Gliding

The Answer

Adrift

Slipping Through the Blue

Suspension

Anonymous Happy People

Group Therapy

Love

One

Emerging

Comfort

The Olympian (Michael Phelps)

Eric Zener

Related Article

Other Amazing Paintings:
Fine Art - Rob Hefferan (12 paintings)
On a Rainy Day...Gregory Thielker's Paintings
Caught in the Act - Zhang Haiying (10 paintings)
Beautiful Complex Eerie - The Works of David Choe: San Jose