Clayton Schiff presents vivid paintings that transform everyday observations into uncanny, dreamlike scenes. Drawn from walks through Queens and Yonkers, the works capture moments where nature quietly reclaims the urban landscape: birds battling over berries, tree roots buckling sidewalks, and vegetation overtaking forgotten lots. Schiff’s signature wide-eyed figures inhabit worlds that are at once humorous, unsettling, and strangely familiar. In works such as Good Spot, Location, and Lot, cartoon-like protagonists navigate landscapes charged with existential wonder. Rendered in earthy ochres and violets, the paintings reveal the surreal dimensions of ordinary life, where wildness persists beneath the surface of the contemporary city.
