Michael Hilsman knows how to draw the line between illusion and fantasy. And he does it in a sublime way, behind an apparent simplicity. A green cactus reaching out towards a blue sky, a dog, a lemon tree, a man holding a vase of flowers: these are the figures that recur in his canvases. But you can't look at his work without keeping in mind that Michael Hilsman lives and works in Los Angeles, a city that is entirely built on a network of invisible fissures: psychological, cultural, historical and geological. It is a place where clichés proliferate, which are simplifications based on much more complex and nuanced truths. Influenced by the Mughal miniature paintings he encountered while living for a time in Pakistan, Hilsman cannot be defined as a narrative painter, but in his works narratives could take root and flourish. Because Hilsman's fragile and tenuous constructions are very similar to contemporary life.
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