Born in an artistic family, Matthew Grabelsky talentedly combines a hyper-realistic painting technique with a surreal penchant for unlikely juxtapositions. 

He was interested in painting since his first year in college when he took a few art history classes. Before that, he had always loved impressionism and post-impressionism but he had never really looked at the more realistic classical paintings from earlier eras. 

Since his imagination and ideas were influenced by animal and mythological creatures, Grabelsky superimposes its presence onto his depictions of the contemporary world. For the artist, the animal becomes a manifestation of the inner workings of the hidden subconscious, literally revealing the latent identities and motivations lurking beyond the composure of the human mask.

Here, Grabelsky’s works describe couples on subways, often nonchalantly reading magazines or newspapers, but the male figures were captured with animal head such as deer, bears, elephants, and tigers.

You can see more on his webiste.