Hallstatt Daydreams - Subarna Mukherjee

Arts University Bournemouth
 
Oil on canvas
 
Hallstatt Daydreams is a series of oil paintings exploring the emotional beauty and quiet atmosphere of Hallstatt through landscapes filled with memory, nostalgia, absurdity and dreamlike nature and figures. The paintings portray lakeside cafes, hillside streets, colourful houses, deep blue water, and towering green mountains softened by cloudy skies and dreamlike light. Figures appear throughout the series holding animals, wandering through distant streets, or standing beside railings covered in flowerpots and climbing plants, as if quietly absorbing the surrounding landscape.

The works focus on the connection between the narrator/people and nature, where the environment often feels absurd like a dream. Roads, pathways, and railings disappear into the distance like fading memories, creating a sense of nostalgia and emotional longing. Through layered brushwork, softened forms, and rich colour contrasts, the series explores Hallstatt not just as a physical location, but as a personal experience shaped by emotion, memory, imagination, and dreamlike reality.