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Under the Unminding Sky: Artist paints hyperrealistic views of rain-splattered windscreens

There is something so calming about driving in the rain. The satisfyingly fat droplets of water that fall onto the car roof; the hypnotic sound of the windscreen wipers moving back and forth; the blurred shapes and colours of the view ahead – these are all elements that make car journeys on wet days so appealing. In his series Under the Unminding Sky, New York City-based artist Gregory Thielker shares the same sentiment. These beautiful, hyperrealistic artworks simply show the view you'd expect from your car's windscreen on a rainy day.

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Rain-splattered windscreen with red car tail lights blurred ahead and stormy grey sky, from Gregory Thielker's hyperrealistic painting series

He explained: "These paintings reflect my interest in the way that the road delineates and controls how we experience landscape. From the roadway perspective, we not only travel from one place to another, we see landscape in a varied and complex manner. I use water on the windshield to create a shifting lens for the way we see the environment: it both highlights and obscures our viewing.

"Perspectives slip and compress, while shapes and colours merge into one another. I also work with relationships between surface and depth, between flatness and illusion. These images are born out of real experience and have a close relationship with the medium of painting: its fluidity, transparency, and capacity for layering, mixing, and blending."

Gregory's work connects to specific places and calls into question the way recognition and narrative can often sway understanding and perception. If you have been swayed by his work, discover more at www.gregorythielker.com.

Rain-splattered windscreen view showing blurred red traffic lights and street scenes distorted by water droplets and streaks
Raindrop-splattered windscreen view of a wet road with bare trees, traffic lights and cars ahead under a grey sky
Rain droplets and streaks cover a car windscreen, with blurred city lights and dark shapes visible through the wet glass
View through a rain-spattered car windscreen showing blurred road signs and buildings under a blue sky dotted with raindrops
Rain droplets and streaks obscure a nighttime road view through a car windscreen, with blurred vehicle headlights glowing amber and red ahead
Rain-covered car windscreen with blurred green tree and distant landscape visible through the wet glass
Hyperrealistic painting of a rain-soaked windscreen view showing blurred traffic lights and wet road reflections through water droplets and streaks
View through a rain-splattered car windscreen onto a blurred wet road lined with green trees and foliage
View through rain-splattered windscreen of a rural road lined with evergreen trees and power lines, with green fields beyond
Rain-splattered windscreen view showing blurred landscape with dark stormy sky, water droplets and streaks creating an abstract, layered effect
Raindrop-covered windscreen view of a blurred green landscape and road markings ahead on a wet day
Hyperrealistic painting of rain-splattered windscreen view showing blurred cityscape with red traffic lights and buildings reflected in water droplets
Rain-covered windscreen with blurred road ahead and a red vehicle visible through water droplets and streaks
Hyperrealistic painting of a rain-splattered windscreen with blurred landscape shapes and colours merging through water droplets and streaks
Rain droplets cover a car windscreen, blurring the view of a street with buildings, trees and street lights beyond
Rain-splattered windscreen view showing blurred street lights and buildings at night, painted in hyperrealistic detail by Gregory Thielker
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