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Aqua: Beautiful hyperrealistic paintings of bathing women by Reisha Perlmutter

In her series Aqua, American artist Reisha Perlmutter paints the most hyperrealistic images of beautiful bathing women. With their heads underwater, eyes closed and bubbles sprouting from their nostrils – each painting brings to mind that feeling of weightlessness and peace, as we submerge ourselves below the surface and time stands still.

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Woman submerged underwater with eyes closed, blonde hair floating around her face illuminated by dappled light filtering through the water

Born in Naples in 1990, Reisha received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. During her studies, she attended a residency in Umbria, Italy, where she said her, "love and fascination with the presence of light was reawakened. I watched as the light’s golden aura would play upon the hillsides and along the façades of the medieval buildings in the small town".

Speaking of this particular series, Reisha said: "Aqua is about merging time, about memories becoming present experience. It is about weightlessness, and our deep connection to our senses beyond the confines of thought or intellect. It is about feeling, about oneness, and being.

"Light is critical to these works. It is metaphorical of course in terms of internal illumination, but also directly necessary in evoking sensation and beauty through its presence and inherent complexity. The imagery of this series uses light as its life force. Light and its transience is captured in the moment of a painting's existence, and held. It abstracts the idea of time."

Via direct submission | All images courtesy of Reisha Perlmutter

Woman's face underwater with closed eyes and bubbles rising from her nose, surrounded by flowing hair and dappled light in Reisha Perlmutter's hyperrealistic painting
Hyperrealistic close-up painting of a woman's face submerged underwater with closed eyes, bubbles rising from her nose and water rippling across her skin
A hyperrealistic painting of a woman's face underwater with eyes closed, surrounded by bubbles and filtered turquoise light, rendered in oil paint
Hyperrealistic painting of a woman's face underwater wearing glasses, with blonde hair and bubbles rising from her nostrils
A woman's face submerged underwater with her eye closed, water and bubbles cascading across her skin in a hyperrealistic painting by Reisha Perlmutter
Hyperrealistic painting of a woman's face underwater with eyes closed, bubbles rising from her nose and mouth, surrounded by wavy water and filtered light in soft tones
Artist Reisha Perlmutter stands before a large hyperrealistic painting of a woman's face underwater, wearing glasses, with bubbles rising around her head
Artist Reisha Perlmutter poses in front of one of her hyperrealistic paintings from the Aqua series, showing a submerged woman's face underwater with bubbles
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