Creating Safe Spaces Through Surreal Collage
Introducing Sophie Zurybida, also known as @SpookyZury, whose retro-futurist collages transport viewers into impossible worlds that feel hauntingly familiar. Working from the edges of the Forest of Dean, Sophie crafts dreamscapes where lifestyle magazine housewives sail through star-filled skies and monstrous sea creatures traverse alien landscapes. Her work draws inspiration from the gently unreal woodland that surrounds her, especially at twilight when reality itself seems to shimmer with possibility.
Sophie's collages blend public domain imagery into compositions that feel like fragments from an alternate timeline - one that never was but somehow should have been. With influences ranging from pop art to folk horror and off-kilter sci-fi, her work has gained a cult following among those seeking escape from the everyday. Her pieces featured in our 'Dopamine Art' exhibition perfectly capture the mood-boosting power of art that dares to imagine beyond the boundaries of reality.
Tell us about your artworks in our 'Dopamine Art' exhibition...
‘Pastel Dream Door 3’ serves as more than just artwork - it's a promise. As she describes it, this piece represents "a portal of hope. A gentle reassurance that even if you aren't currently ready to cross through, if you're currently struggling, the pastel dream door will always be waiting for you." In a world that often feels overwhelming, this soft-hued gateway offers viewers a reminder that escape and transformation are always possible, even when we're not quite ready to take that step.
‘Lakeside’ emerges from a deeply personal need for sanctuary. Sophie explains it as "where I think of being when the grind of daily life gets too much. No phone signal, no traffic, no judgements." This serene composition captures the universal longing for a place of complete peace - not just physical, but emotional and spiritual refuge. Through her surreal lens, Sophie transforms this desire into a tangible space viewers can visit whenever they need respite from the chaos of modern life.
'PASTEL DREAM DOOR 3' by Sophie Zurybida
The Philosophy Behind the Portal
When asked about her artistic goals, Sophie's response is beautifully concise: "Déja vu, hope, nostalgia." These three words encapsulate the emotional journey her work creates - the uncanny recognition of places we've never been, the gentle optimism of her impossible worlds, and the wistful longing for times and places that exist only in dreams. Her art taps into something primal about human experience: our need to believe in worlds beyond our current reality.
For Sophie, the creative process represents ultimate freedom. "It means I can bend all rules, defy logic, and create safe spaces," she explains. In her collages, gravity becomes optional, time flows differently, and the boundaries between earth and sky dissolve. But perhaps most importantly, these impossible worlds become sanctuaries - places where viewers can rest, dream, and remember that reality is far more malleable than we often believe.
Living at the Edge of Dreams
Sophie's location at the Forest of Dean's edges proves more than coincidental - it's integral to her artistic vision. The woodland's twilight hours, when familiar landscapes transform into something almost alien, mirror the liminal spaces she creates in her work. This daily immersion in the boundary between real and unreal feeds directly into her ability to craft worlds that feel both foreign and familiar, unsettling yet comforting.
Her growing Instagram following speaks to a collective hunger for the kind of visual escapism Sophie provides. In an age of constant connectivity and relentless reality, her retro-futurist mash-ups offer viewers permission to step outside the conventional world and into spaces where different rules apply - where healing happens, hope flourishes, and the impossible becomes beautifully, necessarily real.
Art as Sanctuary
Sophie's work in the 'Dopamine Art' exhibition demonstrates that mood-boosting art doesn't always need to be bright and bold. Sometimes the most powerful medicine comes in the form of quiet portals and peaceful lakesides - gentle reminders that somewhere, beyond the stress and noise of daily life, there are spaces waiting for us. Spaces where we can rest, dream, and remember that the world is far stranger and more wonderful than we often allow ourselves to believe.
Through her careful curation of imagery, Sophie creates something entirely new while honouring the past. Her collages become time machines, taking viewers to places that never existed but somehow feel like home. In a world that often feels chaotic and uncertain, Sophie Zurybida's art offers something invaluable: permission to dream, space to breathe, and the gentle promise that hope is always waiting, just beyond the next pastel door.
Check out Sophie's prints in our 'Dopamine Art' online art exhibition.