Dino Pearl

I was born in Chicago but I grew up in Linz, Austria. After changing schools I ended up moving to Vienna by myself at the age of 14 to an Animation and Media Design college. I lived there for almost three years and although I loved the school and had amazing teachers, I realized the assignments we had felt very creatively limiting. When I eventually moved back to my hometown Linz, I rediscovered my passion for fine arts.

Being able to use art as a way of escapism has been the most consistent thing in my life. Dissociation and overthinking is what inspires my art work. Creating for me is not only a way of expression. It is how I regulate my emotions and ground myself.

Most of my self-portraits are an interpretation of depersonalization and derealization. It’s meant to show what it feels like when you either don’t feel like you’re real, or when your surrounding does not feel real.