Resistance (2025) is set against a pale surface, a dark terracotta vase forms the focal point of the composition. Cut flowers surround its base. Three human arms emerge from the mouth of the vessel: one hand holds a cluster of severed stems, another grips a pair of metal scissors, while a third attempts to restrain it and protect the remaining flower.
The work brings humanity’s destructive relationship with the ecosystem, the non-human world and, ultimately, itself into sharp focus. Systems of power, greed and exploitation threaten to erase the possibility of a future in which life can flourish. Resistance reflects on how these forces pose a critical threat to the wellbeing of the planet and to all those who depend on it for survival. The painting issues an unsettling call to action, reminding viewers of their active role both as individuals and as part of a collective.
In Acid Rain (2024), an expressive, abstract landscape dominated by deep blacks and purples unfolds across the lower half of the painting. Above it, a turbulent sky is built from muted orange, violet and unnatural green tones. Vertical amber-gold streaks descend through the darkness, recalling atmospheric discharges or flames rising from toxic waste. The brushwork is both chaotic and disorientating, creating a vortex of change that is beautiful, rapid and unstable.
The painting serves as a visual record of one of the many landscapes undergoing profound and often disastrous transformation. Its vivid, chemically inflected palette suggests an environment altered by industrial activity. The vertical streaks evoke climate instability, while the absence of human or animal figures reinforces a sense of precarity. A landscape that was once habitable has become threatening and treacherous, exposing the vulnerability of the ecosystem within a vision of a world in collapse.
Michael Rozen (b. 1995) is an Irish-Canadian artist whose practice examines the intersection of political ecology, historical memory and collective resilience. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, and currently based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Rozen studied Political Science and History at McGill University, an academic background that continues to shape his artistic practice.
Working across expressionist, abstract and impressionistic modes, Rozen uses urgent, gestural brushwork to document the spirit of a troubled age. His work has been exhibited internationally in solo and group exhibitions in Vancouver, Rotterdam, Montréal, Berlin and Barcelona. ReA Art Fair 2026 marks his first presentation in Italy.
Text by Silvia Laurelli
