The feelings of childhood are intense and powerful, capable of leaving us breathless in an instant and making us feel completely overwhelmed. Joy can be exuberant, sadness can be heartbreaking, and fear can be paralysing. These are the kind of powerful emotions that the Spanish Contemporary artist and illustrator Oscar Llorens seeks to evoke with his lovable, bug-eyed characters.

Transporting us back to our childhood years, these little beings, painted in pastels and coloured pencils, are steeped in memories of simpler times. “As we move away from the innocence of childhood,” says Llorens. “It can be difficult not to feel a kind of longing for those days.”

Born in Madrid in 1975, for many years Llorens has worked as an illustrator for advertising agencies, collaborating with major brands including Coca-Cola, Vanity Fair and Cirque du Soleil. Using nostalgia as a force with which to create, he began drawing and painting with pastels, tapping into his childhood fantasies inspired by Japanese anime to visualise his whimsical cast of characters.

The artist has exhibited his works at galleries and art fairs throughout the world, from Seville to Shanghai. In summer 2023, he made his debut with Maddox as part of our group exhibition ‘Summer Daze’ in London.