Imagine waking up one day to discover that creatures from another universe had chosen you to tell their story. That’s more or less what happened to artist Anna Mond.
Anna Mond is a contemporary artist whose paintings explore an imagined universe inhabited by fantastical creatures, hybrid beings, and dreamlike visions. She calls the visual language of this world fantasticalicizm, a style that has been unfolding intuitively since 2017, when, as Mond describes it, “these Fantastical Beings somehow reached me from a parallel reality, and it felt less like inspiration and more like a personal Big Bang.”
There’s something so imaginative about the way Mond brings these hybrid beings and otherworldly visions to life. Her paintings feel like glimpses into a universe that exists just beyond our own, where familiar forms can transform into something strange, playful, and entirely unexpected creatures.
Explore Anna Mond’s Fantastical Beings below, and read on to discover more about the artist, her process, and the parallel universe she continues to uncover one painting at a time.
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#1 Melon Heist

© Photo: annamond
Mond told Bored Panda that since that first encounter with the Beings, she has been painting them in acrylic, working quickly enough to capture their personalities, forms, and stories before ‘they change their mind’. For her, the process feels less like inventing characters and more like translating messages from somewhere else.
#2 We Leave No Spots Behind

© Photo: annamond
#3 Fire Horse

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As Mond shared with us, sometimes the Beings appear fully formed; sometimes they emerge from ordinary humans; sometimes they take the form of pets. But there’s one thing they have in common: they all belong to the same expanding universe.
#4 Eternals

© Photo: annamond
#5 Sparkle And Glow

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What makes Mond’s practice particularly intriguing is that she is still discovering the rules of this world herself. And perhaps that sense of movement is what makes the work feel so alive. Mond’s Beings have already traveled beyond the paintings, finding homes around the globe. As for where they might go next, she leaves the possibility suitably open: “Who knows, maybe one day they’ll end up on Mars. Stranger things have happened.”
#6 The Mosquitulas

© Photo: annamond
#7 239,000 Miles Away

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#8 Autonomous Underwater Operations

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#9 It's Not Foggy

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#10 Look At You

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#11 Crabsome

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#12 You Got To Know When To Hold 'Em / Know When To Fold 'Em / Know When To Walk Away / And Know When To Run

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#13 Midsommar

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#14 Mosquitulas In Love

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#15 Romeo And Juliet

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#16 A Spark

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#17 Cottontail

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#18 Make A Wish

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#19 Onetwo

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#20 Queen's Gambit

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#21 The Watchers

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#22 Autumn Song

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#23 Blossom Bastion

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#24 Rise And Shine

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#25 Fallen Stars

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#26 Om

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#27 Suddenly, Edgar

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#28 Unconscious

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#29 Harry The Frog

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#30 A Little Grassy

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#31 A Scary Story

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#32 Light The Match

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#33 Tickle

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#34 Tiny, Furry, Green (Comissioned Work)

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#35 It Is What It Is

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#36 Lift Me Up

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