Running from Myself (2025) Original Oil Painting by Gabriel - Cristian Matei

After a breakup, the most difficult part isn’t letting go of the other person, it’s facing yourself. Without the role of the partner, without the expectations of the other, you’re left with your own limits, fears, and unresolved needs.

The female figure in this painting isn’t running, she’s releasing. She steps into the water as if entering a space of transition, suspended between who she was and who she might become. The sea becomes a place of reflection, cleansing, and emotional honesty.

This work is part of “Life is beautiful without you”, a multidisciplinary project blending painting and film. It follows a painter on the Italian coast who rediscovers beauty and freedom after heartbreak. The project explores transformation, self-discovery, and the sea as a symbol of renewal.

The scene reflects the quiet beginning of reconstruction, not shaped by loss, but by the emergence of a more honest relationship with the self.

Materials used:

canvas stretched on a wooden frame

Details:

• Oil painting on Canvas
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 125 x 100 x 2cm / 125 x 100cm (actual image size)
• Ready to hang
• Signed on the front
• Style: Photorealistic
• Subject: People and portraits