Dusty's Storm; Ode to Aphrodite

Artwork Info

Oil on canvas 
9 x 12 in. 
12 x 15 in., Framing included 
© 2026

Jennika Bastian is a Bay Area based magical realism painter. One of her favorite quotes is "Myths are public dreams, dreams are private myths," by Joseph Campbell. She views her artwork as a dance between these realms. When Jennika was 5 years old she taught herself how to lucid dream. Her aesthetic is informed by how objects, environments and characters appear in her dreams: shape shifting, ephemeral, simultaneously growing and decaying. She is fascinated by mythology and folklore in different cultures- particularly how these tales can thread within our subconscious minds, almost as if the stories are organisms unto themselves.