Artforum once called Fulvio di Piazza’s paintings a prime example of horror vacui, a term for filling an entire surface of an artwork with detail. Di Piazza, who studied at the Urbino Art Academy, makes large oil paintings of fantastical scenes with lush forests, spiraling volcanic smoke, islands in the sky, and vividly colored sun light. Amid these, there are frequently large floating heads or animals floating in the center of his canvases, which upon closer inspection are actually composed of delicately and minutely detailed landscapes. Di Piazza has favored a dark palette for his paintings, and the abundance of swirling clouds has led people to interpret his works as pessimistic. In fact, di Piazza says the works are surreal renderings inspired by the work of political and economic theorist Jeremy Rifkin, in particular his book Entropy (1980).