Artist Reimagines Canada’s Mountain Ranges as Vibrant Geometric Landscapes

Vancouver-based artist Elyse Dodge transforms familiar mountain ranges into surreal, dreamlike compositions built from vibrant geometric forms. Drawing inspiration from the striking natural beauty of British Columbia, she aims to “capture the vibrant beauty of the landscapes that we call home.” Through her bold use of color, her contemporary landscape work investigates the tension between sharp structure and natural softness, contrasting angular, graphic depictions of cliffs, hills, and peaks with the gentle, organic forms of forested areas.

Leveraging social media as part of her creative process, Dodge connects with landscape photographers through Instagram to source reference imagery. With a background in graphic design, she first develops digital compositions, experimenting with geometric simplification and color arrangement on screen. Once satisfied with the abstracted mountain forms, she translates them onto canvas, painting each brightly colored polygon with careful precision. She explains that these faceted shapes reimagine recognizable mountains as crystalline, jewel-like structures, inviting viewers to envision an alternate version of the natural world—one that feels heightened, vibrant, and slightly unreal.

In Dodge’s work, traditional mountain scenery is broken down and rebuilt into layered geometric structures, where cliffs and peaks become clean-edged forms while trees retain their softer, more fluid presence. This visual contrast strengthens the sense of transformation, turning real landscapes into imaginative, almost fantastical environments.