Sourcing inspiration from run-down environments, Houston-based artist Kevin Paterson highlights the innocence of his subjects amongst local slums through freakishly realistic imagery. Paterson describes the stories behind his photo-like paintings as “varied journeys we take through life. It’s about growing up and living in a world that is broken. These paintings are about trauma, fear and loneliness and the strength that it takes to survive and thrive. They each contain the contrast of the untainted, young and innocent against a backdrop of a worn, ragged, and defiled world. Support versus restraint, bondage versus freedom, and tension versus slack are all themes that I often visit”. Browse through his work above.