Baroque Medusa

It’s a Small Dystopian World: From Camera Rolls to Abstract Distortions

It’s a Small Dystopian World began with a question I posted on Instagram: send me a random photograph from your camera roll. No selfies. Just an inanimate object or landscape that I might use in my next Abstract Distortions piece.

Two people responded, and both of their photographs made it into the final piece.

It’s a Small Dystopian World by Baroque Medusa, a surreal digital collage featuring a Mickey Mouse and crane hybrid in a rowboat surrounded by colorful flowers, classical columns, and a monarch butterfly magazine cover concept.
It’s a Small Dystopian World magazine cover concept, the latest digital collage from Baroque Medusa’s Abstract Distortions series.

One sent me a photograph of a Mickey Mouse figure sitting in their office. Another artist sent me a photograph of a lake and rowboats taken while they were in Mexico. Neither image had anything to do with the other, which was exactly the point.

Mountain lake with a wooden dock and rowboats in Mexico, submitted through Baroque Medusa’s Instagram camera roll call and used in It’s a Small Dystopian World.
Submitted in response to my Instagram camera roll call, this photograph was taken while the contributor was visiting a village in Mexico. The lake and rowboat became part of It’s a Small Dystopian World.

Building the Dystopian World

I combined their photographs with images from my own camera roll.

The monarch butterfly was photographed during a walk along the San Gabriel River Trail last month. It has already found its way into several of my pieces, most notably Monarch Eclipse and Monarch Vulvaris.

Monarch butterfly resting on rocky ground along the San Gabriel River Trail, photographed by Baroque Medusa and used in It’s a Small Dystopian World.
A familiar monarch returns to Abstract Distortions.

The oversized sunflowers came from a photograph I took at the Palm Springs Pavilion. The metallic crane sculpture belongs to one of my neighbors and caught my eye during a morning walk. The classical columns came from a photograph I took at Caesars Palace pool in Las Vegas.

Three oversized yellow sunflowers photographed at the Palm Springs Pavilion and later digitally altered for It’s a Small Dystopian World.
Palm Springs sunflowers, distorted into something new.

Individually, none of these photographs belong together.

A Mickey Mouse figure. A lake in Mexico. A monarch butterfly. Artificial sunflowers. A metal crane. Classical columns from Caesars Palace.

Mickey Mouse figure sitting on an office counter, submitted through Baroque Medusa’s Instagram camera roll call and used in It’s a Small Dystopian World.
An Instagram submission that became part of the distortion.

But distortion doesn’t require things to belong together.

Metal crane sculpture photographed in a neighborhood front yard during one of Baroque Medusa’s morning walks and used in It’s a Small Dystopian World.
A neighborhood crane finds a new body.

The final piece, It’s a Small Dystopian World, takes these unrelated fragments of different places, people and moments and drops them into one strangely “cheerful” world that feels familiar until you look at it a little longer.

Classical columns and landscaping photographed at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and incorporated into Baroque Medusa’s It’s a Small Dystopian World.
A piece of Vegas becomes part of the dystopia.

I intentionally muted the colors of the lake, Mickey’s head and legs, the boat, and the columns to create a sense that leaving might take him somewhere he’ll regret going. Where that journey leads is never shown. It is only implied.

Artwork Details

Artist: Baroque Medusa
Title: It’s a Small Dystopian World
Series: Abstract Distortions
Medium: Digital illustration created from original photography using photographic manipulation and digital collage
Orientation: Portrait
Year: 2026

Original source photographs:

  • Lake and rowboats photographed in Mexico, submitted through my Instagram camera roll call
  • Mickey Mouse figure photographed in an office, submitted through my Instagram camera roll call
  • Monarch butterfly photographed along the San Gabriel River Trail
  • Sunflowers photographed at the Palm Springs Pavilion
  • Metal crane sculpture photographed during a neighborhood walk
  • Classical columns photographed at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas
It’s a Small Dystopian World digital collage by Baroque Medusa featuring a surreal Mickey Mouse and crane hybrid in a rowboat, oversized colorful flowers, a monarch butterfly, classical columns, and reflective water.
It’s a Small Dystopian World, an original digital collage from Baroque Medusa’s Abstract Distortions series, transforms familiar imagery into a strange, colorful dystopian landscape.

It’s a Small Dystopian World is part of the Abstract Distortions series by Baroque Medusa. Made-to-order canvas prints are available upon request. Contact Baroque Medusa directly for purchase inquiries.

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