A soaring, mesmeric flight over vast contoured deltas and effervescent waters, plunging and pooling in glassy blue holes and crystal lagoons.

Self-taught Maltese artist Jo Dounis takes inspiration from the ocean views of her Mediterranean homeland. “I love natural bodies of water and all the different blues in lakes, rivers, seas and oceans.”

Dounis’ painting is fuelled by a love of light and a fascination with how colours blend, form and flow. Inspired by her architect father, she studied art and interior design and travelled extensively, developing a flair for photography and a taste for an otherworldly aesthetic.

While many of her ethereal, marblesque abstracts resemble intricate and undulating waterscapes viewed from above, others recall celestial gases and distant nebulae, swirling and unfurling in deepest, darkest space.

Dounis uses fluid acrylic and mixed-media techniques to create timeless, organic works that ripple, flow and pulsate. Her practice also encompasses richly textured artworks and sculptural pieces incorporating wood and mixed-media elements.

"When I paint, I lose myself in my work and have no sense of time or reality. When it takes on a life of its own and tells its own story, I know that it is finished."

Her work can be found in private collections in the UK, Dubai, Italy, Malta and the USA.