Based in Santa Barbara, Jansson Stegner has received critical acclaim for his distinctive portrait practice, which oscillates between the familiar and the surreal. Working in a style he describes as ‘Unrealism’, he combines influences drawn from Romantic and Neo-Classical painting with imagery from pop culture, creating imaginary figures imbued with psychological tension. Despite counting El Greco, Egon Shiele, Otto Dix and Alice Neel among his idols, Stegner describes his works as the ‘opposite of portraits’, explaining that they are constructed from multiple sources rather than observed from a pre-existing whole. His paintings are frequently populated by strong female protagonists, including athletes and policewomen – ‘I am fascinated by the ways that strength, power and beauty can be blended in the female form’, he explains. Executed in 2004, Starling Heights is a striking example of this practice, belonging to an early group of paintings inspired by TV crime dramas such as CHiPS and COPS. Included in the Saatchi Gallery’s 2013 show Body Language, Stegner has since exhibited throughout Europe and America.