Matt Dixon‘s paintings of robots are weirdly sad and a little funny and thoroughly lovable. He puts his adorable robotic creations alone in landscapes where they could clearly use a friend. It’s pretty incredible how much emotion comes through the paintings, even though the robots don’t really have facial expressions. Instead, the paintings’ atmosphere of profound loneliness comes from Dixon’s use of color, the robots’ body language, and the incongruous situations the painter puts them in. I especially love the unexpected small details – the smiley balloon, the coin-operated ride-on toy, the moth attracted to the robot’s light. Enjoy! (By the way, there’s a special bonus at the end, so please scroll all the way down!)

All images are the property of Matt Dixon.

And though it deserves its own post, I couldn’t help celebrating the symmetry of these photos and the video below, which I found just before posting this morning. It offers a possible explanation for why the robots in the paintings are always alone. It’s only 4.5 minutes long, but I promise you’ll be glad you watched it all the way through.