Sometimes you discover the most intriguing things purely by accident. Of course, the accessible nature of social media apps makes it easy to stumble across the works of an unfamiliar artist simply by tapping a few random Instagram links in success. I found Alma Haser in precisely this way: through a winding chain of Instagram posts until a few images from her Eureka Effect series caught my eye. Haser’s primary medium is photography, but breathtaking photographs are limitless on Instagram these days. What makes Haser’s work stand out is her surrealist approach to the portraits she takes, where she distorts the features and bodies of her subjects in ways both whimsical and grotesque. Her recent works involves turning her twin photographs into puzzles, which she then disassembles and reassembles with images of the subjects’ twins, creating an uncanny, often jarring impression. While technology has helped her images spread like wildfire, Haser’s tearing, cutting, and other methods of paper manipulation keep her rooted in the classic hands-on aspect of artistic practice.

Interview by Deborah Krieger