When Two Worlds Meet: Painting, Photography, and the Space Between

Hey, hello there, friend!

There’s something rare that happens when two artists don’t just collaborate… but actually listen to each other’s language. Not just visually, but energetically.

That’s what this NEW BODY of WORK feels like.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been working on two new paintings in collaboration with Ute Reckhorn, a photographer whose work you might recognize through her project California Lover. She was also a guest on my podcast, and this isn’t our first time crossing creative paths… but this time felt different. Let's say, more layered.

Her photographs already hold something I’m deeply connected to: light, atmosphere, the emotional imprint of a place. The kind of imagery that doesn’t just show you a location… it lets you feel it.

And then something interesting happened... Instead of creating from scratch, I stepped into her world and responded through paint, movement, and my own visual language.

Grow & Flow

Where Photography Starts Breathing

What happens when a photograph is no longer the final form?

What happens when it becomes the beginning?

That’s what we explored.

Her images became a foundation, not something to preserve, but to evolve. My brushstrokes didn’t sit on top… they moved through the image. Expanded it. Distorted it. Brought a different frequency into it. Not better or louder. Just… alive in a new way.

Glow & Flow

A Conversation Between Two Worlds

Ute said something about this collaboration that stayed with me. I want you to read it slowly:

“Working with Drica on Symbiosis has been a deeply joyful and meaningful experience for me. From the very first moment I saw her paintings hanging on the wall of a mutual friend’s office, I was captivated by her fearless use of color and the vibrant energy that runs through her work.”

“Her art feels alive — full of ocean light, palm trees, sunsets, moonrises, and the unmistakable pulse of the South Bay.”

“My own photography often circles around similar themes: light, atmosphere, nature, and the emotional resonance of place… This collaboration became the answer.”

“Seeing my photographs transformed through Drica’s painterly gestures has felt almost magical… as if the images themselves began to breathe in a new way.”

“This collaboration feels like more than a shared project; it feels like a conversation between cultures, temperaments, and artistic voices.”

That last line is the one, because that’s exactly what it is.

Working with Ute  has always felt like stepping into a different way of seeing.

I remember the first time her photographs really landed for me, not because of what they showed, but because of how they held light. There’s a subtle complexity in her work, this layering of atmosphere and form that gently disrupts the way we’re used to looking at things. Somehow, it asks you to notice beauty in places you might have otherwise passed by.

This was her first time printing her photographs on canvas, which already shifts the relationship to the image. It brings it closer to the language I work in: texture, scale, presence. But instead of treating the photograph as something to preserve, I found myself responding to it almost intuitively, allowing my brushstrokes to move through it, interrupt it, and at the same time, expand it.

New Paintings Collaboration Ute Reckhorn x Drica Lobo

There’s a level of trust required for that.

That’s what makes this collaboration feel so meaningful to me. It’s not just about combining photography and painting, but about allowing two different sensibilities, two different life experiences, to meet somewhere in between and create something neither of us could have predicted on our own.

And truly, I feel honored to be part of that moment with her.

The Exhibition

These two pieces will be part of a group exhibition presented by Indivisible Arts:

SYMBIOSIS (of sand and sea) April 4, 2026 at Resin Gallery, in Hermosa Beach, CA. You can find all information HERE.

This show is one of my favorites every year, because it invites artists to step outside their way of creating and build something together. Not side by side, but intertwined.

If you’re local, I’d love to see you at the opening this Saturday, April 4th, 2026.

PS. If one of these pieces speaks to you, write me an email and I’ll send you the details first.

Color Your Life

Drica