A surreal collage art scene of a sea serpent coiling through dark waves beneath a pale, drifting sheet ghost.

Sea Serpents, Sheet Ghosts, and Floating Figures Haunt Caitlyn Grabenstein’s Vintage Collages

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Written by Seth Sebastian

2026-11-03

Caitlyn Grabenstein has built a body of work on a simple collision. She places impossible figures into old-fashioned photographs and lets the two sit side by side without explanation.

Grabenstein is an artist, author, and homesteader based in Connecticut. She has created original surreal collages since 2017. She also writes fiction, including the One Red Arrow book series, which pairs narrative world-building with the same visual strategy.

Her collages draw on mid-century photography and add cosmic and paranormal motifs. The results look like pages from a timeline that never made it into the history books.

If Grabenstein’s mix of old photographs and impossible figures appeals to you, Clotilde Jiménez’s mixed-media collages exploring hidden family stories offer another take on reworking found imagery into something unsettling.

Ordinary scenes, impossible guests

In one collage, flying saucers hover silently over a quiet suburban home. Nobody appears alarmed, which makes the scene more unsettling.

Vintage cutout of a sea serpent rising from a dark, stormy ocean.

Sheet-draped ghosts stand beside classic vintage cars. In the foreground, a classic vintage car sits in the scene. The ghosts seem to be watching them, or waiting.

Hooded white sheet figure drifting above a pale, empty room.

This black-and-white frame has the most deliberate composition in the set. Vast, starry horizons open above the scene. Below, sheet-draped ghosts appear in the scene.

Floating human figure suspended over a cloudy sky of torn paper.

For another artist who transforms old, worn material into something playful and strange, Heather Castles’s vintage canvases reworked with pop culture imagery shows how nostalgia can be pushed into new territory.

More work from the series

Grabenstein’s method depends on restraint. She keeps the photographs looking authentic and lets the supernatural elements arrive without drama. The effect is a quiet unease that lingers after the viewer looks away.

Serpent's coiled body wrapping around a Victorian portrait in a dim parlor.
Sheet ghost with cut-out eyes standing among vintage botanical engravings.
Pale figure floats through a doorway framed by ornate old wallpaper.
Sea serpent head breaking the surface beside a small rowboat on grey water.
Sheet-draped figure with a skeletal hand reaching toward a moonlit window.
Floating woman in a long dress above a checkerboard floor.
Serpent winding through a cluttered landscape of cut-out clouds and mountains.
Two sheet ghosts face each other across a dark, empty field.
Floating figure holding an umbrella over a rippling sea of blue paper.
Sea serpent curling around a ship's mast under a torn, yellowed sky.
Ghostly sheet figure seated at a table beside an open vintage book.
Faceless floating figure hovering above a staircase in a shadowy hall.
Serpent emerging from a bowl of water beneath a pocket watch.
Sheet ghost peering over a garden wall covered in climbing ivy.
Floating figure with outstretched arms among cut-out stars and crescent moons.
Dark sea serpent with a long neck rising beside a lighthouse.
Sheet ghost drifting down a narrow hallway lined with framed portraits.
Floating child-sized figure wrapped in fabric above an overgrown orchard.
Serpent's head emerging from a sheet of torn newspaper on green waves.
Sheet-covered figure standing in a field of tall grass at dusk.
Floating figure with a bird's head above a stormy harbor scene.
Multiple sea serpents tangled together in a deep blue collage ocean.
Sheet ghost holding a candle inside a dim, cluttered antique shop.
Floating figures arranged in a circle above a vintage map of the coast.
Serpent curled inside an old steamer trunk filled with pressed flowers.
Sheet ghost silhouetted against a red sunset over a calm lake.
A surreal collage art scene of a sea serpent coiling through dark waves beneath a pale, drifting sheet ghost.

Source: designyoutrust.com

Frequently asked questions

Who is Caitlyn Grabenstein and what does she create?

Caitlyn Grabenstein is an artist, author, and homesteader based in Connecticut. She has created original surreal collages since 2017.

What kinds of images does Caitlyn Grabenstein use in her collages?

Grabenstein places impossible figures into mid-century photography and adds cosmic and paranormal motifs. The result looks like pages from a timeline that never made it into the history books.

What is the One Red Arrow book series by Caitlyn Grabenstein?

The One Red Arrow series is a set of fiction books by Grabenstein that pairs narrative world-building with the same visual strategy as her collages.

How does Grabenstein create the quiet unease in her collages?

She keeps the photographs looking authentic and lets the supernatural elements appear without drama. This restraint leaves a quiet unease that lingers after the viewer looks away.

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