Italian artist Stefano Bonazzi mixes charcoal drawings with digital photography for a dark yet poetic exploration of human nature.

The gallery of characters inhabiting Bonazzi's visual universe range from girls wearing gas masks to smart business men and disturbing fairy tale creatures. All of them are ambiguous, abandoned undecidedly to their inner sadness or subtle cruelty.

'I do like that ambiguity and duplicity of human nature which allows to detach oneself from social discomfort and conformity even if just for a moment,' Bonazzi says, speaking to the relentless and impossible search for identity.

'My characters prefer subdued greys rather than the bright colours of contemporary nothingness,' he adds. They are nameless and do not possess a past - they just inhabit a chaotic world.

Digital technologies suit Bonazzi's aesthetic representations, which he says gives him a 'kaleidoscope of expressive nuances.'

In May, Bonnazzi will participate in the Artefatto 2012 in Trieste, Italy.

Images courtesy of the artist.