Growing up in the wooded suburb of Olympia Fields, Paul Heyer would often roam the forest at night because, as the 36-year-old painter says, “it was a place where anything could happen, even magic.” That sense of wonder imbues Heyer’s Heaven (pictured), a vibrant, layered painting that will be featured in his solo show opening at the Museum of Contemporary Art on January 16. For the piece, Heyer used acrylic and oil on synthetic silk to achieve an iridescent glow. “It has a kind of sci-fi quality because the apples are not red, but blue,” he says. “They’re like fantastical dream fruits.”