The two works I created this semester are components of my overarching study of perspective and surrealism in the form of collage psychedelic art. My aim for these two works was to shift from my last semester’s focus of perspective from a figure’s point of view towards perspective during/before sleep. Typically, the figure is a central component of my works, but as the semester progressed, I wanted to try to incorporate perspective without a figure, emphasizing the effect of optical illusion on a two-dimensional surface. The black and white illusion has been a staple in my pieces, and it was important that I incporated it in my work this semester.
The first piece I completed this semester is titled The Journey, and is oil paint on a 36 x 48 canvas. My intention for this first work was to focus on depicting one’s perspective within a dream. Upon first glance, the couple in the boat seems to be rowing down the river. However, after adjusting your eyes the painting reveals an upside-down landscape, where the couple is actually rowing in the sky. This warped perspective of one’s environment is prevalent in many dreams, where an environment seems familiar and foreign at the same time. There is no indication of where the couple is going and this piece does not suggest a linear timeline, just as time and order in dreams do not make complete sense. Rather, dreams illuminate overall themes and feelings.
In contrast to the first piece, the second piece I created this semester does not focus on the actual dream, but what comes before it. This work is titled Restlessness, and is 36 x 36 oil on canvas. Without including a figure, this work aims to explore the feeling of helplessness and frustration for those with insomnia. The empty bed implies it has been used or is in use. The placement of the bed in the center of the image almost engulfed in the vibrating optical illusion hints at the struggle for serene sleep, something the image of a bed usually suggests. Rather, the illusion almost shakes the bed, even hinting that in the context of dreaming this scene may be a nightmare. My aim is that the viewer is able to experience or at least understand these themes of insomnia and discomfort in my piece.
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