About the series “Nocturnal Landscapes and The Dream Vortex”

 

Nocturnal Landscapes and The Dream Vortex is a two part series where I explore the concept of a landscape created by the physical marks our bodies have left in our place of rest after our journey through the dream realm and sleep cycle.  During sleep, we leave consciousness and travel into (hypnogogia) and out of (hypnopompia) a dream state while our physical bodies remain on Earth where we lay.  Upon waking after hypnopompia, some may find they leave a frenzied mountainscape created in their sheets and blankets, while another's mark may reveal a setting of rolling hills from their peaceful nocturnal recharge. Through the Nocturnal Landscape series, I work from photos capturing the place people slept just moments before. 

 

After studying the photo, I hone into an area of the composition that I perceive as a landscape.  In the Dream Vortex, I repeat an image that I have found through the Nocturnal Landscape composition technique and then radially arrange and flip them to create the kaleidoscope-like portal as a reference.  I play with the arrangement until I find a final composition for a painting that visually takes us into the other side of consciousness.I ask people I love to send me a snapshot of their previous night’s place of rest.  By starting from photos sent from friends and family, I am able to begin the creative process from a place of love.  The intimate nature of sleep and our beds lends a level of trust between the photographer and my interpretation of their landscape.  Honoring the people and their moment of rest is a reflection upon their trust in my creative interpretation of the nocturnal journey.  

 

From these snapshots, I visually frame various sections of interest and compose the Nocturnal Landscape. These landscapes are an homage to the amazing dream realm travelled during slumber and the traces of which are left in the physical world.  This world is then painted realistically and yet abstracted enough where the viewer is left to interpret a location. The compositions created and the colors chosen often reflect my imaginative interpretation and aid in the visualization of the imaginary landscape.  Purposely left out are the objects and activities of humanity.  Instead of including human objects or activity, I focus on including visual clues such as certain threads, seams, and other textural references to the original bedding from the photo references.  By hyper focusing on the landscapes created by the bedding, and removing objects of humanity, these works highlight the universal connection between all humans in the cycle of waking and rest, without markers that may indicate differences in gender, class, race, etc.  I try to dance the line of guiding the viewer to recognizing textile materials and being transported into an imaginary landscape.  

 

Upon exploring deeper into the world of Nocturnal Landscapes, I construct The Dream Vortex by repeating a Nocturnal Landscape-like composition into radial and reflective quadrants, thus creating a tunnel into the other side of consciousness.  The repetition of a Nocturnal Landscape grounds the viewer through the recognition of materials like a blanket or a pillow but the Rorschach-like imagery that is created by the collision of the bedscape materials becomes a visual whirlpool into the dream realm.  Shapes and color then create tunnels of light and shadow, leaving the viewer to interpret the dream trip without restraint.  During the painting process, colors and shapes are chosen, enhanced, and then brought forward for focal points to aid visual energy, direction, and wonder.  I love to play with the light, shapes, and color to magnify the journey through the dream state of the sleep cycle.

 

Dreams continue to be mysterious conundrums for psychologists, scientists, and theologians.  Theories and definitions abound throughout timelines, cultures, and regions around the world.  Nocturnal Landscapes and The Dream Vortex visually encapsulates the universal mystery and wonder of the places we go during the act of sleep.