wet feelings
a virtual exhibition of works curated by Vikky Jones featuring six artists that draw upon the fluidity of the dream. photographers Gregory Crewdson, Robert and Shana Parke-Harrison, and James Casebere are shown with performance artist Robert Gligorov, painter Alyssa Monks, and drawings by Vikky Jones to create an environment as slippery as the unconscious. The line between what is real or not in their images is a fine one, but one we want to travel, nonetheless.
dreams are a muted pounding at the conscious mind's door to sometimes not-so-gently remind us to not repress our fears, anxieties, desires, insecurities, and our past. the study of dreams has intrigued scientists and philosophers for as long as humans have been dreaming, however, Sigmund Freud was the most influential in realizing the importance of what our subconscious is telling us. the seemingly illogical symbols and situations our minds constructs in dreams is a language worth learning if one is concerned with knowing one's self on a much deeper, intuitive level. the element of water has many interpretations in dreams, as it has as many qualities in life. it is versatile in that it is constantly changes states, and although it can be contained, it is not without the slow erosion of the container. dreaming of water most often represents the feminine, intuitive, emotional, and psychic aspects of the personality. the dreamer's interaction with the water will alter interpretations though, as well as how the water is manifested. the artists in wet dreams all employ liquid in their selected images differently, but each image emits an ephemeral quality and evokes a dreamy emotion.
in Gregory Crewdson's opening photograph, Untitled, Ophelia he created the death scene of Hamlet's Ophelia in a suburban living room. the flooding of such a common space gives the image a sense of reality, although the eeriness comes from the manipulation of lighting and color, as well as the surrounding question of her death. also creating images of flooded spaces, James Casebere constructs architectural models and photographs them in such a way that they evoke the haunting sense of abandonment. Robert and Shana Parke-Harrison's surreal photographs deliver the feeling of damage, loss, isolation, and the hope of recovery by creating different situations where the figure is encompassed by earthly elements including trees and water. for this exhibition, Robert Gligorov's more documentary images of performances and installations evoke the senses of isolation and struggle by utilizing the idea of suspension. Alyssa Monks paints photo realistic paintings of heightened emotional conflict, using the water as a filter through which we abstract the figure. in Vikky Jones' drawings, the anxious dreamscape is explored through the subtle contrast of black on black and the differences in scale among each of the symbols, of course, including fluids.
the confusion between the real and the unreal of dreams is echoed in the constructed nature of the images, as well as the photographic medium. photos were originally a documentary tool, a way to show 'proof' of an event, and though we now are aware of the easy manipulation of images, we still to some degree, 'believe' that a photograph is real. each of the artists in this show manipulate reality through photographic images to an extent that we can not only 'believe' what we are seeing, but be transported to another realm of reality, such of that in dreams.
both liquid and dreams are fluid, ephemeral entities that together in the interpretations of these artists elicit emotions concerning conflicts of the human conscious and subconscious.
dreams are a muted pounding at the conscious mind's door to sometimes not-so-gently remind us to not repress our fears, anxieties, desires, insecurities, and our past. the study of dreams has intrigued scientists and philosophers for as long as humans have been dreaming, however, Sigmund Freud was the most influential in realizing the importance of what our subconscious is telling us. the seemingly illogical symbols and situations our minds constructs in dreams is a language worth learning if one is concerned with knowing one's self on a much deeper, intuitive level. the element of water has many interpretations in dreams, as it has as many qualities in life. it is versatile in that it is constantly changes states, and although it can be contained, it is not without the slow erosion of the container. dreaming of water most often represents the feminine, intuitive, emotional, and psychic aspects of the personality. the dreamer's interaction with the water will alter interpretations though, as well as how the water is manifested. the artists in wet dreams all employ liquid in their selected images differently, but each image emits an ephemeral quality and evokes a dreamy emotion.
in Gregory Crewdson's opening photograph, Untitled, Ophelia he created the death scene of Hamlet's Ophelia in a suburban living room. the flooding of such a common space gives the image a sense of reality, although the eeriness comes from the manipulation of lighting and color, as well as the surrounding question of her death. also creating images of flooded spaces, James Casebere constructs architectural models and photographs them in such a way that they evoke the haunting sense of abandonment. Robert and Shana Parke-Harrison's surreal photographs deliver the feeling of damage, loss, isolation, and the hope of recovery by creating different situations where the figure is encompassed by earthly elements including trees and water. for this exhibition, Robert Gligorov's more documentary images of performances and installations evoke the senses of isolation and struggle by utilizing the idea of suspension. Alyssa Monks paints photo realistic paintings of heightened emotional conflict, using the water as a filter through which we abstract the figure. in Vikky Jones' drawings, the anxious dreamscape is explored through the subtle contrast of black on black and the differences in scale among each of the symbols, of course, including fluids.
the confusion between the real and the unreal of dreams is echoed in the constructed nature of the images, as well as the photographic medium. photos were originally a documentary tool, a way to show 'proof' of an event, and though we now are aware of the easy manipulation of images, we still to some degree, 'believe' that a photograph is real. each of the artists in this show manipulate reality through photographic images to an extent that we can not only 'believe' what we are seeing, but be transported to another realm of reality, such of that in dreams.
both liquid and dreams are fluid, ephemeral entities that together in the interpretations of these artists elicit emotions concerning conflicts of the human conscious and subconscious.