We spend a third of our lives asleep, during which we inhabit surreal worlds that seem both familiar and mystical. They seem to be fragments of our consciousness, unconsciously blurred together into something which often leaves us in deep, wakeful reflection. And, for as long as we have existed, they have captivated our collective imagination, transcended culture and bound us in common experience. Yet, within this strange and elusive world, it is possible to gain control. Lucid dreaming is the act of seizing power over ourselves whilst within, and those who can harness it often speak of its usefulness to overcome nightmares, ease anxiety, foster creativity and act as an enlightening tool for inward reflection and personal growth.
I am one such person. Over the course of many years, and from what started as a need to overcome recurring nightmares, I have gradually sought to free my consciousness and take over my dreams. What began with gradually harnessing bodily autonomy, led to peeling away the realities which further constricted me. I mastered flight, gained superhuman strength, altered my body's material composition and achieved immortality. And if my body was no longer a slave to my subconscious, why should my environment be either? I set out to deconstruct the world around me and form it anew. But this too proved not enough. I grabbed hold of other dreams recalled throughout my life and traversed into them, weaving my lifelong consciousness into an interconnected timeline that I may continue to inhabit each night.
As with most people who try to explain a fantastical dream experience, the listener will never fully grasp the surreal detail which you might try to convey because there are often no words for them. For this reason, I’ve taken to drawing scenes from my dreams by hand in an attempt to fill in these gaps and offer a more direct glimpse into them. Putting pen and pencil to paper and meticulously capturing as much detail as I can, each drawing transports the viewer into the world that I have constructed within.
Exhibitions
INTERESSANT
21 - 23 October 2021
Gallery46
Whitechapel, London
The world around us is as fragile as our own minds. When pressured and tested, a complex state of existence can quickly crumble to expose a delicate and fleeting reality.
Through this lens, the built environment can be seen as a reflection of the society that inhabits it, one that can be easily influenced, torn apart or reconstructed as a result of the social, economic, political and environmental events it exposes itself to.
Inspired by lucid dreaming and the chaotically surreal experiences within them, INTERESSANT captures snapshots of our collective subconscious as it attempts to make sense of the reality reflecting back at it.