What does it mean? I hear that question a lot when people view my artwork. It’s not a bad question really, and I have wondered it about pieces I enjoy like the works of Dali.
My artwork, much like dreams, is focused in my subconscious. Surreal work is often equated to dreams that are heavy in symbolism and oddities. Dreams have a limitation that artwork does not. It is difficult to remember your dreams from last night and almost impossible to remember your dreams from last year. Even the rare dreams that stick with you like an experience from your childhood. They tend to be vague and fuzzy and you also forget what was happening in your life that caused that dream in the first place.
I was looking through some of my old artwork last Thursday, and I was able see it in a new light. I remembered when I created them and all the things that where going on in my life at that time. It is hard for us to really know how struggles or life events are going to impact our lives when they are happening but after the fact you can look back and see it with clarity. It was like that but with my subconscious I felt as if I was looking in to my past dreams and seeing my fears, struggles and victories on a subconscious level.
It was not until that moment I figured out what my artwork meant to me. For example my piece Interview when I created that piece it was right before I really started my career in web design and development. I had an interview coming up that was on my mind a lot when I created it. Looking at it now I see how subconsciously pessimistic I was about getting the job. The small tree lost in a desert seemed to so clearly symbolize my hope for getting the job. Looking back at that I smile knowing that I did get the job.
It is difficult to tell the story of a piece of artwork especially if it is something I have recently created. It takes time for me to really understand what I was thinking at that time I created and how things played out. The greatest thing about surreal artwork is that the symbols in it change to fit the view. The struggles and experiences in my life create my artwork. Yet they can reflex the viewers own life experiences and can represent anyone.
