My artwork is a way for me to manifest my dreams, whether day dreams or nightmares. My goal is to capture a specific surrealism that only exists in two places, my brain and my art. I feel that photography is often viewed as the most scientific and mathematical art. Through my artwork I try to diminish the feeling that photography is just a frozen snapshot of time, but instead similar to painting and other pre-modern arts, creating an alternate reality.
For as Albus Dumbledore said in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, “For in dreams, we enter a world that is entirely our own. Let him swim in the deepest ocean or glide over the highest cloud.” Often we use dreams to escape reality, or experience the paranormal. Similarly, dreams do not seem dark or twisted until someone describes the dream to someone else and they realize how dark it could be interpreted. While the surrealism in my photos may have a psychotic tint to them, all of the characters don’t seem to be scared, they all seem to be at peace with the world that they are living in. In addition, unlike the traditional idea of a portrait all my photos have an overarching theme of anonymity. I try to hide or cover faces in shadows or mask to convey that these dream worlds could belong to anyone. Just as how the title “art” is not limited to the masters and the famous, it is available for the masses to hold. Anyone can experience art, it is the basis of human nature to create, just as dreams are also the basis of human nature.
Most commonly, surrealism is imagined as overcrowded and overwhelming for the viewer. I think that this form of surrealism makes it harder for the viewer to understand the picture, the average onlooker will not want to spend ten minutes examining each minute detail. All of my pictures have on average one prop, one person, one element, such as a telephone, a television, body paint, etc.
To bring this full circle, I judge my photos on how well I was able to immortalize my dream. Of course, no picture is perfect, but enough of them have been successful, I feel when I am look at my photographs, I see the thoughts taken directly from my brain projected on the computer screen. When I look at those photos, I can escape reality for a moment and relax in my own dream world.
katieashleyohara 