Category Archives: Surrealism
Surrealism is like dreaming while you are awake.
I imagine a world where the visually rich language of fairy tales and nursery rhymes extends into adulthood. The traditional nature of this kind storytelling is best presented with visual aids; simple, straightforward text accompanied by fantastic illustrations. In our culture, this is a conventional part of our collective upbringing and experience. These stories often convey lessons, which are coded in familiar symbolic language, and are likely where we first encountered metaphor, allegory and the roots of surrealism.
We carry these simple symbolic codes into adulthood with concepts like wolf equals bad and pig equals good. The narratives I deliver in my paintings utilize this common resource of visual references and cues; however with more mature and timely messages.
The intertwined relationship between language and image has always guided me in constructing my artwork—using visual puns, symbolic themes and literal translations from words into paintings. Often the compositions and assemblies of characters seem to clash in a surreal incongruence, but on some level, they relate by a verbal association or some idiomatic commonality. My aim is to exploit these visual conventions and present something visually arousing with a dose of surrealism, dynamic colour and compelling content.
The level of payoff that the viewer gets from the paintings is relative to their own personal experience, sophistication and history. There may be universal themes revealed, and there may be idiosyncratic dead ends. There is no correct reading of the images other than what the viewer extracts on their own. Even my opinion and the depth of what they mean to me may change from day to day.
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Canadian painter Stephen Gibb makes simple observation