Arienne's Dreams of Power - £380 Single Original Print - Find it here
"They are Dreaming" is part of a series of portraits, each person dreaming and aspiring towards a large life goal or principle. As part of the collection, each character will have three large collage like prints that are one of a kind, representing each of their dreams using different elements.
Each portrait is then released by itself as a series, and each element of their dreams (all the
smaller stamps making up the collage) are then also released as a limited edition series.
Since starting the business of making and selling my work, I have become very interested in goal setting, both on a larger and smaller scale. I wanted a project where I could explore the core ideas and values that people aspire to (normally dictated by the society we have grown up in) visually.
I have a longstanding practice of collage. Collage for me is a revelatory process, as
unexpected juxtapositions, and the reasons for the decisions I make while putting it together
only start making sense towards the end, as the bigger picture gets built. It allows me to pursue my instinct, which ultimately reveals subconscious beliefs and ideas I may have through the final image. You can go to this blog where I have written about my collage practice, and discussed the history of collage and photomontage.
Find Virgil's Dreams of Money (above) here. - single original print
Therefore, I approached this series in this way in order to slowly reveal to myself and the viewer what power, love, or money actually look like. By combining separate elements I believed represented power, money or love, I hoped to unravel society's constructs when it comes to these themes (i.e. - why am I drawn to the images I am choosing, and what do they look like together?), and inspire the viewer to ponder over what each of these concepts might actually look like for themselves.
Furthermore, are these things we should even be aspiring to? Arienne clearly already looks
powerful to the viewer, Immie might just need to find love within herself, and Virgil looks
possessed by his dreams of money.
In these times, our goals and aspirations to are bound to change, and have already changed for so many. Most of us will realise what truly matters in life, and what we prioritise most. A lot of us have had our plans and projections for the future completely ruined, and few have found opportunities for growth among the ruckus (my artistic practice has definitely flourished).
So what do these goals and aspirations we have grown up with look like now to us? For dreams of money and material things, do we even need a car, or more clothes, like expensive occasion wear? What does love look like for us now? Do our partners help make life easier or harder? What about power, and strength? Are we finally understanding who holds the power in our societies? These are ideas I believe we have all tried to reckon with this past year, and the answers to these questions have taught us so much. Hopefully, this series helps consolidate these themes for the viewer, in a strong yet light hearted way.
A more practical reason for why I wanted to approach this series as a collage made with linocut prints was that I wanted to start carving on a smaller scale. The medium of linocut allows large intricate designs and scenes, and this is what I was used to doing (Read about my Away With the Circus Series here, and purchase it from here.). But the medium also allows for making smaller stamp like figures, and I was very inspired by the idea of making multiple smaller blocks, and bringing in my collage practice to printmaking.
This did wonders for my practice, as not only do I find it incredibly fun to make smaller prints, as they give me a great feeling of accomplishment, but I am also able to release these prints at a lower price point for my audience. Find them here. And now, the way I "procrastinate" from larger, more intricate prints is by adding more to this series, which makes me so much more productive and inspired.
I hope you have enjoyed this series as much as I am enjoying making it!
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