Dreamland

2022 | 30x48” | Acrylic on Canvas

This is an homage to a famous painting. Can you guess what it is? 

The idea came to me while listening to the album Zaba, by Glass Animals. I lay in the dark listening to the album through my headphones, imagining I was in a jungle. A lush, dark landscape filled with plants and water and all manner of creatures. But I felt no fear or trepidation in the night landscape. On the contrary, I felt entirely at ease. Even completely naked, I could sense that I was in a completely safe space. This was my Dreamland. 

As a call to Henri Rousseuau’s “The Dream” with a twist, I depicted a scene of a nude woman reclining in a jungle, surrounded by foliage and animals hiding in the darkness. My addition was an additional five figures – each representing a part of myself. The player, the lovers, the bather, and the meditator. All encapsulating wisdom, sensuality, tenderness, and presence as I look on. This is a place of my dreams, where all the parts of myself can exist, utterly exposed, and completely safe.