The Crystal-Lunar World - MA Exhibition

 

The Crystal-Lunar World

 

Demi Adams

MA Visual Art (Painting)

 

The purpose of this study was to create a body of work which focused on the recurring dreams I have been experiencing since early childhood. I had dreams about a world which I could access through the back of my bedroom cupboard or a crack in my ceiling. This world is one which never experiences daytime; it is covered in various crystals and has its own inhabitants. I started keeping dream diaries to create my artworks, essentially creating a Paracosm. Paracosm is: “… a detailed imaginary world, especially one created by a child”.

The problem of this study was thus: was it possible to recreate my Crystal-Lunar World (personal dream narrative) using visual art so others could experience it and which methods should be employed to substantiate these recurring dreams. Thus, the overarching research question is how do recurring personal dreams translate into visual art to sustain a language which manifests in an individual visual narrative. I made use of mixed media paintings and three-dimensional objects to illustrate scenes from my Crystal- Lunar World. I kept Dream Diaries to collect data on my recurring dreams and extract frequencies and group them into themes to create my artworks. The dream diaries also substantiated what I was painting and making. I also kept drawing journals to study the various crystals and to illustrate them and the creatures I see.