I have been fascinated by my own dreams since I was a young child and have been eager to exhibit these visions through my art. Combining various materials and utilizing different techniques of printmaking, painting, and film photography expresses the link between automatic art making and tapping into the subconscious in a calculated manner. For me, creating art is an extension of the dreaming process; a mirror, reflecting back the creative psyche.
Freud published research on "The Interpretation of Dreams" that led to psychological breakthroughs in his patients by employing methods of free association and automatic drawing to tap into the subconscious. The Dada and surrealist movements picked up on Freud's research and took advantage of his methods to create art that they believed led them to a deeper, more direct
access to their subconscious, thoughts, and dreams.

Automatism or "automatic art making, is an approach to art that has no preconceived notion of the outcome and requires almost unlearning art as trained artists know it. The use of physical images embarking spontaneous associations that suggest other ideas without apparent connection or logic, otherwise known as free association, complimented surrealism.

"Manifesto of Surrealism" Andre Breton, one of the founders of Surrealism, defined "Surreality" as "a kind of absolute reality" and "seeming contradiction" between the dreaming and waking states.
Automatic art making allows the exploration of my subconscious and internalized mind that is
influenced by my waking life experiences. In my process, ink is used as the initial layer, and
repeated over collaged elements of screen prints, linocuts, and copper plate etchings.

The medium itself is fluid and loose, requiring a sense of urgency and control, much like my dreams. Manipulating these images both with film photography and collaging pieces with one another, illustrates the process of remembering and reimagining my inner mind and dreams that are often interpreted differently in waking life. From the act of drawing, layering, cutting and ripping up paper, it becomes highly intuitive, reflective, and meticulous. The chaotic layering, cutting out shapes of images and prints, burning and spray painting over pieces that have had countless hours of work replicates how my brain processes my experiences and emotions, much
like how I do when in a state of dreaming.

The multilayer processes of my work reflects where my mind goes during the ritualistic act of creation. Many of my dreams are founded on perspective, faint outlines of familiar places, and pivotal environments throughout different times in my life. Repeated shapes, details, foliage, patterns, landscapes, architecture, and symbols appear to link memories and associations with one another. Use of organic symbols such as the chrysalis, spirals, roots/veins, and the moon to associate with the natural progression of time, cycles, change, and growth. Symbols of the stomach to represent anxiety, the nervous system, and processes that emotions and ideas undergo. Buildings represent curiosity, perspective, and stability. Water and patterns represent fluidity and thought. Windows to represent creative perspective; observance. Laws of physics and reality become bent and warped in the dreaming state, to reiterate this experience I am exploring vivid colors and different perspectives simultaneously. By tapping into the chaotic energy that I surrender to in my dreams and creative process, I can mesh together bits and parts of my memories to form new scenarios that reflect the current emotional state of my waking life.