A Walk Through the Forest of Dreams

A Walk Through the Forest of Dreams

Jessie Night

2010

Collage (paper, ribbon, glue)

This piece is a collage made from reused paper and ribbon scraps on a reclaimed cardboard backing, created in 2009 as a commentary on the whimsy of the mundane and the mystery of dreams. This piece is a portrait of a dream I had, very surreal and lucid. In my dream I was walking through a forest looking for the ocean, which I could hear and catch glimpses of, but could not get any closer to. As I was walking through the forest, I came upon some old ruins, but could not tell what had been there before. A flower grew out of the ruins, growing very fast and very large. Persephone, the greek goddess of spring, came out of the flower and offered to trade me her pomegranate for my jewelry. When I gave her my necklace, the necklace turned into a ribbon and the goddess turned into a dove saying "there's no time" as she flew away into the forest, but the forest had turned into a painting of a forest and I could not follow. My dream stuck with me for days and I finally had to get it out through art. I chose collage because it seemed to be the best way for me to express the jumble of ideas and emotions that happened in my dream.

Each element of my dream is represented twice in the piece to give the impression of reiteration and the dual nature of many of the elements. The forest is represented by pictures of a deep and dark forest and a colorized image of branches over top, depicting the changing light and aura of the setting. The ocean I was looking for is shown in strips running vertically across the piece to represent the fact that I could see it and hear it, but could not reach the ocean and my goal was surpassed by circumstances. The ruins are shown in the red and brown stones in the lower left hand corner, carved long ago and covered with lichen and plants, yet resilient and persistent. The rapid growing flower is represented by the black orchid and the close up of the purple flower, small to large, dark to light, ever changing, bringing change. Persephone is represented twice, once as the woman and once as the dove sitting on the pomegranate, her traditional fruit from legend. The locket in the lower left hand corner was placed over the stones because it belonged to that world; the ribbon at the top is covering the female figure representing Persephone because she brings about the change in the necklace and the ribbon brings about a change in her. The forest turning into a painting is represented with the wooden frame along the right hand side and the back of a canvas at the bottom right hand corner. The clock is the only element that is represented once and that is because in the dream it was the final words and I wanted that to be the main resting point for the eye in the piece. The use of angles in this piece was done to keep the eye moving across the images and the color pallet was chosen to give a feeling of richness and lend to the enchanting and ephemeral quality of the dream.

Time spent to complete project: 5 hours

Total cost of materials: 0
Total cost of piece: $100