Abstract:
The phrase "obiter dictum" refers to a passing remark, or a cursory observation. Each piece in this series is based on an image I saw briefly in a floor tile, wood panel, or other patterned surface. The random nature of the patterns lent itself to the kind of surreal imagery I normally produce, similar to Dali's dream paintings and Miro's collage-inspired pieces. There is no specific concept for each piece, except to create a mysterious image that takes advantage of the strangeness of the original source image and the medium. Studying the compositions of other artists, such as H. R. Giger, Leonard Baskin, and Mauricio Lasansky, helped me to sort the strange images I worked with in this series into coherent artistic works.This medium is a particular combination of materials that I have spent the past four semesters exploring. It uses a collage of scrap paper and found objects with spray paint and white color pencils to create a broken and varied surface that I believe lends itself well to surrealism. The semi-random placement of different materials on the surface gives the piece many different surface qualities, which I find to be especially engaging to work with.
