FEATURED ARTISTS:
Maria Vasquez Boyd | Kim Lindaberry | Susi Lulaki | Kat Dison Nechlebová | Vivian Torrence
Andre Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto of 1932 defined the “supreme point” as “a certain point of the mind at which life and death, the real and the imagined, past, present and future…cease to be perceived as contradictions.” In other words, a place where opposites coexist and the time space continuum is imperceptible.
Surrealist art typically presents itself at moments when the world is on fire and it feels like there is no place to hide. So we search for refuge in worlds of fantasy, or dreams, or theater, in disguised and concealed environments where there are promises of safety or redemption. Although there is also a feeling of impending catastrophe close by…
The 5 artists in “The Supreme Point” — Maria Vasquez Boyd, Susi Lulaki, Kim Lindaberry, Kat Dison Nechlebova, and Vivian Torrence – do not label themselves as surrealists, but their art explores some of the key tenets of a movement that technically dates from 1924 – 66, but in reality courses through the entire history of global art.
The Lascaux caves, Egyptian tomb art, Gothic cathedrals, Renaissance artist Hieronymous Bosch, Mannerism, masks and other art forms from indigenous cultures all embrace elements of the surreal as they blend the magical and the real, the fantastic, the grotesque, the mythical, and the visionary into any and all art forms. In the 20th century let’s throw in super hero comic books, horror movies and AI while we’re at it.
Maria Vasquez Boyd’s houses perched on sugarcane supports reference the brutally hard work Mexicans endure harvesting this native crop. On each door are hand-drawn signs of the cross which acknowledge the presence of Nahuals, shapeshifting magical creatures who can either be guardian spirits or troublemakers. Visionary depictions of nahuals line both sides of her houses.
Kim Lindaberry’s photos of the wooded area where he lives take us back to classic fairy tales, for forests harbor magic as well as potential unknown terrors. His nighttime encounters with forest animals hint at portals that appear to lead into arenas of wonderful or terrible discovery.
As a part-time resident of Greece and a global traveler, Susi Lulaki has real love and understanding of classical mythology. She also has lived and worked in nature, and her art combines her observations of wildlife with a contemporary take on those rascally deities from the past.
One of Kat Dison Nechlebova’s esthetic pursuits is that of alchemy. As a practicing art and Jungian therapist her sculptures, compiled of masses of found items, turn dross into symbolic objects that reference everything from the unconscious mind to ancient mythological caverns. She fearlessly explores terrain that most of us studiously avoid.
Vivian Torrence’s collages pluck images from a variety of sources from differing eras that all cohabitate in spaces where the space time continuum has collapsed. In her art science and poetry are best friends, and peace, war, love, hate circle her cosmos in an unending citation to life on the planet earth.
Connecting to nature, saluting the unknown, and looking for spiritual guidance are themes that are alluded to in the art of all five artists.
