MEDI 323: Individual Practise: Elemental Dreamscape Set Version 1

These are my newest Dreamscapes and also the only ones I have done in an actuall set. They are of course elementaly inspired and I have used what I feel about the elemts to influence them. Intrestingly when thinking on what actually shaped my ideas of the elements I came up with two basic things being my Pagan beliefs and notions of elements and also the Legend of Zelda. These two things may not seem to work at all together but it makes perfect sence in my head. I can't exactly remember when my Zelda obssesion started but I know that after playing the N64 title of 'Ocarina of Time' I became hooked. I have litterally grown up with these games. Needless to say they have influenced me hugely. One of the most notable moments for me was learning the creation story of the land called Hyrule where the games most often take place.

Now that I am an adult I can obviously see that the land of Hyrule has similarities to my own ideas, this being the notion of more than one God and especially the notion of Goddesses since the idea of monotheism has never appealed to me even as a child.Over time and the games progression I have come to strongly associate the three Goddesses with the elements of Earth, Fire and Water, also the different zones and quests and battles are normally based around this elements as the core. All of this has lead to a strong association of these three elements with Zelda in my head.

Actually making these is a really enjoyable process. I have layered the images in a very specific way to create the effect I want, I go with what feels right, and what looks right according to the image I have in my head. It`s a very personal process that is not easy to articulate. It`s organic proccess and I will not stop until I have got the image exactly how I want it.

The images as a set rely on the use of symbols and symbolisum to tie them together as a set with a common theme being fairys. Also the key feature that makes them work coheasivly as a set are the 'pearls' or symbols of the three Goddesses.

As for the individual images they do differ quite a bit. The earth image most notably is the only dreamscape to have a solid background image in so far as the image on the lowest layer isnt opaque at all. Having said that I never actually want a clear background to be visible in the images, in the earth picture alone there are leaves, trees, parts of a forest and parched earth to add depth of feild and draw you in. The idea is that you keep finding things when you take anouther look or stare longer or change the angle at which your looking at the image so this negates the idea of foreground and background as and in fact space as being solid or fixed in some way. The images should flow and move as you look into it should feel almost as if they are a life unto themselves. 'Dreamscapes' are meant echo my thoughts, feelings, memories and dreams, the things that make me who i am they have to become `the space of the imaginary` or 'pictures of the unreal'.

Such as the earth image is solid the water and fire are lot less solid. Water in its very nature is clear so I wanted the layers to reflect this yet also keep the vidid blue and greens that I think of when I see water. The water and fire are a lot less 'overgrown' than the earth with the fire image probably being the most sparce in terms of 'life' with the only things really populating fire being mythical beasts such as dragons and the like. The water image however is subtly teeming with life as I would say water is the main life blood of the planet likewise with the earth image since I accociate earth with growth and trees. In the earth picture a notable feature is that I wanted lots of faces to reflect my belief in the 'Green Man' faces in the leaves and children of the woods.

I am very pleased with this set! I think they turned out very well!