Images flow through my mind like a raging river. I simply close my eyes and they are there. Capturing them and holding on before they dissolve away- that’s where the real challenge begins… the act of remembering while swimming against the current of conscious thought… The critical details are all there but are just at the edge of my conscience. In order to coax them to the surface, I submerge into the subconscious. This is the place where I can bring them to life!
For me, painting is an intuitive act. And the works I create are momentary flashes of this raging river of images. They emerge from my subconscious and take on a life of their own.
Because of my vivid imagination, and because of a stubborn insistence to resist established canon, my work is inherently unique. I am an explorer who pushes deep into the frontier of imagination and of technique- discovering untold and untried means to communicate this rushing flow of imagery.
Myth Busters’ Adam Savage was on to something when he spawned the phrase “I reject your reality and substitute my own”. My works render their own realities. They are worlds in and of themselves. They are self contained microcosms which openly defy the drone of collective thought and run wild through the fields of possibility.
To unbridle the full potential of my creative energy, I have made a vow to myself to embrace these three simple but thoroughly liberating concepts:
1. Free the mind of preconceptions- there are no mistakes.
2. As much as is humanly possible, work unfiltered and unfettered from conscious thought.
3. Know the rules, but work as if there are none.
My hope is to ignite your imagination, to invite you into my journey as a fellow traveler. Perhaps the exploration of my work will open to you to a place you’ve never thought of, and give you reason to challenge your own perceptions, ideas and preconceptions- to see beyond the waking stream of the hive mind. Perhaps it will reveal in you a reality that has been there all along- dormant and just below the surface of your conscious mind, like a key to a long forgotten dream.
©2023 Christopher Duncan