Zdzislaw Beksinski was a Polish surrealist painter. He was born in Sanok in 1929. He is most known for his surreal and dystopian imagery (Artnet,n.d).

He had no formal art training and initially studied architecture. He began his artistic career creating sculptures and working on photography. He then used his photography to venture into painting. He used his photography as a tool and base for his paintings (Culture Trip,n.d). His life and artistic career ended abruptly and tragically when he was stabbed to death by a teenager when he refused to give them money (Culture Trip,n.d).

His work shows immense care for mood and tone. His work has an otherworldly nature to it. All of his pieces are painted so well that the scenes seem real. He has said that he paints as if he was photographing his dreams (Culture, n.d). This surreal and dreamlike trance he creates with paint is beautifully eerie. He is able to create an ambiance in his work, it draws the viewer in. Some of his work is able to give you the feeling that you’ve found something that you shouldn’t have. They all have a slightly unsettling undertone to them which makes them all the more intriguing.

I am very interested in surrealist paintings. I love horror, sci-fi, and fantastical elements. I like looking at something that is only available in the mind of someone else. Meaning that Beksinski is offering an insight into his mind – what he sees and imagines he’s able to share with us on canvas. The scenes and objects he creates are unique to him, no one else would be able to create the same piece. They are so unsettling that they draw you in further, you notice more and more elements in each piece. I’ve looked at the pieces I’ve chosen many times but everytime I find a new detail or shape that he’s hidden in his work.

Images from

https://www.paidsohostw.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=132286

Artnet. 2021. Zdzisław Beksiński. [online] Available at: <http://www.artnet.com/artists/zdzislaw-beksinski/> [Accessed 24 November 2021].

Culture Trip. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://theculturetrip.com/europe/poland/articles/the-tragic-story-of-zdzislaw-beksinski-the-artist-who-inspired-guillermo-del-toro/> [Accessed 24 November 2021].

I am very passionate and interested in psychology and understanding the human psyche. This is what drew me to write my blog on Sigmund Freud. He is well known and controversial but his work on The Interpretation of Dreams is exceptionally interesting.

Freud was born in 1856, in Moravia (Britannica,n.d). He is well known for his contributions and writings on the human psyche and his interpretations and ideas on society. He was met with a lot of criticism for his work. Regardless of his criticisms, I think it’s fascinating to learn about someone else view and ideas on the world, specifically in his publishing of The interpretation of Dreams.

The Interpretation of Dreams was published in 1913. His ideas had an immense effect on 20th-century culture. I won’t delve into all of the content of his book but highlight a few interesting points that I found.

He wrote the book after his father passed away. It was thought that this event triggered him to delve into the unconscious (Encyclopedia.com,n.d). He believes that dreams have inherent meaning and that you are able to understand them using scientific methods. This has received harsh criticism, but he insists that all dreams have an underlying purpose.

Dreams draw from three sources. Firstly experiences from the day before. Second somatic sources, this would be like going to sleep hungry and having a dream about eating a meal. The third is childhood experiences being recalled (Encyclopedia.com,n.d).

Freud also delves into dreamwork, which is the process of dream formation. The first element of dreamwork is condensation. Condensation is when multiple ideas, objects, subjects, etc are combined into a single entity. One entity can have multiple meanings, it’s a mash-up of your subconscious (Encyclopedia.com,n.d). The second element is displacement. Displacement is where something is standing in for the real object, it’s a substitute for the real thing. The third element is representation. Representation is ideas that are communicated in nonverbal ways. Freud uses these elements to explain how a person’s dream is formed. Each element could be used to make sense of the seemingly random and unnatural nature of our dreams. Even though I only read a small portion I’m very interested in continuing on with his book (Encyclopedia.com,n.d).

Works Cited:

Encyclopedia.com. 2021. The Interpretation of Dreams | Encyclopedia.com. [online] Available at: <https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/interpretation-dreams> [Accessed 17 November 2021].

Jay, Martin Evan. “Sigmund Freud”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Oct. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sigmund-Freud. Accessed 16 November 2021.

Images from

https://www.biography.com/scholar/sigmund-freud

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-art-historys-iconic-depictions-dreams-renaissance-surrealism

The Psychological and Cultural Interpretation of Dreams

My name is Jenna Weind. I am a first-year transfer student at Capilano University studying within the IDEA Program. I’ve attended 2 university institutes prior to my time at Capilano. I have studied creative industries at Ryerson University and art history/visual studies at the University of Victoria. These experiences combined with my interest in visual culture and media lead me to my decision to study design at Capilano. I am very passionate about all forms of visual expression, and I want to explore this further. I am not defined in exactly what I want to achieve with the completion of my program, but I am drawn to illustration and branding specifically product packaging. I’ve kept myself busy with working alongside my education. The most memorable was working in a dog daycare, and as a cook in two restaurants.

This is a summary for ENGL 100 on the importance of urban forests: why money really does grow on trees” by Amy Fleming.

Amy Fleming discusses “the importance of urban forests: [and] why money really does grow on trees” in her 2016 article published by the Guardian. The article explores the vast benefits of forestry and outdoor space and how we can utilize them to enrich our mental health, improve our living conditions, and pose as a viable way of creating a positive economic impact. She outlines that “trees can cool cities by between 2c and 8c” as well they can cut air conditioning by 30% if they are planted near buildings (Fleming, 1). This means that they not only absorb pollutants from our environment but also are effective ways of reducing energy costs, contrary to the belief that forestry is a waste of municipal budgets. Fleming also argues for the benefits of nature on individuals’ mental health as those who get out more deal with less “anxiety and depression” in reference to walking or being in proximity to nature (Fleming, 4). Finally, she outlines that there is a connection between decreased violence in areas that have more tree cover (Fleming, 4). She defines that trees are a key element in our external environment and that the benefits of tree and nature cover are worth being incorporated into our urban environments regardless of the negative perceived costs associated with it (Fleming, 2016). 

Fleming, Amy. “The importance of urban forests: why money really does grow on trees.” The Guardian, 12 October 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/oct/12/ importance-urban-forests-money-grow-trees.

I wanted to create my own version of a ukiyo-e print for the historical artifact project. I choose to depict a wolf and a geisha in the typical Japanese style. I used fine liners and watercolors to create my image. Ukiyo-e prints are traditionally done using wood block printing by carving out each element. I choose to use a simpler method as I don’t have any of those tools available to me. I wanted to focus on replicating the art style and main components of the subject matter instead. I spend around 6.5 hours on this project. I would give myself a 9/10 as I think I was able to create my own print in the traditional style that fits with the time period. I also choose to photograph it as thought it was hanging on someones wall, including the museum tag with the Japanese kanji for “ukiyo-e print” with it. I think I could’ve improved on making the colors flatter in the piece to match it closer to the original look. I also could’ve used a sepia or yellow wash over the paper and museum label to make it look like it was from that time period.

I used many different reference photos to create my image. I specifically looked into Utagawa Kuniteru, Kamada Matahachi and Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s work as inspiration for this project. Below are some of these reference photos. I drew upon the colour palate, subject matter and dynamic flow of the composition to create my piece.

Works cited:

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “ukiyo-e”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Dec. 2013, https://www.britannica.com/art/ukiyo-e. Accessed 11 November 2021.

Gustave Moreau was born on April 6 1826 in Paris. He was a symbolist painter, his work is characterized by his exceptional detail and fantastical content. His work typically depicted erotic paintings of mythological and religious subjects (Brittaniaca,2021).

He began his art education at École des Beaux-Arts then he continued on as an apprentice. He had one strong influence on his work which was Theodore Chasseriau his master. Chasseriau was known for his portraiture and religious paintings. Moreau respected his master highly and exercised what he learned from him in his work (Britannica,2021).

Moreau’s work used heavy impasto and he painted incredibly intricate and ornamental scenes. He also played with vibrant colours and beautiful lighting in his work. He seemed to include a few ‘favorite’ colours in his work, one being a vibrant blue-green accent colour which he used in a lot of his pieces.

Gustave Moreau has said this about his work- “But I am less concerned with expressing the motions of the soul and mind than to render visible, the inner flashes of intuition which have something divine in their apparent insignificance and reveal magic, even divine horizons, when they are transposed into the marvelous effects of pure plastic art.” I think he represents his work well, his work is an offering of his insight and perception of whatever he is painting (Art Net, n.d). It ties well with his themes of mythological and fantastical subjects, he’s revealing his inner imagination.

As I was looking through different artists I thought I had settled on one until I decided to look up one final name, Gustave Moreau. I was instantly attracted to his work. The detail in his work is immense, I love feeling overwhelmed by looking at his work. It is so intricate and delicate that I never fully take in the image whenever I look at his work. I love his use of colour especially the sea blue-green that seems to appear in multiple pieces of his work. I respect artwork that details a story and his work definitely expresses this. 

Works cited:

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Gustave Moreau”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Apr. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gustave-Moreau. Accessed 2 November 2021.

http://www.artnet.com/artists/gustave-moreau/the-conquest-1c0EUuF0vP7UD1Bx6D2Bbw2

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gustave-Moreau