The Birth of a Lucid Dream II

2021


As a boy and in my early teen years, I would often go into sleep paralysis in the middle of the night, spending hours trapped inside my own body, horrified at being unable to move or wake myself up. The panic would induce hallucination and outer body experience that had me questioning my own reality often. It was at this time that I began to understand the mind to be something that could exist beyond the body. I began exploring this my mind as a place, I eventually found a back door escape from the paralysis by slipping into a dreaming state while still conscious. This is often referred to as lucid dreaming. In this state, I had access to an ever-changing space totally free from any practical or physical constraints, and began experimenting with extreme scales and impossible forms. It’s here where I’ve made my best work, and also how I came to accept the ephemeral nature of my practice. This piece Birth of Lucid Dream II represents the moment in which my mind (with each seed representing a thought) is able to escape the confines of my dark, steadfast body (iron) and expand past reality (cedar) and into the infinite space within the mind (gravel). In the first instantiation of Birth of Lucid Dream (2021), depicts an early stage in which the mind is first expanding from the body.
Fabrication assistance:Seeds:

Karela Palazio
Naomi Shimburg
Thomas Blum
Anna McKee
Sofia Kuri
Olivia Marwell
Watts Erb
Judah Millen
Angela Perez


 Gravel:

Julian Rubinfein
Lazo Gitchos
Avram Salzmann
Eli Sabin
Cameron Rao
PJ Frantz
Jarett Malouf


 Iron:

Desmond Lewis