dreams

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Amazing Science

A Dreaming Octopus’s Imagination is Revealed in Her Color-Changing Slumber

A recent documentary from PBS includes a fascinating clip of an octopus changing colors while sleeping. The marine biologist involved in Octopus: Making Contact thinks that the sea creature was dreaming about hunting, which sparked the color shift to a camouflaged shade. Dr. David Scheel describes his theory in the documentary:

So here she’s asleep, she sees a crab and her color starts to change a little bit. Then she turns all dark. Octopuses will do that when they leave the bottom. This is a camouflage, like she’s just subdued a crab and now she’s going to sit there and eat it and she doesn’t want anyone to notice her. …This really is fascinating. But yeah, if she’s dreaming that’s the dream.

If you’re wondering how it was possible to document this occurrence, the octopus in question is being kept in captivity and closely studied by Dr. Scheel, an Alaska-based professor.  Stay tuned for the full documentary, which premieres October 2, 2019, on PBS. (via the sleeping octopus’s enthusiastic cousin, Laughing Squid)

Art

Multi-Layered Oil Paintings by Jacob Brostrup Blur Natural and Built Environments

Spectacularly detailed paintings by Jacob Brostrup layer indoor and outdoor scenes in luminescent colors. The artist renders each component of his oil paintings with exacting, realistic detail, but the overlapping narratives of time and place create a dreamlike state. Old-fashioned architectural features, particularly staircases and windows, are common visual elements alongside fallen trees and marshy bodies of water. Brostrup, who is Danish, also spends part of his time in Barcelona. The artist graduated from the Danish National School of Design in Copenhagen. He is represented by Kirk Gallery in Allborg, Denmark, which hosted his most recent shows in 2019; Galeria Contrast in Barcelona; and Galleri Franz Pedersen in Horsens. Explore more of Brostrup’s transfixing paintings on Instagram (we’re loving his recent works with swimming pool motifs) and Artsy. (Thnx, Tanis!) 

Art

Dreamlike Narratives of Solitary Figures Lost in Thought

Los Angeles-based artist Andrew Hem paints stylized scenes of solitary figures caught in moments of motion, introspection, and reverence. While integrated into their surroundings through carefully modulated color palettes, the figures’ floating poses and distant expressions suggest a dreamlike state. In an artist statement, Hem cites an early interest in graffiti as informing his current narrative style, which he creates with a combination of gouache, oil, and acrylic paint.

Hem was born during his parents’ flight from Cambodian genocide and was raised in southern California where he graduated from ArtCenter College of Design with an illustration degree. The artist has exhibited and lectured widely, and his upcoming show is at Galerie Open Space in Paris, France from June 23 to July 20, 2019. You can see more of Hem’s paintings, illustrations, and murals on Instagram.

 

 

 

Art

Dream Worlds Imagined in Contorted Clay Portraits by Johnson Tsang

Johnson Tsang (previously) continues to create spectacularly emotive ceramic sculptures of the human face. The Hong Kong-based artist’s latest series, Lucid Dream II, features surreal contortions that squish, wring, melt, and stretch. Titles like “Remembrance,” “Extrication,” and “Unveiled” suggest an exploration of the liminal space between the conscious and subconscious, in addition to the self and other. Tsang uses plain, unglazed clay, eschewing typical lifelike details such as color, hair, and apparel, to focus the viewer’s attention on the universally-relatable expressions of each of his imagined subjects. You can see more of the sculptor’s completed and in-progress work on Instagram and Facebook.

Art

New Embroideries of People Slumbering on Handmade Pillows by Maryam Ashkanian

Iranian artist Maryam Ashkanian (previously) embroiders portraits of peaceful sleepers deeply resting as a part of her ongoing Sleep series. Each individual she creates begins with a gestural line drawing that is then embroidered onto a handmade pillow. Little hints of the sleeper’s personality are presented by the way the pillow is designed—from a flowered watch on one’s wrist, to a ruffle that encircles that pillow’s outer edge. You can see more of Ashkanian’s textile work on her website and Instagram.

Art

Artist Jeremy Miranda Explores Memory and Scenes of the Northeast in His Sublime Paintings

Artist Jeremy Miranda (previously) paints in a space between worlds: reality and memory, indoor and outdoor, past and present. Ideas and concepts bleed together within his acrylic paintings like the fuzzy edges of a dream, where powerful images exist amongst unexpected locations and backdrops. The New Hampshire-based artist is heavily influenced by his surroundings in the American Northeast, apparent in his depiction of dense woods, crashing waves, and the recurring motif of lush greenhouses—a more literal depiction of his mixing of environments.

Miranda has an upcoming exhibition next month with Michelle Morin at Nahcotta Gallery, and he has a number of works or prints available through Etsy, Nahcotta, and his online shop. (via The Creators Project)

Art

Sleeping People Embroidered Onto Handmade Pillows by Maryam Ashkanian

Iranian artist Maryam Ashkanian embroiders individuals deep in sleep onto the surface of her handmade pillows, matching the size of her subjects to the area one would physically occupy if they took a nap on her work. The stitched sleepers lay sprawled in different configurations on the white background, some with their arms outstretched, whiles others hold them tucked into their bodies. These sculptures are a way to access the wide subject matter of dreams, a place where Ashkanian feels we can observe ourselves in one of the purest forms. You can see more of her sculptures on her Instagram and Twitter. (via Ignant)

A post shared by Maryam Ashkanian Studio (@maryamashkanianstudio) on Dec 23, 2016 at 3:10pm PST