Reflected Landscapes, Alternate Views of our World

 

20.2.20

Reflections are curious, they are a version of our reality, of our existence, the same but different, distorted. These reflected landscapes, shadows, and the low golden Winter sunlight and sunsets are present in my current works in progress. 

Shadows like reflections, offer an alternative view of our reality. Shadows also remind me of our wider world, our place in the solar system, and our universe. They remind me of our place in something bigger than ourselves. 

 

 

With the volume of rainfall that continues to fall, reflections are everywhere at the moment. When I walk through the landscape, look out of the window, and out into the garden and surrounding countryside, the water is there reflecting back, droplets of reality distorted, altered, upside down, like many tiny lenses, the rain has created apertures of paused moments of time. Our earth, reflected back, but altered in some way. 

 

Multiverse Theory & Alternative Earths

I’m interested in the concept of alternative realities, of numerous universes, resulting in numerous (alternate) earths. This idea,  the multiverse (multiple universe) theory, once berated, is gaining scientific traction and is becoming more and more prevalent in popular culture (in popular culture for example, Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials and DC’s Arrowverse).  

 

Quantum physics, particularly, offers an interesting take on the theory, that not only could there be multiple universes, meaning multiple earths, that they could also overlap and share the same space (similar to the film, Interstellar).  

 

Artistic Journeys & Portals of Imagination

The playful part of me imagines, that reflections and shadows cast by sunlight can create portals, looking glasses into these different realities, or perhaps from those realities, into ours.

The sorrowful part of me, wonders with love and in search of understanding and meaning; where do our loved ones go when they die? Are these portals, glimpses, doorways, signposts to our loved ones?

Whilst shadows and reflections, are of course, not portals, that they are not gateways through the Looking Glass. We can use them to go on artistic, creative and playful journeys and experiment with fanciful leaps of imagination. Because that’s what art and creativity is; a space to play and experiment with ideas, and allow imagination to take the lead. It’s a pre-language communication that can express emotion or feelings that have no direct translation or label verbally, linguistically. And perhaps it is this quality that allows artistic exploration of difficult concepts that in contemporary society and culture are at the boundaries of our understanding and comprehension. 

So in my work in progress, I’ve been experimenting with this idea.  

 

Moments to Pause, Reflect & Remember

And whilst shadows are not portals, I still take a moment to pause and put my hand on the shadows cast onto walls by sunlight and remember with fondness my lost loved ones. 

And whilst reflections are not portals, I still pause and wonder at the beauty and alternative landscapes they portray, fractured, fragmented, the same and different.