ARTIST RESEARCH

Nicholas Bruno

I wanted to look at surrealism in a modern perspective though photography, I came across an artist called Nicholas Bruno who was born in New York in 1993, He captures nightmares by repeating what he saw and what he could remember from the near death experiences, I personally love his work because he portrays his memories from nightmares in such a way where they grab the viewers’ attention to detail about the setting, colours, and scenario through photography. Nicholas Bruno suffers from sleep paralysis where he will experience haunting nightmares where he unable to escape the hallucinations, Nicholas links his work to Conceptual and

Surrealist art but I will be using his work as primary evidence

From an individual who is able to recall their nightmares through photography. Nicholas Bruno suffers from sleep paralysis where he will experience haunting nightmares where he unable to escape the hallucinations, Nicholas links his work to Conceptual and surrealist art but I will be using his work as primary evidence from an individual who is able to recall their nightmares through photography.

I would be able to make a link between Nicholas Bruno’s work to my research because his work represents the raw components of the chilling nightmares that he has, I want to look into way that people suffer from nightmares and what they can remember from them, using his work would be beneficial for me to capture how people are effected by the images that their brain creates.

Nicholas Bruno creates imagery through photography from real life scenarios that were created in his brain whilst experiencing sleep paralysis, the body of work created in all of Bruno’s pieces reflect the nightmares that take place whilst his body is paralysed, therefore, I would like to link his experiences to near death situations that could evolve to those who are going to die but don’t know how. His work is presented through photography in a realistic form but as a surreal subject and has significance to a story that could link to nightmares.

Bruno decided to express his anxiety and depression as a cause of the trauma he receives as he rests and so the purpose of his work was to explain to the viewer that the nightmares are emotionally haunting, Bruno would often write down what he could remember from the night before during the paralysis and would then piece together images to create a final composition in which would be showcased through a planned image, this includes characters, a setting and props.

The common themes that are included within Bruno’s work is definitely the setting because the scenery is what creates an effect of symbolism on those who experience sleep paralysis or want to know what it feels like to be in the position of constant nightmares occurring.

The genre of Bruno’s work is conceptual photography but as I will take inspiration from his work I will use surrealism as another route where I could digitally Photoshop the images, I believe that Nicholas’ work can be taken as inspiration because each photograph tells a story- which I could link to death.

5.

This piece explores one of the nightmares that Nicholas has experienced and from this composition we can see that there is a human acting in the role of a dart board, it looks like they are at risk of being shot.

To me, it looks like a near death experience where they are being punished for something which is unknown, this could link to the artist asking the question of why they suffer from sleep paralysis.

The colours used are very bland and natural, inhabiting that maybe the artist wanted the viewer to feel like they are watching the image, the grey clouds are representative of darkness and isolation whilst the all rounded props and setting of being in a field suggest a foreground of not being able to escape the sleep paralysis. The concept of this artists work was designed to exhibit the horrifying surrealism that the brain can create, this could link to my theme by acknowledging that the mind can over think.

6.

This image is a very powerful piece because it depicts what could be seen in a horror movie, from what I can see it looks like a victim is being chased or have ran away from somebody who is running after her/him.

The mask around the face is symbolising minimal attention to detail about the emotions that may be shown by the characters, it could also interpret that the character ahead was going to be hung or executed.

The setting is very intriguing as the scenery looks very caved in and isolated from its surroundings, the editing on the image portrays dullness, shadow and an intense amount of tonal grey/ dark colours; the image itself creates an effect of a scary fantasy whereby photograph gives off a negative atmosphere and a scary scenario on ‘a near death experience’ within a nightmare.

The tinted shadow edited onto the image makes me think about abandonment of something so old and rigid such as a forest, a forest usually gives off a cold, untouched and maze-like effect so I believe that with the help of the setting it can reflect how surreal or realistic the concept can be.

I really this image because the skills of making a photograph look so realistic although it’s a surreal ideology is an acknowledgeable way of understanding the types of nightmares that people encounter and the similarities of it giving off the same negative emotion.

Finally, I can incorporate my own ideas by noticing that the emotions such as being paranoid or anxious when looking at this piece are very similar to the emotions that are energised when I think about what death actually means and how it can affect the way we think and feel about valuing it.

Sylvain Margaine

The second artist I have begun to look at is called Sylvain Margaine who photographs urban decay through the exploration of places which are now abandoned, I was intrigued by the artist’s work because the images produce a raw effect of time passing by; I want to look deeper at this artists work because I am simply fascinated by the abandonment of a setting or an object which was once acknowledged by somebody in the past.  

Sylvain is an artist who explores urban decay of settings at night and seeks beauty behind the setting that was once alive but has now been left in disrepair. The decay displayed in Sylvain’s work gives me the same effect as the feeling I get when I think about death and fearing the unknown, In particular, His work makes me feel emotionally attached to sadness because something that was once so alive is now left abandoned; the concept of photographing realism through the leftover of objects but not living things relates to the idea of ‘Does nothing happen after we die?”.

Sylvain is a photographer who explores the use of abandonment of buildings that have been left to ruins over time, the images present the raw exploration of how it was found by the artist and are conceptual to the viewing of a story behind the image. Sylvain’s genre of art is conceptual and contemporary photography which photographs in present day of what has grown from the past. The artist has a common theme of photographing places from a primary view so almost like the viewer is in control of looking what’s around them and empathising with Margaine, I have also noticed that Sylvain likes to use space as part of a composition towards the extreme detail of a place or object to symbolise the beauty of abandonment. I want to take Sylvain’s body of work as an inspirational point by relating the focus of abandonment with finding out what was there before, for example, exploring what and who used to enter a building or place which is now untouched and has been abandoned; I believe that we should look at the beauty of what lived before the aftermath of abandonment.

7.

Both of these images is one of many of the places that are explored by Sylvain’s and I have specifically chosen this because it creates a natural view on abandonment being created overtime.

The images present an old theatre which has been abandonment from a short amount of time, the landscape view makes me look at the image like I was there, the decay of the building looks untouched and so the harsh element of colour becomes involved. The images creates the effect of a transparent shadow because the abandonment of a building is usually thought upon darkness and enclosure, however, there is light shown on either side of the image which could inhabit the view of there being positive energy within the image.

The composition of the foreground is specialised to focus on the concept of the image as an artist’s perspective, also, I feel like the angles that the artist has taken the photos at has given the viewer an in-depth view of what it looks like to re discover something that is abandoned, viewing the image this way makes the viewer seek others senses other than sight (for example, hearing, touching or smelling something).

As I will be taking inspiration from this artists work I wanted to contrast the abandonment of places with the abandonment of people’s lives and their belongings being behind, as well as looking at what has been left behind I also want to explore the beauty of decay and how it can be created.

The artist’s work connects with my own by looking at a subject which has been forgotten about or has died, the artist varies their work around the death of places whereas I am looking at the death of people, contrasting one another enhances the view of beauty taking over and changing the way it can be perceived, for example, nature building upon buildings by decay.

Kyle Thomson

The 3^rd artist which stood out to me during my research is called ‘Kyle Thomson’ from Chicago who takes an artistic approach towards abandoned homes, forests and self-portraits, however, Kyle wants to portray the images he photographs by not having a storyline because he says that every story has a beginning and an end, therefore, Thomson did not want to create this effect.

His work stood out to me because he also includes digital and surrealism art which enhances the view of an unrealistic photo- making it harder for the viewer to acknowledge the emotions that the artist was feeling and what the image actually represents.

However, Thomson uses his own self within his work as the ‘subject’ of the image and includes issues to do with either a personal or political topic that can be discussed from raw emotions which he was feeling towards these issues he may have.

I like how Thomson has organically produced work from thoughts that stem from his own body and mind and this is why I want his work to be an inspirational vocal point towards my own, I like how he expresses how he feels towards an issue by self-portraying it surrealistically.

Kyle Thomson is my favourite out of the three I have explored because I believe that it is a true embodiment of a humans raw emotions towards an issue, and although we are able to relate to some of the images from his work, Only he knows the concept of what his work really means to him and this is why he presents it in a surreal way. I believe that Kyles work is a very powerful way to link to my own theme of after life and death because he uses his own self to explore negativity, The image shown is a very moving image which in my opinion, could be surrealistically presents the emotion of a loss of freedom.

9.

The use of material on the photograph such as barbed wire being wrapped around the legs creates the concept of torture, so, as a result, the artist can link his own personal issues with how he feels.

The setting is a very important aspect of this artists work because the expressive relation between surrealism and purpose of the artist’s emotions towards a personal issue can haze the effect of positivity.

This image is my favourite image as although it explores the surrealism of digital art and photography, The concept is very noticeable; the concept of this piece looks like a teenager orb young adult is drowning in their own sorrows in their room, although winning trophies and being into sport, the teen feels abandoned and unwanted.

The realistic image portrays the harm of water and I can relate this to my own theme of death by acknowledging that people can have die by drowning. The subject focus pushes the human to the side and I think this is what the artist was trying to conceal from the viewer. Linking Thomson’s theme to my work, Thomson uses a very powerful fantasy-like setting to give the spacious effect of being alone- I can relate to this to when I think about dying and there being no sense of afterlife.