This exhibition aims to bring the viewer to encounter an experience that goes beyond the field of vision and engage them with elements of their own psyche. The viewer is encouraged to let go and allow the work to penetrate their subconscious mind by letting the textured quality of the etchings suggest more than just superficial features on the images: to promote inquiry of the origin of such features. What conforms and delineates the characteristics of personality?
In order to do this, it is suggested to approach this body of work similarly to a Rorschach test, also known as an inkblot test, typically used in psychoanalysis practice. The etchings lend themselves to be viewed in this way, thus allowing for the movement of conscious and subconscious information to occur. This not only defines features on the works being presented but also features of the viewer’s (subconscious) mind.
Many of the elements that conform our individuality have subconscious origins; in other words, most of us don’t know why we are who we are, and yet we follow a specific set of circumstances that help us identify with what we believe represents our true character. Whether this impacts us positively or negatively, we are not only pulled by that of what we are conscious, but also by our subconscious tendencies and decisions, which consequently give shape to the person that we present to the world and to ourselves.
In short, these works open the door to inquire at a subconscious level about such questions through their aesthetic quality and the associated indications of both superficial and intrinsic features. To look at what is rarely looked at, to get a taste of it, that is . . . if one is willing to be triggered.
A music performance titled Commentaries on Trance will be presented in conjunction with the exhibition on the reception night (August 30). Commentaries on Trance is by Rocco di Pietro and performed by Devin Copfer on the violin. This work interaction aims at intensifying the ability to tap into the subconscious by cogenerating an optimal atmosphere to promote and stimulate the viewer’s sensitivity to the visual triggers: to give rise to something beyond awareness, something personal and yet unfamiliar, with a hypnotic approach created by the convergence of music and visual art.
As these two mediums come together, they naturally contrast and complement each other in order to find common ground and compensate for each other’s limitations as they contribute to induce the viewer into a trance-like state.
We are diaphanous . . . ephemeral . . . and yet, as substantial as the universe itself.
— Romulo Zaa
Artist Bio
Romulo Zaa
Self-taught plastic artist
Residing in Columbus, Ohio
Artistic mediums: painting and sculpture
https://romulozaa.crevado.com
