Counterattack of the Sea , 2022
Digital Art

The fact that the ocean makes up a fraction of the earth’s relative size, yet that over 80 percent of it remains unexplored, undoubtedly contributes to the mystery and fear associated with it. When we encounter deep sea life, the organisms seem alien, surreal in the sense that they are barely real to us because of our inability ever to witness them in the flesh. In this way, the ocean is like a portal to an alternate universe, just as dreams are. Similarly, the mystery behind the ocean is similar to the mystifying nature of dreams, as the fear of oceans is to the experience of nightmares. In this piece I explore this symmetry through an intimate intermingling of the two: the dreamer, or the subject, is visibly struggling as the ocean consumes her. Aquatic life engulfs human life, as can be seen by the sinking bodies. Humans are rendered vulnerable, seen by the nude bodies, flesh exposed to the ocean just as any form of aquatic life. The figure’s hair, and the struggle depicted with her arm, render her suffering an inseparable part of her. The sea takes over, just as nightmares engulf dreamers and bring to them immense discomfort and suffocation.

Exhibited by:

UCI Humanities Core

Other works by Anonymous

Untitled , 2023
16 x 20 x 1 in (h x w x d)
Acrylic on Canvas
Yolanda Henson, DPR Visual Arts Program Facilitator & Curator
Art Has Meaning #1
80 x 160 cm (h x w)
Mobile Arts for Peace (MAP)
Untitled , 2023
129 x 172.5 cm (h x w)
Poem
UCI Humanities Core
The 8th Eye , 2022
Pencil and Ballpoint Pen on Paper
UCI Humanities Core

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