Past Impressions

Past Impressions is the first print in the second state of the Wasteland series and is an alteration of previous prints and digital proofs. The Wasteland series was inspired by faith-based cultural symbols and architectural designs. The idea was to use the inspiring elements of The Waste Land poem by T.S. Eliot, the writing of Joseph Campbell (on myth), and a combination of icons, symbols and designs to create a series of compositions. Each print intends to convey a sense of mystery and familiarity; chaos and order; anxiety and control.

The composition uses layers of opaque and transparent shapes that overlap and create a sense of depth. Iconic images recede underneath the opaque layers and the bright colors contrast greatly with the dark hues in the foreground. The central image is a combination of arcane icons which has been layered behind a fractured framework. Ancient symbols are obscured by jagged shapes as if contained and inhibited. A sense of mystery is implied in the use of non-representational shapes and lines which adds to the complexity of the composition. The exception is in the placement of the red rabbit icons which are meant to represent imperfection, vulnerability and fortune as qualities of both the artist and the creative process.  

The background imagery of Past Impressions is transformed from the previous prints in the Wasteland series, first state. The stained-glass motif is broken up into layers of colored shapes that form a jagged structure that seemingly holds the composition together. The open ground created between the colored shapes enhances the sense of disconnected and broken up elements, alluding to a sense of anxiety and uncertainty. The appearance of a unifying framework has been subverted and replaced with pieces of a fractured structure that is no longer solid and firm. The composition now suggests a fracturing of unifying elements and breaking up of the preconceived ideas of myth.