Dream Flight
If a painting was a dream you might be able to interpret it as if it was a message from the unconscious. I am not a writer but a painter – but few people speak paint – so I will try and translate, although this is a bit like asking a dancer to do maths ….
It is night. Dark. so I am really probably asleep. There is a sickle moon. I am skimming the water – or at least, I think it’s me. I am usually male but tonight I’m not. I have wings, they are large but heavy and I can only just keep above the water. They must be artificial because they have gears and cogs. I can’t make it on my own, I need help, support.
I want to be a bird, I want to fly. The skimming of the water accentuates the feeling of speed, of movement, but gravity is strong tonight and there is a fear of falling in the wild and unforgiving sea beneath me.
Freud had some things to say about flying in dreams; he reckoned they were a figment of an over active ego. But Freud is Freud and this is my dream and I get to say what it stands for. It is simply power, freedom, dance, energy. It comes from the belly and lifts you up, a quickening that is filled with joy and life. It is a sacred thing – hence the halo – and it is taking me home!
Jake Baddeley
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Dream Flight – oil on canvas – 90 x 70 cm – 2018 – see availability
Your creations sometimes gives you a difficult time because you need to search deep into your soul to give life to your work, but at the end you manage to get there because you master your art. You know you will sooner or later get there, although it may be frightening at times! There are a lots of paralel to do with Carl G. Jung in analysing his own dreams and then translating them into drawings as he did in his famous Red Book. This was key in his individuation process and took him years to complete his work. He would definitely be amazed as I am by your highly symbolic art! Highest regards, Marc
You obviously speak from experience. It is good to be heard. Although I must add that at times the creative process is also pure joy