THE KINGDOM OF SHADOWS

Jorge Mesa, ( 2011 - 2021 )
Series of 10 images - Printed digital photography
82 cm x 117 cm each

ES   EN
 
 
Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood. All is riddle, and the key to a riddle is another riddle”.
“There are as many pillows of illusion as flakes in a snow-storm. We wake from one dream into another dream.
Excerpt from the essay "Illusions"; The Atlantic magazine (Nov 1857) by the American writer, philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson.
 
 
 

Dreams are a fascinating phenomenon. I have memories of incredible dreams, stories whose scripts were written by the pen of fantasy. Like many other people, the events in my dreams are sometimes very special and completely unrelated to reality. It is surprising that, in the imaginary world world, the actions of characters are perceived in such a logical and natural way and the unexpected plot twists seem perfectly coherent.

In my dreams I have seen dark caverns illuminated by the most precious gems; I have been in constructions whose mazes of many floors I can not walk through in its entirety; I have lived in the body of a being from a distant planet, feeling firsthand the deep fear of slavery and the rigor of cruelty; I have flown many times through fields and cities; I have pursued my past trying to remedy behaviors and situations that I regret; I have had nightmares with evil energies that interrupt my sleep, presences that even after I wake I still feel around me.

I have seen how the holocaust looms on the horizon from the edge of an Eden that I must protect and I have even experienced premonitions that have been fulfilled.

The kingdom of shadows is an experimental laboratory where each image is related to the dynamics that reside in the world of dreams; a project that dialogues through the mechanics, symbols and meaning of different dream stories. Without a doubt, it is a path that allows a greater understanding of the unconscious: a deep and elusive place full of memories, experiences and forgotten or repressed thoughts, where answers that give meaning to different facets of our existence await.

I do not seek to faithfully illustrate my anecdotes (perhaps in the future), but I do aspire to propose a language that reflects the ideas, sensations and connections that dreams generate, an aesthetic that justifies and demonstrates the intrinsic plasticity of its production and reading.