thesis hypothesis

My thesis and the passion of my work now and in the far conceivable future is on internal change. What motivates us to change ourselves. How we perceive ourselves and how that is different from how others perceive us. How to gauge the validity of the perceptions of others and even the authenticity of our own self perceptions. I am taking a thorough journey through my own mental process in an attempt to understand how my mind reacts to the world. How my subconscious takes thing in and skews them without my own conscious awareness.

My work has solidified into the use of vague symbol and visual metaphor. The theory of universal symbolism has been tested and dismissed in the 60's and 70's but I believe that there is still untested waters. To use a metaphor to explain my use of metaphor. When presented with a cryptogram, the first symbol can mean any of twenty six possibilities. But it is not alone, it is placed next to other symbols, narrowing the list of possibilities. Finally when placed in a particular order the list of possibilities diminishes to one. In this way I use symbolism and metaphor, not as universal symbols but as vague ideas. It is in the context of other metaphors and symbols in proper order that narrow the possible interpretations. This is far from an exact science, but it is a very tangential way to speak to people visually.

This use of "Cryptographic Symbolism" is vital to my self analysis. By giving a very understandable representation of my inner self, I lay myself completely bare. If it were not as clear it would be less profound. By placing my mind in front of the viewer, I essentially remove myself from the artwork. I let the viewer identify with me and then to BECOME me. I let the viewer join in my analysis, placing themselves into it and asking themselves the same questions I am asking myself. By letting the viewer begin the journey as me, I open the door for people to begin to look at themselves without their ego defenses being raised. By tearing down my own walls, I am at the same time tearing down the viewers walls. I can bring about a willingness to look. And as I have found in myself, once we are willing to really look, we become willing to change.