Deirdre Barrett
What are your earliest memories of being artistic? I’ve early loved visual art, but my early . . .and middle . . and up ’til recent memories are of waking up from wonderful dream images and trying to paint or draw them to poor effect–exercises in frustration. It’s only once I hit upon the idea of taking photographs and then manipulating them drastically that I’ve started having happy art-making experiences.
When did art become a pursuit? I’ve always loved art. I’ve written about art in relation to dream creativity in two of my books, but making my own only started 2 1/2 years ago.
Harvard Lampoon, Digitally manipulated photography
Are you self-taught or formally educated in visual art? I’m self taught–or perhaps more accurately, educated by online lists of instructions and YouTube how-to’s by everyone from the world’s experts in digital art to 14-year-olds at their webcam.
How did you first become involved with CAA? I’d been coming to the CAA shows for a while and some of my friends were members, so when I started making dream art 2 1/2 years ago, it seemed obvious to join.
Charlie’s Kitchen, Digitally manipulated photography
How do you choose your subject matter? Is there a reoccurring theme that carries throughout your work? I’m motivated totally by wanting to represent compelling dream images. The waking world is already out there for me to look at . . . or take a mugshot of . . so it’s the dream places and characters and creatures that I’ve just seen that I am moved to try to drag into the waking world–so I can view them again but also so others can look into my dreamworld.
What is one of your artistic goals? My main goal is for the viewer to experience a connection with the dream world: to catch a glimpse of one of my dream moments, but more importantly, to connect with their own nocturnal realms from the vantage of the waking self.
Damp Disquiet, Digitally manipulated photography
What living artists are you inspired by? I admire a lot of contemporary dream artists like the ones in the Outpost 186 show that I’m currently curating, but I’m most influenced by my favorite artists of past eras: Hieronymus Bosch’s crude little creatures, elegant other-worldly entities of Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington, and beings emerging out of randomness as in Max Ernst’s frottage.
Do you have any shows coming up? I’ve curated a show of dream art that opens Sept 23rd and runs through December 31st at Outpost 186 in Inman Square Cambridge. Two of my own pieces are in it but mostly a lot of my other dream artists’.
See more Dierdre!
Website: http://www.deirdrebarrett.com/art
Instagram: @deirdre_barrett_dreams
Facebook: Deirdre Barrett