ABOUT

The main idea behind this project is to show how dreams affect our mind and the meaning behind them. I have always been intrigued by this unexplainable side of psychology, which is based more on presumptions, rather than facts. Initial inspiration was my experience with sleep paralysis, which I have decided to embrace and explore in order to understand its workings and why it occurs. Research on the topic led me to discover other types of common or unusual dreams that people experience, which resulted in a set of 4 illustrations, showing how they impact our mind. My approach on visually recreating the effect of those dreams and their source, was by using architectural structures. They serve as a physical metaphor of “the self” by presenting it as a closed space, almost like a box. To further develop this idea, I have purposely left the buildings without doors, because that would be an indication for an easy access to reach its interior, which is impossible to do with our sub-consciousness. We can only take peaks from the windows and observe the process, without having the ability to control it.

The illustrations depict different types of sceneries with Victorian style houses. This particular architectural style was chosen due to its beautiful detailed look and its potential to be successfully implemented in different atmospheres – from pleasant to frightening. Details like the weather vanes on the roofs and the frames hide Nordic symbols, which consolidate the concept even more. One is present in all of them – the symbol for ‘the self’. The types of dreams illustrated are two common ones – a nightmare (sleep paralysis) and a contrasting good dream, and two types that not everyone has experienced – a symbolic dream and a false awakening dream. Each of the illustrations are animated to further bring the desired atmosphere.

Good Dream – This illustration is showing a house, floating in the sky, driven by rotating levers at its bottom. My purpose was to create a really light and pleasant feeling. That type of dream is usually formed by our desires and goals, stuff that we would like to experience in real life.

Sleep Paralysis – A representation of how this extremely realistic dream is affecting our body. You feel like you can’t breathe properly and can’t move, but at some point you realize it is not real and relax…….until the next one.

False Awakening Dream – A type of dream that makes you think you have woken up but in reality you are still sleeping. Usually it consists of doing our normal routines, like going to work, cleaning and it feels very real, but there is always something that is off. At first glimpse this house would look normal, but the more you look, the more you realize that wallpapers and curtains, for example, do not go on the outer walls.

Signal Dreams – For this concept I decided to create a house that looks like a Rubik’s cube that has to be solved. Usually those dreams consist of signs that your mind is showing you and you have to unriddle in order to solve a real life problem.
This project is created in collaboration with Kuba Molewski who made the images come to life by being in charge of animation and sound