I Put the Moon Back: Photographs of Dreams -- new exhibition at the Milpitas Library

After a long hiatus, there is a new show!  I'm very excited about this body of work and hope you'll be able to get out to the beautiful new Milpitas Library (click for directions) sometime between now and the middle of July to see it up on the wall. 

Artist's Statement

    The question of why we dream has been debated for years.  Do we dream as a way of dealing with stress?  Do we relive experiences?  Do we see the future through our dreams?  Give order to confusion?  There has never been a universally accepted answer, but the fact is that, barring brain damage, heavy drug or alcohol use, or some other brain-altering event, we all do dream.

    We may think we don’t dream because we only remember dreams if we wake up during them.  And, even then, they usually fade quickly, disappearing even as we try to write them down.  But what if they didn’t fade?  What if they could be recorded on film?

    In I put the moon back, I have put myself into the role of wandering photographer, roving through the less strictly organized world that we create when we sleep.  I have used children as my “dreamers” because their waking movements are less self-conscious than those of adults.  They are still capable of looking at the world in a way that is closer to the less organized world of dreams.  Children spend more time in the two waking states that are closer to dreaming -- reverie and daydreaming.  They easily build fantasy worlds and lives that many adults often deny themselves.

    The title I have given each image is simply a thought that occurred to me as I was working.  I hope that by providing a few words I can help the viewer step into the dream and continue the story on his or her own.

    Journey through the dreamscape with me.  Become the dreamer. . . .