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an exerpt from Ericka's dissertation:

Despite my initial misgivings directed at Surrealism, over the course of the year my work became more and more surreal.  Even before I had a proper understanding of Surrealism—as I worked on [Silent No More]—there was a surreal tone to my art. In hindsight, it evoked a similar sense to Rene Magritte’s painting The Treachery of the Image, which displays the image of a pipe along with the words 'Ceci n’est pas une pipe', this is not a pipe. “The image is so illusionistic that it is treacherous, making us ‘see’ something (a real pipe) that is not really there. Perhaps even real pipes are treacherous. The painting makes us doubt that we can rely on our perception of things.”[1] The fireplace in [Silent No More] uses the same idea, however it is not just a still painting of a single object, but a false image projected onto real architecture.  This disorientation over the reality of the fire stimulates disorientation with the reality of my home, which presents itself as one thing while truly being something else. Though by the end of the piece it resumes its presentation of itself as an ideal, the tone of [Silent No More] is clear. This is not a perfect place.  In the same way that The Treachery of the Image calls into question the reality of all pipes, Home calls into question the very reality of the ideal of small town America.

 

[1] Fiona Bradley, Surrealism. (London: Tate Gallery Publishing, 2001) 41

*full dissertation available upon request.

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