Dream and Imagination

French artist Fabien Verschaere captures a world in his exhibits which inhabits a twilight realm of fairytales and nightmares (see image below).

Like a dream, the images he creates through the use of a range of different media are both disturbing and fascinating. His imagination combines a childlike naivety with the garish horror of a fairground ride on the ghost train.

We encountered an exhibition of his work at the Baltic Centre for Creative Art at the Gateshead Quays during a recent stay in Northumberland.

A very different kind of imaginative vision is represented by the famous Angel of the North, a familiar sight to anyone travelling on the A1 past Gateshead and Newcastle.

The sculpture which is 65 feet high and has a 175 foot wingspan can be seen for miles around. Despite its size and steel construction it remains stunningly elegant and majestic even on a closer viewing.

It is a testimony to the scope and power of the human imagination that it can encompass such diverse visions. The strong, pure and aspirational nature of the Angel of the North contrasts sharply with the more turgid, but nevertheless compelling imagery of Verschaere’s dream world.

But perhaps these are two aspects of the imagination and of the unconscious mind with which we all have to grapple at times.