Libby Ye
Libby Ye
If reality is itself fixed, how do we have such contrasting interpretations of events?
Though we may not realize, our perceptions of reality are constantly challenged by factors both internal and external, implicit and explicit, intentional and accidental. The arrangement of this exhibition guides the audience through my exploration of the manipulation of our perceptions by focusing on common, universal experiences. Fluidity of the Human Psyche foregrounds our tendency to distort outward appearances, begging the question of whether such disfigurations of reality are permanent or temporary. The life-size scale of the painting lends a false sense of control to the audience as they witness themselves as active subjects in manipulating reality rather than passive objects of such manipulations. This thus provides a segue into Panache and Chessboard of Extinction as we explore how our awareness of inevitable death—both individual and collective—influences our perceptions of reality and, by extension, our ways of living. These two paintings thus respond to the concept “memento mori.” They act, in effect, as mementoes confronting us with our mortality—reminders to traverse through every second of life with meaning, individuality and panache. Reimagining Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Euripides’ The Bacchae, Metamorphosis of Narcissus and A Contemporary Bacchae further our modern reconciliation with the past by visualizing how our perceptions of reality are altered by love and alcohol in excess. These quantifiable and, to a certain degree, intentional factors thus serve as a contrast to my exploration of how dreams affect our perceived reality depicted in Hypnagogic Hallucinations and Post-Mortem Rewards. Whereas the first five paintings address manipulations of our consciousness, Hypnagogic Hallucinations mark the progression into our unconscious minds as logical compositions are replaced with the random connectivity of imagery in our subconsciousness. I appropriated Salvador Dalí’s paranoiac-critical method by staring at the skeletal structure and wilting flowers for 20 minutes before accessing subconscious imagery in hypnagogia—transitional state between wakefulness and sleep—visualizing my authentic dreamscape. Defiance Against Gravity signifies the transition from dreams back to reality by exploring the literal manipulation of our perceptions through the use of mirrors in 3-dimensional sculptural forms. Similar in style, Fragmented American Dreams approaches dreams in the figurative sense as it visualizes the danger of our convictions in the American Dream—neglecting our privileges by preaching the largely inaccurate equality of opportunities. Celsius 232.8 thus provides closure to my exploration of factors that influence our perceived reality by echoing our deliberate attempts to manipulate reality in Fluidity of the Human Psyche through the process of destroying history, culture and literature represented by the cardboard structures.
The thematic relationship between the artworks in this exhibition is not so much an exploration of why, but how our perceptions of reality are influenced. My inspiration is heavily reliant upon literary works that provoke me, from ancient Greek mythologies to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, for literature tackles universal experiences and their impacts on our perceived reality. My vision for this exhibition is a comprehensive, yet in no way exhaustive, exploration of how our perceptions are formed and manipulated. By confronting the audience with large scale works of art, I simultaneously position them as both the perceiver and receiver of such distortions, thereby urging them to reflect on how their interpretations of events have been distorted. In order to maximize visual impact on the audience, I sought to include familiar and relatable objects in my artworks, be they signature cocktails from the local bar or Marty the Zebra in Madagascar. The frequent allusions to literature serve a similar function by relying on the audience’s prior knowledge to bolster their interpretations of the artworks. The use of hyperbolized imagery evidenced by the exaggerated absurdity in Hypnagogic Hallucinations and violent flames in Celsius 232.8 likewise intensifies visual impacts, whereas the use of chiaroscuro lighting dramatizes the irony of post-mortem rewards. As I tend to disagree with most commonly held beliefs—whether in classrooms, on taxi rides or at dinner tables—I wanted to investigate what exactly prompts these disagreements and discrepancies in perspectives. The artworks in this exhibition are saturated with colours to imbue the audience with echoes of dreamlike thrills, inspiring them to question their beliefs yet at the same time embrace their idiosyncratic perspectives.