A year ago, I attended “Surrealism” at the le Centre Pompidou in Paris, an exhibit that celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Surrealist movement.

While I knew and loved many of the works of major surrealist artists like Dali, Magritte, and Ernst, I was less acquainted with the philosophy of the movement; a rejection of rationalism and realism, and embracement of Freud’s psychoanalysis and Marxist social ideals. Surrealists believed that the rational mind repressed the power of the imagination, weighing it down with societal taboos; that the unconscious mind is a reservoir of memories, emotions, and associations that are deeply inaccessible. Accessing this mind could unlock one’s suppressed imagination.

I was intrigued by a technique called “automatism”, a method to access the unconscious mind through free-flowing drawing (or writing). As a meticulous painter and planner, an automatistic approach is at odds with my more “methodical” approach to creativity and execution. Inspired by the exhibit, I embraced free association and intuition and drew what came to me; this set of paintings is the synthesized output of the exercise.

The vases are fixed and motionless, while the emerging plants increasingly stretch and bloom beyond the confines of the vase. Though the plants and flowers integrate with the different environments, they are still bound to their point of origin: the vase.