Dreamscape: Beyond the Veil, San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery, San Diego, CA

11/18/24 – 12/12/24

The San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery cordially invites you to experience Dreamscape: Beyond the Veil, a student-curated exhibition. Human beings have always been fascinated with the mysteries of the subconscious and the visions that lurk beneath the surface of logic and reason. The Museum Studies class has curated an exhibition featuring 54 talented local artists whose work is inspired by dreams in all their forms.

Join us for the reception on November 21 to participate in a thought-provoking interactive piece by artist group Gal Crew. As guests enter the space they will encounter What Drifts Through Your Dreamscape?, a mesmerizing, multifaceted installation that explores whimsical and unsettling realms. This imaginative work creates a dynamic dialogue between light and dark, engaging the viewer from the moment they approach the gallery window.

Sheena Rae Dowling’s A Guide to Becoming Water was inspired by the painter’s own dreams, which she has cataloged over the course of 25 years. Invoking her recurring nightmares of the ocean, Dowling scrapes the edges of her psyche for the surreal imagery she delivers to the canvas. The artist highlights the cyclical nature and mystical properties of the sea, contrasting the terror and the beauty of the deep. While Patricia Frischer visualizes her dreams in a series of painted vinyl records – full of color and contrast that give a glimpse into the jubilant yet mysterious world of her subconscious. Hot-air balloons carry a silhouetted stranger who presides over a landscape of rushing seas and plateaus, a shadowy yet constant presence. Both artists pose questions that we often ask ourselves after dreaming: Who is that faceless figure? What is that bizarre place? And, perhaps most mysterious of all, why does this dream keep coming back?

Philip Petrie and christian olid-ramirez confront unsettling nightmares with their work. Petrie’s somber canvases, Approaching and Departure Mountain, mirror intriguing and disturbing dreams. christian olid-ramirez’s large oil paintings from his series The Gloaming depict a fictional “desert of the mind” –a mental sandbox exploring the darkest thoughts and impulses of the human soul. Bounty renders a pile of blocky severed limbs placed before a pyre. Haunted and surreal, these works dip into the shadowy recesses of the mind, challenging viewers to explore paths rarely walked in daylight.

Dreamscape: Beyond the Veil invites viewers to contemplate how dreams shape our understanding and experience of the world. Highlighting symbolic explorations of the natural and mythical, this exhibition promises a captivating encounter with the world of the unconscious. This intriguing and engaging exhibition was developed under the guidance of Professor Alessandra Moctezuma and Gallery Coordinator Jenny Armer.

Participating Artists: Adan Abaquin-Brown, Luis Alderete, Gabrielle Berens, Beate Bermann-Enn, Abigail Brown, Elizabeth Brown, Sophia Ciuffa , Annie Claflin, Krista Cuellar, Gabriela Ponce Curlango, Eva D'Amico, Alexis Deming, Meghan DeRoma, Matthew Devoys, Sheena Rae Dowling, Dana Edwards, Christopher Ferreria, Patricia Frischer, Gal Crew (Jennifer Armer, Gaby Espina, Caiti Myth), Arie Galles, Junko Glawe, Jeff Kahn, John Carlos Keasler, Natalia Kozlova, Braulio Lam, Sami Leon, Evan Lopez, Rick Macaw, Evie Maher, Kamaal Martin, Isa Guadalupe Medina ,Teresa Mill, Chris Reilly, Michelle Montjoy, Alejandro Morales, Caiti Myth, James Nelson, Dakota Noot, christian olid-ramirez, Philip Petrie, Lulu Yueming Qu, Josie Rodriguez, Kayah Rybar, Alyanah Santos, Sandra Segovia ,Cheryl Tall, Alyssa Marielle Villagracia, Bryan Tipton, Ell Treese, Christopher Tucker , Patricia Valero, Kelsey Worth, Jessica Yambao