Figurative Surrealism: Bridging Psychology and Art

Surrealism has spread it’s wings far and wide, of course. It is less and less interesting to pursue some kind of pure surrealism. It seems the most interesting surrealism is often mixed. For example, pure Surrealist automatism can sometimes feel like someone trying to tell you their fascinating dream. It is often not every interesting. But as a starting point, yes.

So I suppose, at least for me, I enjoy super reality and the uncanny, rather than abstract surrealism, or automatism as an end point. A grounding with a nice rug that is pulled out from under you.

However, I also enjoy some abstract surrealism (Miro for example). I am less and less interested in word salads and verbal gymnastics as the main driving force of linguistically innovative poetry. Also, I have grown more and more disillusioned with post-modern theories and sensibilities with their obsessive focus on power as the centre of human experience (Foucault etc.). Ditto overly academic poetics tied to dense specialisation often obscuring rather than opening up and revealing.

The liberation of thought and language, change, randomness, and unpredictability, and transgressing boundaries. Those are the legacies of surrealism that stick with me.

Also dreamlike imagery that expands the narrowly constructed realms of the real.

I am pulled towards surrealism for its intersection of psychology and art.

Here is this morning’s new surrealism painting by Inka Essenhigh. It is called Predawn in Spring 2020. It is an example of figurative surrealism. Haunting and beautiful. Those ghost like figures are welcoming. The sun is warm in the centre and the skeleton trees are also beautiful. Death is there, but also beauty. Also those elemental energies of yin and yang, masculine and feminine.