dream logic
noun
1. the nonsensical logic one possesses while dreaming that makes sense until one wakes up
2. an attempt to impose consistent, rational rules onto a nonsensical world, and more often than not, that attempt fails
synonyms: absurd, irrational, surreal, subconscious, imaginative
Since 2019, the first thing I do when I wake up is write down my dream. I have filled pages and pages of dream diaries with incomprehensible scribbling, my unstable morning hand blurring words together across the page. I note each recurring person, location, or object, tracking emotional patterns relevant to my waking life. Yet, this rational documentation fails to capture the illogical and inherent image-making power of dreams.
Dream Logic is a self-portrait photography series that recreates a collection of these dreams, titled according to the exact notes that inspired them. To take a photograph, I set my camera on a tripod, click the self-timer button, rush to position, pose for the camera, and reposition accordingly. This process is involved, active, theatrical, and highly constructed, similar to the subconscious brain activity of dreaming. By placing my body and the bodies of those I frequently dream about in liminal environments, I access a form of absurd logic. Every night, when I close my eyes, I become an artist and an image maker. I dream in photographs, and I photograph my dreams.
