Geometric Surrealist: The irrational juxtaposition of shapes with contradictory conditions of dreams and reality.

I work in a style I call Geometric Surrealism, abstracting physical spaces to create a highly distorted vision of reality. My approach starts with architectural elements – the illusion of rooms, staircases, and hallways. I employ multiple viewpoints of these spaces and corridors, simplified and abstracted to produce a composition of geometric shapes and planes with graphic overtones. I am creating the illusion of depth with the X-Y-Z axis, scale, foreshortening, and place in time (the figures placed in the composition).

These spaces are stretched and contorted, almost to the point of becoming paradox illusions. Varied light sources serve to deepen the impression of disjointed space. Spatial location is uncertain. Forms rise and recede simultaneously, as perspective seems to oscillate. Spaces that should be comfortably familiar instead become ambiguous and conflicting.

This framework challenges the predictability of the observer’s point of view. A tension is created in trying to reconcile the spatial contradictions. These subtle, shifting spaces operate on a kind of dream-logic. As an artist, I am interested in the subconscious workings of the psyche. My work serves as a meditation on the subjectivity that informs our interpretation of experience. This focus converges with a more formal interest in pushing the precepts of representational painting. I aim to create compositions that both surprise and intrigue.

My purpose for creating this series of paintings is to depict one’s movement through life and show how our lives are not as linear as predicted. My belief is that life gives multiple choices on a daily basis; lines break off to create new lines, new angles, doors open, planes shift, and stairways appear.

JT Thompson