Dreamtime

Acrylic on Canvas

61 x 91cm

 

The tree, totemic and sculptural in its edifying presence, withstands the passage of time. Human existence is, in comparison, transient. Hence the symbolic power of this majestic being, a silent, mysterious life form that links heaven and earth, promoting reflection and wisdom amongst humans in its transcendental presence. Monumental yet ethereal, it outlives most earthly species by centuries.

This painting is a meditation on nature. It reflects on the qualitative difference between the unified and the fragmented mind.  It is an invitation for people to reconnect deeply with nature and experience a fuller, more connected life. ‘Dreamtime’ is also a tribute to the Aboriginal people of Australia and their rich artistic legacy, which reflects a heightened awareness of the interconnectedness of life on Earth. Their deep reverence for all life derives from the fundamental awareness of the web of life. Human existence, when in harmony with nature, is a cosmic experience characterised by pure, direct perception. They are an inspiration, at these times of climate change and civil unrest, and a reminder of the deleterious consequences of political emphasis on profit over sustainable living. The Mayans said that ‘time is of the mind’. This statement implies that reclaiming of one’s time leads to regaining control of the mind. This painting is a meditation on nature and its derived time-perception. It reflects on the qualitative difference between the unified and the fragmented mind.  It is also an invitation for people to re-connect deeply with nature and experience a fuller life grounded in an experience of the present moment for a more connected experience.

Dreamtime is also a tribute to aborigine people of Australia and their rich artistic legacy, which reflects a heightened awareness of the interconnectedness of life on Earth. Their deep reverence for all life derives from the fundamental awareness of the web of life upon which ecosystems come to be. Human existence, when in harmony with nature, is a cosmic experience characterised by pure, direct perception. They are an inspiration, at these times of climate change and civil unrest, and a reminder of the deleterious consequences of political emphasis on profit over sustainable living. The Mayans said that ‘time is of the mind’, implying that reclaiming of one’s time leads to regaining control of the mind.

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Digital Iconography

My latest article is out.

Art and Psychology overlap in publication, part of an exciting online magazine from the US.
Have a read at:
http://mtmcclanahan.com/ThePaintersTongue/digital-icon-a-portrait-of-the-new-evolution/

Latest publication

Check out my latest publication on online art magazine ‘The Painter’s Tongue’

My large scale painting ‘The Dream’:

http://mtmcclanahan.com/ThePaintersTongue/speaking-on-art-may-2014/#dream

 

The Dream

124.6 x 124.6cm
Mixed media

A winged being pursues her angelic flight though various spaces and incoherent perspectives. Free from gravity and unbound from matter, this ethereal being hovers through turbulent waters, furnaces and tunnel-like spaces. All four
elements are present in this composition: fire, water, earth and ether. This painting is symbolic of the human experience, navigating through life, discerning through an array of information, beliefs and identities, searching for patterns in chaos.

Artist and psychologist Sonia Ben Achoura translates her academic explorations of mind and spirit into a powerful visual language. Artwork that conveys psychological concepts and phenomena through her paintings, hence adding a scientific dimension to her art project.

Both historic and cutting-edge research findings are conceptualised in her creations, covering a broad range of interests including meditation, dreams, human interaction
with technology, consciousness, well-being and evolution.

 

God Within

Acrylic on Canvas with Painted Sides

This painting is inspired from neuro-theological research and the finding of
areas in the brain that activate during prayer, meditation and spiritual
experiences. The scientific search for God within the brain has yielded
some fruitful results: the finding of areas in the brain (using neuro-imaging
technology -fMRI scans) that activate during spiritual experiences, prayer,
and meditation. However, the interpretation of these findings is proving to be
a challenge: Whilst for some, these spiritual ‘hotspots’ in the brain generate
these experiences, for others, the pinpointing of these specific areas only
shows that God speaks to humans through these localized areas in
the brain. Scientific attempts to prove or disprove the existence of God
continue on…

©SoniaBenAchoura

Landscape of Prediction

₤1250

Oil on canvas

Statistics are pervasive in the contemporary world. Within most disciplines, meaning is sought among vast arrays of data, aiming for generalization. The predictive power at the core of statistics is the basis for understanding and harnessing the resources available in the physical world. Advancements in computer science have contributed to an increase recent times in the accuracy of observations, and most importantly, the patterns that emerge from the data. The inferences drawn have become increasingly precise, allowing to catch glimpses of a future in which predictable factors coexist with erratic phenomena.

This predictive ability would undoubtedly have been considered superhuman by primitive people for whom only a few privileged individuals such as shamans or oracles could supposedly foresee the future. Yet this novel divinatory discipline has become part of an established research process in most disciplines with the widespread practice of collecting and analysing data. The findings obtained from such evidence-based protocols are subsequently used to implement changes in policy and practice. In rapidly changing contemporary societies, statistics have proved an invaluable tool to observe and record patterns of changes. All aspects of Western society are, to this day, guided by research.

From correlation to Anova, mediation analysis to T-test, the methodological spectrum continues to widen, bringing about increasingly elegant insights. Whether high or low, scores on variables are assessed, revealing causality, or at least, the strength of the relationship between variables. This dance of precision is scrutinized down to its minutiae: standard deviation, direct effect, confounding variables… to try and establish the probability of an event occurring. Was it cause and effect? Or was God the rolling the dice?

©SoniaBenAchoura