Playful Surrealism

2018 - 2019

This series of watercolors was one of my earliest experiments with intuitive painting, where I approached each piece completely without any preconceived plan or intended content.

Rather, I played with pure colors and forms, letting my unconscious guide me until an image spontaneously emerged. The results were always completely unexpected and mysterious, as if they came from a place that can never be wholly understood.

These early works will always have a special place in my heart — they feel both wholly “me” and yet paradoxically wholly “other,” and express the magical innocence of creating completely without expectations, that perfect “beginner’s mind” that becomes increasingly difficult to obtain the more experienced one becomes.

My explorations here also led me to create even more abstracted watercolors (shown in the collection “Abstract Dreamscapes”), which in turn formed the foundation of my current abstract paintings.

From top to bottom: 1. Phoenix Dreams 2. Starry City 3. Alien Id 4. Fantastical Fish

All 7.5” x 9.5” watercolor on paper