As we go about our daily lives, we tend to assume that our perceptions — sights, sounds, textures, tastes — are an accurate portrayal of the real world. Yet, when we stop and think about it — or when we find ourselves fooled by a perceptual illusion — we realize with a jolt that what we perceive is never the world directly, but rather our brain’s best guess at what that world is like, a kind of internal simulation of an external reality. Still, we bank on the fact that our simulation is a reasonably decent one. If it wasn’t, wouldn’t evolution have weeded us out by now? ...

Dripping Realities

Our vivid imagination can be a tool for creating beautiful worlds, but it can also take us down the rabbit hole. We get stuck. We circle around an idea until it starts eating away at our emotions. It’s a silly thing to depend on – a thought. It may not even be rooted in reality. To be stuck in one’s head is like a hamster wheel. We feel free once we step outside of it. But sometimes, it’s just hard to let go. These photographs visualize obsession and the human body that slides down the rabbit hole.

Residents

Life can be improved by adding, or by subtracting. The world pushes us to add because that benefits them. What if we focus on subtracting instead? First, I subtract everything that I can, and then I add only the most essential elements. The ones that I choose myself and that I feel will add the real value. I unlearn the old things and now my mind has space for the new knowledge. Ultimately there’s an infinity of possibilities in limitations. But you need to learn to subtract and make that space first in progress.

Subtraction

This project reflects the process of accumulating emotional baggage and getting rid of it in the end, becoming better and wiser. There’s more to life than the past. Yet, a butterfly first has to be a caterpillar.

Dasha Pears's Art Collections